JEDDAH JOURNAL 11: JEDDAH BUSINESSMAN HONORS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 JEDDAH 000329 SIPDIS SIPDIS RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN; DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP; PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/29/2016 TAGS: ELAB KISL KWMN PREL PTER SA SCUL SUBJECT: JEDDAH JOURNAL 11: JEDDAH BUSINESSMAN HONORS CONTROVERSIAL CLERIC, MECCA CULTURAL CLUB ADMITS WOMEN, WOMEN'S JOB FAIR, BRIDGING THE GENDER DIVIDE, IRAQI AND YEMENI BORDER ISSUES, A NEW APPROACH TO CHALLENGED CHILDREN REF: A. JEDDAH 106 ¶B. JEDDAH 300 JEDDAH 00000329 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: Consul General Tatiana Gfoeller for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) SAUDI ISLAMIST, OUT OF PRISON, MODERATES HIS MESSAGE ¶1. (U) Saudi Islamist Salman al-Ouda was the guest of honor at the April 24 "Ithnayniyya" (Monday lecture series) of Jeddah construction magnate Abdelmaksoud Khoja. The Ithnayniyya was attended by a number of mutawwa'in (members of the religious police, conspicuous with their long beards, short thobes, and igal-less ghutras),who appeared distinctly out of place among the two hundred or so businessmen, civil servants, and intellectuals who came to Khoja's rococo palace to hear the controversial cleric speak. (Note: Both men and women attend the Ithnayniyyas, though they sit in separate areas. End note.) Any extremists in the audience were surely disappointed. Al-Ouda, who was identified in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing trial as Osama bin Laden's "spiritual advisor" and who reportedly issued a 2001 fatwa justifying and advocating suicide bombings, is a recent convert to moderate Islam. The speakers at the Ithnayniyya praised al-Ouda mainly for the success of his website, Islam Today, which was said to have attracted more than 230 million visitors. ¶2. (U) Some say al-Ouda, who was imprisoned in the 1990s for criticizing the Saudi regime, has become a mouthpiece for that regime. In his speech, al-Ouda said the concept of "the Other" is meaningless and urged the audience to be open to all traditions, including the West. He noted that he himself has made use of Western innovations, first by using cassette tapes (tapes of his sermons were reportedly found in one of Osama bin Laden's Afghanistan residences) and now the internet to spread his message. The usefulness of the West is not limited to information technology, though. Al-Ouda criticized the closed-minded--"those who will believe something because one man wrote it"--and praised those who read widely and come to their own conclusions. MECCA CULTURAL CLUB ADMITS WOMEN TO THE HALL, THOUGH NOT THE SAME HALL AS MEN ¶3. (U) The Jeddah-based newspaper Okaz reported on April 11 that the Mecca Cultural Club has decided to permit women to participate in its events. Twenty women will be able to attend the meetings of the 33-year-old club. Moreover, the club is constructing a new hall on its premises so that up to 150 women will eventually be able to participate in events, via closed circuit television. COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION HOLDS FIRST WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT FAIR ¶4. (U) The women's campus of Jeddah's College of Business Administration (CBA) held its first-ever employment fair on April 17. More than 25 companies, both local and international, set up booths to recruit female CBA students. The day's events featured workshops on such topics as writing a successful resume and preparing for a job interview, and a presentation on "The Dynamics of Change," by Nashwa Taher, who made history by being among the first two women to win a seat on the board of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry in November 2005 elections. SOMETIMES MEN NEED MAHRAMS, TOO! ¶5. (U) PAO met a leading Saudi journalist for dinner at a popular Jeddah restaurant on April 23. The male journalist arrived early only to discover he could not enter the restaurant without a female companion because the entire restaurant was reserved for "families." (Note: Many restaurants go "families-only" on Fridays, leaving Saudi shabab (as well as single male Consulate officers) with no place to hang out. End note.) He phoned PAO and joked that he needed her to be his mahram (guardian, a term normally reserved for the male family member required to accompany a Saudi woman in public). ¶6. (U) Upon PAO's arrival at the restaurant, she and the journalist were seated without any problem. The journalist said it is becoming increasingly common for women--sometimes JEDDAH 00000329 002.2 OF 003 even foreign maids--to accompany men to popular "families-only" restaurants for a fee. Moreover, the journalist noted that only through women such as PAO, who had arranged a speaking engagement for him at a women's college, could he pursue interviews and other professional contacts with Saudi women. Gender segregation in Saudi Arabia seems to hinder networking and professional development for both men and women. This is an area where female FSOs are unique; official American women are able to bridge the gender divide and introduce Saudi men and women on a professional level. NO SAUDI SEPARATION WALL, JUST THERMAL SENSORS ¶7. (U) Saudi authorities on April 11 denied a report that had appeared the previous day on the Arabic-language website al-Sahat stating