"LA DOLCE VITA:" JEDDAWI ELITE NOSTALGIC FOR LOST

C O N F I D E N T I A L JEDDAH 000198

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2016
TAGS: PGOV SA SCUL SOCI
SUBJECT: "LA DOLCE VITA:" JEDDAWI ELITE NOSTALGIC FOR LOST
LIBERTIES

Classified By: Consul General Tatiana C. Gfoeller for reasons 1.4 (b) a
nd (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY In conversations with the Consul General over
the last eight months, Saudi Consulate contacts of the
"baby-boomer" generation frequently reminisce about a lost
heyday of openness and frivolity in Jeddah during the 1970s.
These elites attribute the change to a conservative backlash
following the seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979,
the fall of the Shah of Iran the same year, and the
consequences of attempts to conceal the dissolute lifestyle
of former King Fahd. Many contacts simultaneously acknowledge
a recent, though muted, return of some of the previous social
freedoms, which they hope will engender a more liberal
attitude among the younger generation. END SUMMARY

FOND MEMORIES OF "LA DOLCE VITA"


2. (C) Numerous elites of the "baby-boomer" generation have
reminisced in conversations with the Consul General about
their experiences in a more tolerant, and often decadent,
Jeddah during the 1970s. One contact, a prominent and
wealthy businessman, fondly recalled strolls down Tahlia
Street (the city's most cosmopolitan area) with an Irish
stewardess clad in a miniskirt on each arm--one holding his
cigarette and the other carrying a bottle of whiskey.
According to the contact, such open displays of intimacy and
alcohol, both of which would be strongly discouraged if not
criminal in today's social climate, elicited no attention
from passers-bye at the time. Similarly, a second contact
remembered weekend yacht trips on the Red Sea with topless
Western women and champagne complimenting a day of fishing.
While yacht trips are still to be had for wealthy Jeddawis,
bikinis are the most risqu one can find these days, and
alcohol is in short supply (see reftel).


3. (C) Less extreme examples of a bygone openness in Jeddah
are also heard from long-time residents (both Saudi and
third-country nationals),many of whom come from more modest
backgrounds. A lost tolerance for liberal dress is a
particular focus; many note the previously-common practice of
men wearing shorts and the now-unheard of idea of women
appearing in public without an abbaya (the traditional black
robe worn by Saudi women).

NEJDI INFLUENCE AND THE CULTURE OF CONCEALMENT


4. (C) Contacts, ranging from the ostentatiously wealthy to
the modest middle-class, consider the 1979 seizure of Mecca's
Grand Mosque by Islamic extremists and the fall of the Shah
of Iran the same year as the turning point. Following these
events, Jeddah residents indicate that the SAG was forced to
outflank conservative opponents by allowing the ulema (the
clerical establishment) to curb many social freedoms and that
the Hejaz region was particularly affected, as it had
previously enjoyed more latitude than the tradition-bound
Nejd (the heartland of the Al Saud family). These tensions
were exacerbated by the ascension of King Fahd to the throne
in 1982, who was widely-known for leading a dissolute
lifestyle of lavish European vacations, womanizing, and
alcohol use. Contacts have related to Poloff that the SAG's
decision to attempt to hide the King's habits from the
public, with the tacit consent of the ulema, led to the
creation of a culture of concealment within the society,
given the royal family's central role in the country.

MUTED RETURN TO OPENNESS


5. (C) Many Jeddawis claim that this culture of concealment
percolated through all segments of the population during the
1980s and 1990s and has limited the exposure of today's youth
to the ideas of liberalism. Nonetheless, upper-class
Jeddawis have told the CG that the recent proliferation of
private universities in the Kingdom, which serve as "enclaves
of tolerance," indicate a subtle return to openness. In the
words of one man, "Things may be emerging after a terrible
drought." Despite this, the social balance has clearly
shifted to the right. Salhia Beach, owned by a member of the
Bin Laden family and popular among wealthy Saudis and other
Westernized Arabs (Saad Al Hariri often visits),is a far cry
from the decadence of the 1970s. Though frequented largely by
families, with mothers in modest bathing suits caring for
children happily building castles in the sand, it is still
considered somewhat risqu in today's environment. END
Gfoeller