TRIP TO SOUTHERN TUNISIA: RESIDENTS TOUGH ON U.S.

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 000010

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG (WLAWRENCE); NEA/IPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/29/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KMPI KPAO TS
SUBJECT: TRIP TO SOUTHERN TUNISIA: RESIDENTS TOUGH ON U.S.
POLICIES, TOLERANT OF ISRAELI FM VISIT.

REF: TUNIS 2533

Classified By: Ambassador William J. Hudson; Reasons 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (C) Summary. Poloff and MEPI FSN visited the southern
industrial town of Gabes December 19-21 and met with ruling
and opposition party leaders, NGOs, and many local residents.
All interlocutors were curious, and many skeptical, about
the visit of an Embassy official to this oft-overlooked
southern city; criticism of US policies in Iraq and the
Middle East was tempered by interest in US exchange and
educational programs. Residents were mostly accepting of
Israeli FM Shalom's November visit. A description of Gabes,
economic and political concerns will follow septel. End
Summary.

Skepticism and Appreciation
--------------


2. (C) Several interlocutors, including members of
loyal-opposition party MDS (Democratic Socialist Movement)
and Karim Hamdi, a Tunisian-American from Gabes who is a
professor at Oregon State University, and who has overseen
U.S.-Tunisian student exchange programs, were adamant in
trying to find out why a U.S diplomat had been sent to Gabes.
When poloff explained that the purpose of the visit was
merely a familiarization tour, to learn about areas of the
country outside the capital, these contacts remained
skeptical, apparently convinced the visit was part of a
larger agenda. At the same time, all interlocutors expressed
appreciation, at varying levels, that we were interested in
learning more about Gabes, as there was a widespread
sentiment that Gabes is often ignored by foreigners and does
not benefit from foreign assistance or exchange programs.
Hamdi strongly urged that more residents of Gabes and other
small cities be recruited as participants in international
visitor programs, Fulbright exchanges, etc.


3. (C) Poloff had attempted to arrange meetings with the
local members of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP),
considered one of the two independent legal opposition
parties, and the president of the Gabes chapter of the
independent Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH). Although we
have regular contact with these groups in Tunis, the Gabes
representatives refused the meeting request. They cited as
reasons both internal pressure from members strongly opposed
to US Iraq and Middle East policies, and also fear of
unspecified retribution from Tunisian security agents for
uncleared meetings with Embassy officials. Semi-independent
opposition party Ettajdid leader Yusuf Hamrouni told poloff
that although members of his party did not oppose his meeting
with a US diplomat, he had received "significant pressure"
from close friends and relatives who sympathize with the
outlawed religious-based An-Nahda party. Hamrouni expressed
concern that the US was isolating itself in the Arab world by
equating Islam with terrorism, but acknowledged the
importance of outreach events such as White House Iftar
dinners.

Iraq
--------------


4. (C) Virtually every discussion included a protest of US
activity in Iraq, and, to a lesser degree, in
Israel/Palestine. A common theme was that the U.S., which
had once been seen as a model of democracy and human rights,
and whose advice on these issues was previously respected by
Arab populations, had now lost all credibility due to its
conduct of the war. Karim Hamdi, who identified himself as
"100 percent American and 100 percent Tunisian", said that
this "extreme disappointment" was expressed to him by
everyone from his intellectual and professional contacts, to
vegetable sellers and villagers in his home village outside
of Gabes. Opposition party representatives such as Yusuf
Hamrouni and MDS officials discussed this issue at length,
attacking US actions in Iraq and asking poloff to explain our
policy and our future plans in the region. (NB: Despite
repeated attempts by our visitors, neither party
representative was able to offer any comment on domestic
Tunisian issues, or offer any semblance of a political
platform. However, this is also true even of party
leadership in Tunis.)

Shalom Visit to Tunisia
--------------


5. (C) On the margins of his November visit to the World

Summit on Information Society, Israeli foreign minister
Sylvan Shalom, a native Tunisian, and his mother, visited
their former home in Gabes (reftel). Security, according to
residents, was predictably heavy; "500 policemen" by one
local's estimation. They confirmed reports that a small
protest, arranged at the time by opposition party PDP, was
shut down by Gabes police. Interestingly, the prevailing
sentiment among Gabesians poloff questioned about the
unprecedented visit was indifference. "I do not care at all,"
said one vendor in Gabes' central market. One restaurant
manager opined that some Gabesians did not care that Shalom
represented Israel, but begrudged the attention given to "a
Jew." (NB: This comment is contrary to the much more widely
expressed tolerance of Jews, including those living in
Tunisia, that is coupled with criticism of Israel.) Poloff
met with Lackrach Hedi, a lawyer, former mayor of Gabes and
former Parliamentarian, who, in his role as a legal
representative for "Jewish communities and interests in
Tunisia," accompanied the Shalom delegation on its Gabes
tour. Hedi said that Shalom was extremely grateful for the
chance to see his former home, and repeated, "this is a
dream," several times during the trip. Hedi said that
Shalom,s visit has led Jewish expatriates in Israel and
Europe to plan visits to Gabes and surrounding areas, and
that he expects a significant group of "pilgrims" in the
coming months (NFI).


6. Comment: Travel outside the capital is always
instructive; in this case, it was interesting to note that
while we meet regularly with PDP head Chebbi and LTDH
President Trifi in Tunis, their respective rank and file in
Gabes maintain a boycott on USG contacts. More frequent
travel by us might soften this stand. Also noteworthy, and
positive, was the relative acceptance of Israeli FM Shalom's
visit to his boyhood home and the possibility of more travel
by Israeli and other Jews to Tunisia.
HUDSON