CONTROVERSY OVER AL-AZHAR ENGLISH LANGUAGE RESEARCH CENTER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 003558 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/PPD, ECA, IIP, R/PPR Gretchen Welch, ECA/A/L John Connerley E.O.12958:N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV KPAO KIRF KDEM SCUL SOCI EG SUBJECT: CONTROVERSY OVER AL-AZHAR ENGLISH LANGUAGE RESEARCH CENTER PLAYS OUT IN MEDIA Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The recent opening of the English Language Research Center (ELRC) at the premier Islamic studies university in the Middle East (Al-Azhar University in Cairo) was a key milestone in U.S. public diplomacy efforts in Egypt. There have been ten articles on the new center, three of them wholly negative. While media coverage of the ELRC inauguration itself on November 19 was straightforward, some professors and students have recently aired their grievances in the media. Those who oppose the ELRC are openly skeptical of the center's purpose and see it as an American Trojan horse, which will be used to spread American culture and values at the expense of the university's Islamic tradition. Al-Azhar administrators have so far defended the ELRC in the press, providing much needed balance in the overall media coverage and indicating their desire to make the center a success. End summary. -------------- OPENING GOES OFF WITHOUT A HITCH -------------- ¶2. (U) On November 19, 2007 the Ambassador inaugurated the new ELRC at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. The ELRC is a collaborative effort between the Embassy and Al-Azhar to improve the English language skills of lecturers in Al-Azhar University's Islamic and Arabic Studies faculties. The Center's faculty includes seven Egyptian professors and two American English Language Fellows (ELFs). While the center is administered by Al-Azhar, costs are shared equally by the University and the Embassy, using funds from R and ECA. ¶3. (U) The Ambassador's speech inaugurating the center was well-received and coverage was straightforward in the pro-government dailies of Al Ahram, Al Gomhouriya and Rose al Youssef. Only the independent daily Nahdet Masr hinted that the center could raise "a major controversy in the near future." -------------- ENTER THE CRITICS -------------- ¶4. (U) During the past month, sporadic articles in the press have revealed an undercurrent of discontent about the ELRC among some in Egyptian academic circles. On November 28, in the sensationalist daily Al-Dostur, the former President of Al-Azhar University, Dr. Abdel-Fattah Al-Sheikh, asked rhetorically "what does it mean to have an American center where Americans are teaching and running it? What a catastrophe!" A few days later in an article in Al Osboa dated December 1, the ELRC conspiracy theory was spelled out in more detail: "The aim is clear to all: such a center is the 'hidden eye' for those who write reports from the Embassy to the U.S. administration, and are told to 'Americanize' a generation of Al-Azhar scholars with brainwashing." ¶5. (U) The December 20-26 edition of the English language Al Ahram weekly carried a more balanced article entitled "American English," which cited several ELRC critics. One anonymous Al-Azhar professor was quoted: "we view this American centre as a gradual cultural occupation which will eventually lead to American hegemony over Al-Azhar curricula." Ahmed Thabet, professor of political science at Cairo University, declared that "one can easily see that the ELRC aspires to more than teaching the English language. The Egyptian government's hesitation to modernize Al-Azhar's curricula and its entrenched ways of thinking and structural body paved the way for the American Embassy to violate the sacredness of Al-Azhar University." A criticism of a different sort appeared in Rose Al Youssef on December 16. "Al-Azhar University is witnessing dissatisfaction among the teachers who are currently receiving training at the U.S. Embassy language lab. Some of them... confirmed that the times of the training impede them from teaching, which deprives them of many financial benefits." In fact, this is not true as Al-Azhar administrators have guaranteed that those participating in the English language training will receive the same financial benefits as before. -------------- AL-AZHAR UNIVERSITY WEIGHS IN -------------- ¶6. (U) Despite the complaints, Al-Azhar university administrators have defended the ELRC in the press. In the evening daily Al Messa on December 14, AL-Azhar University Vice President Dr. Ezz Eddin El Sawy "confirmed that the talk about implementing an American plot to penetrate Al-Azhar and its university... is a lie and ready-made accusation by those who seek to spread chaos. The mission of the Center is to teach English to non-speakers from the teaching corps and students, so they can have dialogue with the West." In the same Al Ahram weekly article "American English," Al-Azhar spokesman Omar El-Deeb defends the ELRC by stating that "we made an English CAIRO 00003558 002 OF 002 assessment of the lecturers... The result was not satisfactory at all. The Al-Azhar administration believes that it is essential that Islamic lecturers and professors be in full command of the English language for many reasons, including being able to prepare their thesis if they study abroad." ¶7. (SBU). To date overall media coverage of the Al-Azhar ELRC has generated approximately ten articles written on the topic. Three have been wholly negative. Given the climate of suspicion against the United States, especially regarding Islam, Al-Azhar's firm stand underlines their desire for expanded academic linkages. This week their President signed a student exchange agreement with Claremont College, and he is eager for scholarships enabling dozens of Al-Azhar graduate students to earn higher degrees in the US. Al Azhar's actions have been a welcome sign and a powerful shield against domestic Egyptian criticism. RICCIARDONE