TFLE01: TUNISIAN REACTION TO LEBANON/ISRAEL/GAZA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TUNIS 002084 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA/MAG FOR HARRIS; NEA/PPD FOR FERNANDEZ E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/09/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KMPI KPAO ASEC TS SUBJECT: TFLE01: TUNISIAN REACTION TO LEBANON/ISRAEL/GAZA REF: A. TUNIS 2026 ¶B. TUNIS 1988 ¶C. TUNIS 387 Classified By: CDA David Ballard for Reasons 1.4 b & d ¶1. (C) Summary: The general Tunisian public perception of current events in Lebanon and Gaza, fueled by local and pan-Arab media, is that the U.S. is offering unlimited support to Israeli "aggression." A broad range of Tunisian contacts, who share this perception, tell us that this is consequently seriously damaging the USG image and credibility in the region. The GOT continues to make public calls for an immediate cease-fire, has asked fellow Arab governments to pledge support for "the reconstruction of Lebanon" and spearheaded an initiative at the UN Human Rights Council to call for an extraordinary session on the events in Lebanon. The President of the Tunisian American Friendship Association, who also serves as the President of the Tunisian American Chamber of Commerce sent a letter addressed to the Ambassador, strongly critical of the U.S. response to the current crisis. Tunisian press continues its sensationalist coverage of the conflict, lambasting Israel and the U.S. and glorifying the "Lebanese Resistance." Tunisian lawyers marched in solidarity with the Lebanese and the Palestinians, and according to an AP press report a group of Tunisian artists and intellectuals called for a boycott on U.S. goods. A broad range of Tunisian contacts have sent us a uniform message: the USG's current perceived actions in the Lebanon crisis are seriously damaging the U.S. image and credibility in the region. End Summary. ¶2. (C) The following are this week's reactions from the GOT, the press, and civil society groups on the situation in Lebanon. GOT REACTION -------------- -- On August 10, President Ben Ali devoted a large section of his speech to the annual Tunisian diplomatic chiefs of mission conference to the crisis in the Levant. Ben Ali reiterated the GOT's official position of calling for an immediate cease-fire, the preservation of innocent lives and expediated diplomatic negotiations and solutions. Ben Ali said Tunisia stands with the Lebanese people, and called on the UN to reach an acceptable resolution as soon as possible. The President asked wealthy Arab countries to assist financially to rebuild Lebanon. He further emphasized that the solution to the Lebanese crisis could not be disassociated from the need for international protection of the Palestinian people. -- On August 8, President Ben Ali met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, on a two-day visit to Tunisia. The two discussed the situation in Gaza and Lebanon, a possible UNSC resolution on Lebanon, and the next Arab summit, among other topics. (See Ref A) -- Tunisia, on behalf of the Arab Group and the OIC, requested an extraordinary session of the UN Human Rights Council to examine "the flagrant violations of human rights by Israel in Lebanon, notably the Qana massacre, as well as attacks against civilians and the destruction of essential infrastructure throughout the territory of the country." The session was supported by 16 other Council members and was scheduled to begin on 11 August. -- Foreign Minister Abdelwahab Abdallah led a Tunisian delegation to Arab Foreign Ministers meeting held August 7 in Beirut. -- On August 5, Tunisian First Lady Leila Ben Ali publicly called for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories in the name of the Arab Women's Organization. She called for UN intervention to preserve humanitarian rights and denounced "acts of collective extermination of which civilians in Palestine and Lebanon are victims and their disastrous consequences for property and infrastructure." -- On August 10, Fouad Mbazaa, President of the Tunisian Parliament, signed a joint statement on the situation in Lebanon along with the Presidents of the European, Greek, and Egyptian Parliaments. These signatories constitute the Bureau of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly. In the statement, the Parliamentary leaders "condemn the military attacks, and call for the UNSC to adopt a resolution for an immediate cease-fire, and on the EU to take a "strong, TUNIS 00002084 002 OF 003 clear and determined role...in order to re-establish the dialogue between all parties concerned." MEDIA REACTION -------------- -- The stridently anti-American newspaper Ash-Sharouq, Tunisia's largest daily with a circulation of 85,000, continued its anti-Israel rants in both straight news reporting and analysis on developments in Lebanon. The paper reported recent Katusha rocket attacks on northern Israel as aimed at "settlements" in "northern Palestine." Hizballah is portrayed as a tenacious and heroic resistance movement; whereas Israel is portrayed as the aggressor and the occupier that commits "massacres" and "crimes" against Lebanese civilians. Several articles characterize the Israeli government and public as confused and dispirited by the hard fighting in south Lebanon and the Katyusha shellings. What ash-Sharouq does not report is as biased as its coverage: no mention is made of Hizballah's use of human shields, its positioning of rocket launchers in civilian areas, or its deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians. There has been virtually no objective treatment of current U.S. peace efforts. To the contrary, ash-Sharouq portrays a U.S. that fully approves of Israeli military operations. "Israel Awaits a Green Light from America to Strike Syria," is one recent example, as is a recent political cartoon depicting Secretary Rice as a ventriloquist for a figure drawn as an IDF general. Ash-Sharouq's sister French paper Le Quotidien largely mirrored Sharouq, if less viciously, portraying Hizballah as a strong resistance movement, describing it even as "threatening Israel's existence." -- Other traditionally more moderate papers, such as the independent French-language Le Temps and the GOT-controlled La Presse, also continued to carry virulent anti-Israel articles, editorials and cartoons. -- In a Jeune Afrique l'Intelligent article criticizing the organization of a recent Mariah Carey concert in Tunisia that failed to meet economic expectations, the author writes that the current political context was not appropriate to hold such an event, since Mariah Carey is American and the U.S. is supporting the "murderous" Israeli offensive in Palestine and Lebanon. When asked his opinion of the concert, a recent Tunisian graduate from a U.S. university was reported in the article to have said that he did not attend because of "current events." CIVIL SOCIETY -------------- -- Post received August 8 a strongly-worded letter from Board Members of the Tunisian American Friendship Association (TAFA),chaired by lawyer and President of the Tunisian American Chamber of Commerce (TACC) Mohamed Moncef Barouni, regretting the events in the Levant, criticizing the U.S. response and suggesting that the credibility of the U.S. was suffering. In the letter Barouni writes: "TAFA has been and will continue to work to promote friendship between the American people and their friends in Tunisia. Unfortunately our mission has become extremely difficult if not impossible." And: "The U.S. unconditional support (of Israel) is regretful and condemnable. All efforts to promote friendship and understanding are meaningless if not laughable if looked at in the perspective of the careless U.S. position we are witnessing today." -- August 8, AP reported a petition, allegedly signed by "tens" of Tunisian artists and intellectuals (NFI) calling for "all Arab intellectuals" to boycott U.S. and Israeli goods, information, cultural institutions and diplomatic missions. The signatories, reportedly including actors, musicians, poets, writers, and reporters, also asked artists to dedicate their performances and works to "the denunciation of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon and behind it the arrogance of the U.S., that wants all free people of the world to bow to its despotic system." (Note: As the report carried no signatures or names, post could not verify any of the alleged signatories of the petition. Post has not noticed any impact of this call to boycott U.S. goods.) -- Between several dozen and two hundred lawyers, according to differing press reports and Embassy contacts, demonstrated August 9 to denounce Israeli military operations against Lebanon. Surrounding by police, the demonstrators marched from the Palace of Justice to the local offices of the U.N., located on the same street in downtown Tunis, where the participants presented a letter addressed to SG Annan. The TUNIS 00002084 003 OF 003 letter reportedly underlined the legitimacy of the "Palestinian and Lebanese resistance", called for an international inquiry into the "Israeli massacres in Lebanon" and accused the UN of failing to protect civilians. According to a professor/activist, the demonstration was sanctioned by the GOT, and the lawyers participating were largely loyal to the ruling RCD-party. This contact complained that all attempts to demonstrate by unrecognized civil society groups continued to be refused by the GOT. -- A prominent civil society activist and the Movement of 18 October (Ref C) told Poloff that Hizballah's rise to prominence in the current crisis was "like vitamins for the Islamists" in Tunisia. He said that even secular Tunisians had to support Hizballah's resistance to Israel's "unfair aggression." He noted that previously state-sponsored Tunisian television only referred to Hizballah indirectly, as "the Lebanese resistance," but that it recent days due to the organizations growing popularity, TV announcers spoke directly of "Hizballah." COMMENT -------------- ¶3. (C) The general Tunisian public perception of current events in Lebanon and Gaza, fueled by local and pan-Arab media, is that the U.S. is offering unlimited support to Israeli "aggression." A broad range of Tunisian contacts, who share this perception, tell us that this is seriously damaging the USG image and credibility in the region. Although we currently note no increase in the level of the security threat to U.S. interests as a result of the current crisis, nor any effects from the alleged call for a boycott of U.S. goods, we anticipate that the prevalent anti-U.S. mood will affect our relationship with some Tunisian contacts, especially independent civil society groups and individuals, with whom we had begun to build closer relationships following boycotts of the U.S. Embassy in the aftermath of war in Iraq in 2003. A cooling off in these relationships may negatively affect our Freedom Agenda and MEPI goals, as these contacts are integral players in both initiatives. BALLARD