DOG DAYS OF SUMMER? BRIEF TEMPEST OVER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000918 SIPDIS NEA/ARP, NEA/RA, NEA/PPD E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV KU SUBJECT: DOG DAYS OF SUMMER? BRIEF TEMPEST OVER AMBASSADOR'S MISINTERPRETED REMARKS HIGHLIGHTS INTERNAL KUWAITI POLITICAL DIVISIONS Classified By: Political Counselor Pete O'Donohue for reasons 1.4 b and d ¶1. (C) Summary and Comment: A brief media tempest over misinterpreted remarks the Ambassador delivered August 27 to the Middle East Institute in Washington highlights the enduring divide here between the monied/cultured merchant elite and increasingly populous and powerful tribal conservatives. Anecdotal remarks citing the tendency of many here to refer to Kuwait,s four women parliamentarians as "cats" -- followed by the rhetorical question whether such an appellation suggests the remaining Parliamentarians are "dogs" solely on the basis of gender -- have led a handful of news outlets and at least one Islamist and one tribal MP to twist the comments and consequently take umbrage. Public and private Kuwaiti reaction has been running about 90-10 in support of the Ambassador, with Kuwait,s Amir having earlier expressed his appreciation for her speech in a private letter and the powerful Speaker of the Parliament publicly defending the Ambassador. At Ramadan diwaniyyas, the Ambassador and embassy staff have received congratulations for her remarks, which are seen by many (however incorrectly) as the long-overdue excoriation of a tribalist and obstructionist Parliament. Some prominent Kuwaitis have privately (and unhelpfully) urged even more direct and vocal USG criticism. That so many of these Kuwaitis choose themselves to remain publicly silent lest they jeopardize their business interests in this closely intertwined society is an irony largely lost upon them. An irony more widely recognized (and relished) is that the merchant elite here has long kept dogs as household pets and does not view them as unclean as do more conservative tribals. We expect this artificial media controversy to pass with the coming of Eid (the Kuwaiti media did not comment on it September 15); what will remain are the simmering divisions between a historically entitled merchant elite and the more populous tribal upstarts who now through the Parliament are demanding their piece of the pie. End Summary and Comment. ¶2. (C) Kuwaitis bored with the summer heat and waning Ramadan fasting season found a brief respite from the tedium when a Kuwaiti newspaper, Al-Rai, printed a front page story on September 11 erroneously reporting that the Ambassador, in an August 27 speech at the Middle East Institute (MEI) in Washington, had referred to MPs in Kuwait's parliament as "cats and dogs." The vigorous public response to the story -- which brought stout defenses of the Ambassador and her remarks from liberals and resentful mutterings from Islamists -- revealed much about the deep social chasm that divides Kuwaiti society. Kuwait's largely well-off and cosmopolitan urban elite applauded the speech and took heart from the Ambassador's positive characterization of the bilateral relationship; as many of them are westernized pet owners, most of them also found nothing offensive in the Ambassador's reference to dogs. A handful of Kuwait's Islamists, however, who continue to feel themselves on the social and political periphery, read into the remark a sign of Western contempt for the Islamists, primary political institution the Parliament. One Islamist MP even went so far as to publicly call for the Ambassador,s removal, the temerity of which engendered even more impassioned defenses of the Ambassador and the bilateral relationship, including publicly by Parliament Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi. ¶3. (U) The Al-Rai article generated a number of additional press inquiries and subsequent press stories. A subsequent online version of the Al-Rai article was accompanied by a large number of reader responses and reactions, the vast majority of which were positive. Al-Rai also, on September 13 published a translated transcript of the Ambassador's entire speech. This proved helpful in clarifying the Ambassador's statements and in highlighting the Ambassador's efforts to underscore the close and cooperative friendship between the U.S. and Kuwait. (Note: Embassy's Public Affairs Office has suggested to press inquirers that they listen to the Ambassador's original speech, available as a podcast on Embassy's website. Embassy has also provided the Department with press guidance. End Note.) ¶4. (C) The backstory is that in delivering her remarks, the Ambassador noted that many Kuwaitis refer to four female parliamentarians elected in May elections -- a first-ever success for Kuwaiti women -- as the "four cats", even though the four women in question are markedly different from each other in their temperaments and political views. The KUWAIT 00000918 002 OF 002 Ambassador added that she sometimes chides her Kuwaiti friends by asking if that designation is granted on the basis of their gender alone, does that mean that the 46 remaining parliamentarians are dogs? The story was apparently first picked up -- and mis-reported -- by a Lebanese weekly magazine "Al-Watan Al-Arabi" (whose owner is rumored to have once been on Saddam Hussein's payroll writing negative stories about Kuwait). Judging from the overwhelmingly positive response to the speech of Kuwaitis who have contacted the Embassy or discussed the issue in the press, most Kuwaitis understand that the Ambassador's remarks contained no criticism -- implied or otherwise -- of Kuwait's parliament or its membership. The Amir himself earlier took the unprecedented step of sending the Ambassador a private letter of congratulations for the speech, praising its vigorous defense of the bilateral relationship. Most media outlets published a September 13 statement by Parliament Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi confirming that the text of the speech contained no insulting references to MPs and calling on the press to check the accuracy of its reporting. ¶5. (C) Notwithstanding the overwhelmingly positive public response to the speech and to the Ambassador's actions on behalf of the bilateral relationship, the "cats and dogs" comment enjoyed a brief flurry of interest on Kuwait's diwaniya circuit due, in part, to summer boredom. Inevitably, a few MPs asked for clarification on the Ambassador's remarks and one, Mohammed Al-Hayef (reportedly without having read the translation of the Ambassador's speech),told Al-Rai newspaper that the GOK should ask the USG to withdraw the Ambassador. In response, the Arabic daily Al-Yawm published an article criticizing Al-Hayef's comments, praising the Ambassador's efforts to enhance the "special alliance" that brings the U.S. and Kuwait together. The Kuwaiti press did not cover the story September 15 and post expects the focus will shift to other issues real and imagined with the advent of Eid. ********************************************* ********* For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: visit Kuwait's Classified Website at: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it ********************************************* ********* JONES