JEDDAH JOURNAL 5: INDIAN INTEREST IN ARABIA,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000136

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN; DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARPI,
PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/08/2015
TAGS: ECON IN KISL KWMN PREL SA
SUBJECT: JEDDAH JOURNAL 5: INDIAN INTEREST IN ARABIA,
NEJDIS ALSO PREJUDICED, AUSTRIAN BUSINESS STRATEGY, AND
SAUDI WOMEN BLAMED FOR HARASSMENT


Classified By: Consul General Tatiana Gfoeller, for reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d).

INDIAN EVENT SHOWS COMMITMENT TO STRENGTHENING SAUDI-INDIAN
TIES


1. (U) Local media have reported extensively on the Saudi
interest in strengthening ties with India. The recent India
National Day celebration in Jeddah provided evidence that the
Indian Mission reciprocates that interest. At the entrance
to the celebration, guests were offered samples of India tea
and recordings of Indian music and Bollywood productions.
Additionally, the Indian Consuls present passed out a wide
variety of flashy, illustrated pamphlets lauding tourism and
commercial opportunities in India. The most noteworthy
offering among the more general commercial advertisements was
a glossy 74 page booklet, printed in English and Arabic,
titled "Indo-Arab Ties" published by the Consulate General of
India in Jeddah in September 2005. This impressive and
expensive-looking publication praising the two countries and
their long history of commercial and cultural interaction,
signifies a substantial commitment by the Indian Consulate to
fostering the growing Saudi-India bond.


2. (C) During the Celebration, the CG stood with Indian
Consul General Sayeed Ausaf and Saudi Ministry of Foreign
Affairs Director General, Dr. Abdulaziz bin Hussain Al
Swiegh. While listening to them praise each other's country
and the growing bonds of peace and commerce developing
between the two nations, the CG watched on the large screen
dominating the ballroom, film of the National Day Parade in
Delhi. The display was dominated by ranks of goose-stepping
troops and squadrons of tanks. Prominent in the display were
the Indian Special Forces, widely reviled in the Muslim World
for their actions in the disputed province of Kashmir. There
was no public evidence anyone noticed or disapproved of the
display.

NEJDIS ARE ANNOYED WITH HEJAZIS, TOO


3. (C) Post has often reported on Hejazi denigration of
"backward" Nejdi behavior. At the Indian National Day
celebration Pol/Econ Chief discussed this with British
Consulate Political Counselor Derek Cooper, who has recently
come to Jeddah after service in Riyadh. With no little
amusement, he confided that Nejdis are inclined to
characterize Hejazis as "wayward cousins" in need of
understanding, and perhaps a little discipline. He noted
that Nejdis are far less open in expressing this opinion,
reluctant to publicly acknowledge any division in the
nation's unity. One must, he said, know them very well
before a Nejdi will give voice to this prejudice.

AUSTRIAN BUSINESS STRATEGY IN SAUDI ARABIA: "GET YOUR MONEY
AND GET OUT"


4. (C) Although widely acknowledged as an extremely risky
environment, the flourishing Saudi economy is too tempting to
ignore. Foreign consulates are agonizing over the best
advice to give their countrymen about doing business in Saudi
Arabia. At the India National Day celebration, Pol/Econ
Chief discussed this issue with the Austrian Consul General.
The Austrian asserted that their advice is to avoid long-term
commitments. They do not recommend their citizens make any
direct investment in Saudi Arabia under the current
circumstances. They tell businesses "bring your product,
sell it, get your money and get out."

IN SAUDI ARABIA AS IN AMERICA, SEXUAL HARASSMENT IS THE
WOMAN'S FAULT


5. (U) In Saudi Arabia, as, unfortunately, in America, there
are elements in society that blame women for enticing men to
harass them. A story in the February 1 edition of the
English-language Saudi Gazette reports sentences ranging from
4 months in jail and 100 lashes up to 12 years imprisonment
and 600 lashes were imposed on members of a group of Saudi
youths convicted of indecent assaults on two women in a
pedestrian tunnel. Reports of similar attacks are common,
but what makes this one unusual is that the attackers

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recorded their crime and the video was played in court and a
picture appeared in the paper of a youth accosting a pair of
women cocooned in the traditional abaya. (Note: Abayas are
the traditional outer garment of Saudi women. Usually black,
the abaya covers the wearer from head to foot and provides
only a narrow slit over the eyes to allow a limited view.
Wearing the abaya has been advanced as one reason Saudi women
should not drive, because it severely limits vision and
movement. End note.) The relatively harsh sentences brought
some to the defense of the youths. The report noted that
some defenders blamed the women for "the way they were
wearing their abayas." One can only assume that the women's
eye-slits revealed too much cheekbone and inflamed the
susceptible youths beyond endurance.
Gfoeller