that the Saudi government is considering building a "Security Separation Wall" on its Iraqi border. The al-Sahat report went on to state that British construction firms are very interested in the 900-kilometer project. The Saudis flatly denied that they are considering constructing a separation wall, and stated that they are merely investigating ways to improve border security, such as by adding thermal sensors along the border. FARASAN ISLANDS: VACATION PARADISE, SMUGGLING WAYSTATION ¶8. (U) As Post has previously reported, Abdulrahman Abdulhag, the Governor of the Farasan Islands, an archipelago in the southern Red Sea twenty-five miles offshore of the mainland port of Jizan, has ambitious plans to modernize the islands' infrastructure and promote tourism (reftel A). On a recent diving trip to the reefs of the Farasan Bank--noted by no less than Jacques Cousteau for their underwater life--ConGenOff came to the unavoidable conclusion that achievement of the Governor's first goal must necessarily precede pursuit of the second. ConGenOff was nearly stranded on the desert island of Farasan, and the journey of two colleagues stalled in Jizan, as a merely moderate wind rendered the sound between Jizan and Farasan impassable to the motorized feluccas which ply the waters. All commerce with the mainland ceased. Asked if this was a common occurrence, the manager of the Farasan Hotel said simply, "You should come back in July. The seas are very calm then." ¶9. (C) The car ferry remained docked as well, though accounts differed as to why. Saudi coast guard officials assured ConGenOff that the ferry could not make the voyage from Farasan to Jizan because of the windy conditions, while a hotel employee informed ConGenOff that one of the officials had told him they had held the ferry at port because they had caught passengers attempting to smuggle guns and qat (a plant whose leaves, when chewed, are said to produce a mild euphoric or stimulating effect) from Yemen into Saudi Arabia. Certainly Farasan is not immune from contraband trade. On the main commercial street of Farasan, ConGenOff saw an Indian worker purchasing a bottle of whiskey in plain sight. He noticed ConGenOff and laughed. "It's okay," he said, "I'm Hindu." CHALLENGED CHILDREN OF JEDDAH JOYFUL AT THE HORSE RANCH ¶10. (U) On April 19, 2006, the CG and PAO visited a private horse ranch northeast of Jeddah. After touring the stables with the facilitator, a senior Western woman, several Saudi families arrived with mentally and physically challenged children to enjoy and hour of supervised horse riding and unique, fun activities like playing catch on horseback. These children, at times with hands raised in the air, were obviously thrilled to be parading on horseback with their fathers at their side to hold them on the saddle. ¶11. (C) The ranch has historically been run by volunteers who, for one reason or another, have not been able to come to the weekly riding sessions for the past month. The Western facilitator told the children's mothers that riding lessons would have to be shut down for a month until the volunteers returned unless, of course, the children's fathers could come help. At first, the mothers proclaimed that their husbands would never come, but slowly over the last few weeks, the ranch has seen more and more fathers coming to volunteer. The CG noted that these men dressed in their traditional thobes and gutras seemed awkward at first, but became surprisingly enthusiastic when they realized that they could do it. JEDDAH 00000329 003 OF 003 ¶12. (C) One mother told the CG that the hour-long session on the horse was the longest amount of time that her husband had ever spent with their disabled child. The experience was about more than the developmental benefits that the child received from riding the horse; it was also about his rare connection with his distant father. While the Western woman anticipates the return of her volunteers in the coming weeks, she wants to keep the fathers involved in their children's activities at the ranch. ¶13. (C) The Western facilitator, fearful of being shut down, requested that no official press or attention be raised regarding the CG's visit. The CG offered to help the ranch by providing positive publicity, similar to the publicity afforded the Hope Center (reftel B),another non-profit organization with which the ranch is affiliated. The facilitator said "no" and explained that she has been working on creating such a facility for twelve years and only last year was able to pull it all together. She has faced several obstacles in her endeavor to provide a "center" for helping disabled children grow emotionally, physically, and mentally. First, there is the utter Saudi indifference towards disabled persons and the general feeling that children with disabilities are worthless and doomed to a lifetime of hardship. Second, as a society, Saudis do not understand or recognize the fact that with scientific advances, progress can be made towards helping disabled children grow and develop into functioning adults. Finally, the Western facilitator explained, it would be impossible to separate the boys and girls during the horseback riding sessions because the children are so developmentally challenged. If the mutawwa ever learned that she was conducting these unisex sessions, even for boys and girls as young as three, the ranch would be shut down. Gfoeller