BAH HUMBUG! SALAFI MP SLAMS CHRISTMAS PARTY FOR

UNCLAS KUWAIT 004687 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KISL KIRF KU ISLAMISTS SUBJECT: BAH HUMBUG! SALAFI MP SLAMS CHRISTMAS PARTY FOR ORPHANS REF: 04 KUWAIT 4552 ¶1. (U) Salafi MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei sent a formal question to the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor complaining about the "irresponsible violations" that occurred when an American army delegation delivered toys to an orphanage run by the Ministry on December 10, reported the Arabic daily Al-Rai. Gifts are distributed every year, according to the article, but this year the Arab Muslim female supervisor of the GOK-funded orphanage hung "Merry Christmas" signs and pictures of Santa Claus on the walls in addition to giving out flowers that had Santa Claus' picture and "Merry Christmas" cards attached. The orphanage supervisor wrote a speech for the American delegation and had one of the orphans read it. According to the newspaper's account Tabtabaei complained that the speech was filled with Christian expressions, "with our respect to them of course," such as "God bless you," which along with the lighted candles made the room resemble a church. ¶2. (U) Several Kuwaitis responded to news of Tabtabaei's complaint. A liberal Kuwaiti wrote in the Al-Qabas daily that "Merry Christmas should be said with a loud voice to all our Christian brothers without fear of MPs who lack the spirit of tolerance. Merry Christmas to each senior officer and junior soldier in the American and British armies and other secular Christians who came 15 years ago to liberate our country from the Iraqi occupation." Mohammad Baqer Al-Mohri, Kuwait's most prominent Shi'a cleric, released a press statement praising the prophet Jesus and saying there was no reason not to wish Christians well on Christmas. Several days ago, Mohri publicly criticized Tabtabaei for anti-Shi'a remarks about events in Iraq. ¶3. (SBU) Comment: Each year at Christmas time there are complaints from extremist Muslims about Christmas displays in stores and warnings against wishing "Merry Christmas" to people. In recent years, popular pressure led some stores to remove public Christmas displays or Christmas trees for sale (see reftel). This year, however, anti-Christmas sentiment has been muted and Kuwaiti malls and stores have displayed Christmas-related displays without problems. End Comment. ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * TUELLER