TRIBAL/URBAN DIVIDE UNDERLIES DEBATE OVER RAMADAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 000958 SIPDIS NEA/ARP, NEA/RA E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/04/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KU SUBJECT: TRIBAL/URBAN DIVIDE UNDERLIES DEBATE OVER RAMADAN CENSORSHIP REF: KUWAIT 925 Classified By: Political Counselor Pete O'Donohue for reasons 1.4 b and d ¶1. (C) Summary: Government attempts to censor programs parodying senior government figures and Kuwait's parliament during the recent Ramadan season (which traditionally functions as something of a "Sweeps Season" for Kuwait's public and private TV channels) aroused extensive criticism from media outlets across the ideological spectrum and from Kuwait's more cosmopolitan chattering classes. The government's clumsy effort to ban the programs proved a poor match for modern communications techology, as the programs quickly re-appeared on YouTube, beyond the GOK's reach; the offending private satellite channel that introduced the shows was also quickly able to continue broadcasting them under a slightly different guise. While the issue tests the limits of the GOK's generally excellent record on press freedoms and highlights its sensitivity about traditional "redlines" that warn away from direct criticism of senior political figures, it, even more, reveals a growing social and psychological divide between Kuwait's somewhat progressive urban elite and the demographically growing tribalists who, in recent years, have used their social compact with the ruling Al Sabah (reftel) to advance their influence in parliament and other GOK institutions. These folks viewed the parodies as an attack by the elite on persons to whom they owe (sporadic) traditional loyalty but, even more, on a parliamentary institution where they now play a growing, but much-criticized role. END Summary. TV Parody Encroaches on Fuzzy GOK Redlines -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Kuwait's deserved reputation as a haven of press freedom in the Arab world (rated by Freedom House as the freest in the region) was challenged during the just-completed Ramadan season when, on August 25, the Ministry of Interior yanked a popular political parody entitled "Sawtak Wasil" ("Your Message Has Been Heard") from the air on grounds that it insulted the Kuwaiti political figures it imitated, including Kuwaiti Prime Minister Shaykh Nasser Al Sabah and Speaker of Parliament Jassem Al-Khorafi. The Ministry initially referred Scope TV, the private channel that aired the show, to the public prosecutor on charges that the content of the show violated Kuwait's audio-visual media law, but later dropped the inquiry in the face of public criticism. Scope TV first responded to the ministry's action by cancelling the series, but subsequently resumed airing of the show under a new title ("Ammak Asmagh" or "Your Uncle is Deaf" -- a Kuwaiti idiom that implies being fed-up with the cacophony of life). The show also migrated to YouTube, beyond the reach of GOK censors, where it enjoyed wide viewership. Ramadan is traditionally a time when Kuwait's various TV stations, both public and private, aggressively compete for market share, knowing that many Kuwaitis spend the season at home and glued to their TV sets. This knowledge causes Kuwait's media outlets to try to push the envelope a bit further than normal during what effectively amounts to Kuwait's "Sweeps Season" -- and nowhere is this clearer than in comedy programming, whiere Kuwait traditionally has known modest fame across the Arab world. ¶3. (SBU) "Sawtak Wasil," which only aired three of its planned fifteen segments before MOI's clumsy attempt to ban it, offended some Kuwaitis with its lampooning of Speaker Al-Khorafi as the hapless headmaster of a classroom full of unruly schoolboys -- an obvious parody of the PM's sometimes passive real-life performance in parliament and a parody, as well, of Kuwait's fractious parliamentarians. (Note: To his credit, the real-life Speaker publicly stated that he watched the show parodying him and found nothing objectionable; he merely cautioned would-be lampooners to do nothing to encourage national division. END Note.) Even more daringly, another segment parodied PM Shaykh Nasser as an official who is perennially out of touch with current issues, and simultaneously challenged the competence of his Council of Ministers. In the episode, the PM queries his Council of Ministers on why citizens are complaining about an electricity shortage and receives, in response, a range of humorously ludicrous responses. The show portrays the PM as ordering the prosecution of Kuwait's media outlets, blaming them for the shortage. In the episode's sequel, the PM calls on his ministers to keep everyone satisfied to prevent difficulties from reaching his desk, stating, "I do not like trouble." Liberals Object to Ban, Conservatives Not So Much -------------- -------------- KUWAIT 00000958 002 OF 003 ¶4. (SBU) The Interior Ministry's attempt to censor the show sparked a firestorm of criticism from media outlets on all sides of Kuwait's ideological spectrum, virtually all of whom were offended by what they perceived as an unwarranted intrusion into media freedoms. Kuwait's MPs also jumped