YEMENIS IMPRESSED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SPEECH,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 001060 SIPDIS FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PPD E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/07/2019 TAGS: PREL OPRC KPAO KISL YM SUBJECT: YEMENIS IMPRESSED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SPEECH, SOMEWHAT SKEPTICAL OF SUBSTANCE Classified By: CDA Angie Bryan for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) Embassy interlocutors responded positively to President Barack Obama's June 4 speech in Cairo. They were pleased with the speech's respectful and balanced tone. Interlocutors, however, were somewhat skeptical that the change in tone would be matched by a change in policy, and awaited clear signs that President Obama's words will be translated into deeds. END SUMMARY. OBAMA TURNS THE RHETORICAL PAGE -------------- ¶2. (C) Embassy interlocutors noted a significant difference between President Obama's speech and what they perceived as the Bush administration's tone toward the Muslim world. Deputy Finance Minister Jalal Yacoub told Econoff that President Ali Abdullah Saleh's son, Ahmed Ali, described the speech as "groundbreaking" and predicted that it would usher in a new era of U.S.-Muslim relations. Sami Ghalib, Editor in Chief of Al-Nidaa, said, "Since September 11, the United States has regarded the Muslim world as a source of danger. Obama delivered a different message ... He didn't use the word terrorism, which shows sensitivity" to the contentiousness of the US-led war against violent extremism. Dr. Abdullah al-Faqih of Sanaa University's Political Science Department praised President Obama's comments on Palestinian aspirations for statehood and said the speech signaled a "new liberalism" which will yield better results than the previous administration's approach. AbdulAziz al-Hayajim, managing editor of Al-Thawra.net, relayed the positive reaction of religious scholars to President Obama's citations of the Quran and said that some scholars had even expressed worries that President Obama's widely admired speech would expose him to the "evil eye." Jamal al-Awadhi, editor in chief of Yemen Online, admired President Obama's courage and praised the choice of Cairo University as the venue of the speech, commenting that this choice showed that although "the United States entered Iraq and Afghanistan by force with military planes and tanks, now the United States is coming to the Middle East advocating education and building bridges." Prominent businessman Omar Omar, Vice Chairman of the Universal Group, told Econoff that the speech was "spectacular" in its ability to speak to a diverse and hostile constellation of audiences, including Muslims worldwide, Israelis, and the "American right wing." Interlocutors were all amazed that President Obama was reading from a teleprompter, noting that he appeared to have been speaking extemporaneously. WHERE'S THE BEEF? -------------- ¶3. (C) Overall reaction to the speech was extremely positive, and almost all interlocutors described it in glowing terms. Coupled with their praise for the speech, however, was an intent focus on the persistently difficult realities in the Middle East, and a note of skepticism that President Obama will be able to make substantive changes to U.S. foreign policy. Skepticism centered on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the ability of the U.S. to act as a fair broker. Ministry of Oil official Ibrahim Abulohoum told Econoff that, although the speech lived up to the promise of a "new beginning of U.S. relations with Islam," President Obama is still under domestic political pressure to maintain support for Israel. Faqih said that the Obama administration is "95 percent the same" as the previous administration, and most interlocutors concurred. Rajeh Badi, Editor in Chief of Al-Sahwa, said that the "United States has never exerted enough pressure on Arab regimes" to democratize and noted that President Obama's trip brought him to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, neither of which are democratic countries. Abdulmajid al-Farhad of the Civic Democratic Initiatives Foundation said that the speech was "too good to be true" and said that the substance of the Obama administration's policies are identical to the policies of George W. Bush, "the Muslim world's worst enemy." TURNING WORDS INTO DEEDS -------------- ¶4. (U) "We hope the speech is not just a public relations move," said Faqih. Interlocutors hedged their praise of the speech by emphasizing that they await concrete steps from the Obama administration, in particular exerting pressure on Israel to end settlement activity. The Palestinian issue resonates strongly in Yemen, and interlocutors were eager for more information on the steps President Obama will pursue to improve the conditions of the Palestinian people and to extract concessions from Israel. At a June 6 meeting with key interlocutors, the CDA emphasized that President Obama can control the amount of pressure exerted on Israel, but not Israel's reaction to that pressure. President Obama is clearly a popular figure among the interlocutors, admired for his charisma and "global" personal background, but they have been burned before by what they see as broken promises of US leadership on conflict resolution and democratic reform in the region. As Faqih said, "The question we ask now is, what will happen next?" COMMENT -------------- ¶5. (U) Our interlocutors' focus on the Palestinian issue suggests that President Obama's credibility in Yemen will depend largely on the administration's ability to move Israel and Palestine toward implementation of the two-state solution. END COMMENT. BRYAN