into the fray, with liberals like Marzooq Al-Ghanem and Dr. Aseel Al-Awadhi condemning the ban and conservative Islamists such as Mohammed Hayef and Dr. Dhaifallah Bu Ramiyah endorsing the Ministry's decision. Kuwait's Islamic Constitutional Movement (the Muslim Brotherhood in Kuwait -- presently only represented by one MP but girding for a comeback),issued a statement trying to split the difference by noting that Kuwait's Constitution guarantees freedom of the press and protects the right to criticize, but not to insult public figures. While it is difficult to gauge the reaction of the average Kuwaiti to the show, diwaniyya chatter tended to break down along ideological lines -- with liberals amused and conservatives appalled. In any case, it is clear that large audiences from both sides were watching. Tribalists See Parodies As Attack on Them -------------- ¶5. (C) More than anything else, the controversy over the shows appears to have underscored the long-abiding social divide between Kuwait's long-resident and relatively cosmopolitan downtown urban elite and both self-identified "Islamists" and the demographically growing and more conservative "tribalist" elements descended from former Bedouin who tend to cluster in Kuwait's outer districts. In the view of the urban elite, the long-running social compact between the Al Sabah ruling family and the tribalists (reftel) that has put increasing numbers of tribalists in parliament and in the GOK's various bureaucratic structures in exchange for their sporadic loyalty to the Al Sabahs, has diminished the relevance of parliament and their interest in playing a role in it. For the urban elite -- who dominate Kuwait's press and other "chattering classes" -- the Scope parodies were a welcome barb at a set of institutions -- parliament and the Al-Sabah-dominated GOK -- that they increasingly view as feckless and irrelevant; more and more the urban elite have turned away from government and back to traditional mercantile activities as a focus of their energies. Increasingly influenced by Western media styles and modes of democratic discourse, many of the urban elite are supportive of critiques on Kuwait's governmental institutions and hope such assaults can kick-start new responsiveness from these institutions. ¶6. (C) For tribalists and many of their Islamist brethren, however, the parodies are an attack on an institution -- Parliament -- that they increasingly view as their wedge into political power and enhanced social position. At the same time, as social conservatives, they are instinctively uncomfortable with fun being poked at senior national figures. First and foremost, however, the Scope TV parodies represented for these folk a stinging rebuke to their own performance in parliament coming from people -- the urban elite -- who view themselves as the tribalists' social superiors. For the ruling Al Sabahs, the shows also represented an embarassing peek into the intra-family competition, confusion and gamesmanship that characterizes the family in the real world. Islamists also had a particular bone to pick with Scope TV, given the channel's frequent past criticisms of them as anti-progressive elements responsible for Kuwait's present perceived backwardness. Kuwaiti Humor Not For Everyone -------------- ¶7. (C) Kuwait is no stranger to comedy -- the country has long been a source of some of the Gulf's more notable comedians and its sensitivity to the Scope TV parodies stands in stark contrast to its readiness to digest other types of humor. The conservative Al-Watan newspaper publishes in both its English and Arabic versions a daily cartoon, "Bu Qutada and Bu Nabil," depicting the interactions between a tribalist and a cosmopolite. The pair's daily "conversation of the deaf" invariably wanders into terrain that -- by U.S. standards -- would be considered ethnically or socially insensitive. The cartoon arouses little controversy locally, however. It is worth noting that Al-Watan TV, another private satellite channel, ran a racially-tinged televised version of the cartoon during Ramadan depicting a visit by President Obama to Kuwait that would have been offensive to many American audiences; it aroused no ire here. ¶8. (C) Comment: The controversy over Ramadan programming has now passed, but the broader issue of media freedom is certain to be a recurring issue here. Future Ramadans are likely to see even more daring shows test the political waters, driven KUWAIT 00000958 003 OF 003 by the availability of local talent, the clear market share that controversial programming can command, and increasing competition for audiences among Kuwait's proliferating media outlets (as well as the realization that what the government bans can nonetheless achieve recognition and fame on YouTube and other internet venues outside the government's grasp). Urban elites will applaud, tribals and Islamists will deplore, and senior Al-Sabah will ineffectually call for unity and courtesy -- but the shows will go on. END Comment. ********************************************* ********* For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: visit Kuwait's Classified Website at: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it ********************************************* ********* JONES