VZCZCXRO2518
RR RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDIR
DE RUEHJI #0445/01 3231135
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 191135Z NOV 09
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1606
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHIC/OIC COLLECTIVE
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 8586
RUEHDH/AMCONSUL DHAHRAN 0161
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 JEDDAH 000445 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR S/SRMC; NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD-JDICKMEYER, PAGNEW, 
PKABRA, DBENZE; R-JMCHALE AND WDOUGLAS; IO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2019 
TAGS: KIPR KPAO SA SCUL SOCI
SUBJECT: MORE NETWORKING, MORE OUTREACH TO MUSLIM YOUTH, 
AND A CALL FOR AN "ISLAMIC DAVOS":  SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE 
FARAH PANDITH'S VISIT TO JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA OCTOBER 31 - 
NOVEMBER 1, 2009 
 
REF: A. RIYADH 1278 
     ¶B. JEDDAH 424 
     ¶C. JEDDAH 342 
 
JEDDAH 00000445  001.3 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: Consul General Martin R. Quinn for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( 
d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: During her October 31 - November 1 visit to 
Saudi Arabia, the Secretary's Special Representative to 
Muslim Communities (SRMC), Farah Pandith, reached out to a 
wide range of Saudi youth and civil-society activists over 
the course of two full days in Jeddah. SRMC Pandith discussed 
her role, noting that Secretary Clinton asked her to act as 
"convener, facilitator, and intellectual partner" to Muslim 
communities around the world, particularly focusing on youth. 
She described her goal and mission as "building networks of 
like-minded people throughout the world and getting to know 
the next generation."  Pandith met with students from Dar 
al-Hekma and King Abdullah University of Science and 
Technology (KAUST), representatives of Hejazi civil society, 
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Secretary 
General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, and the head and staff members 
of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Khadija bint 
Khuwailed Center (KBKC) for Saudi businesswomen.  (See 
separate forthcoming reftel for post's report on Pandith's 
KBKC meeting.)  Pandith also gave an exclusive interview to 
leading pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat. END SUMMARY. 
 
 
MEETINGS WITH SAUDI STUDENTS: BETWEEN EXUBERANCE AND ANXIETY 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
¶2. (U) SRMC Pandith met with students from Dar al-Hekma, a 
private women's university in Jeddah.  The students gave an 
elaborate presentation on the college's institutions and 
activities, including the Model United Nations club, Middle 
East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) funded U.S.-Saudi Forum 
for Women's Social Entrepreneurship, "Green Jeddah" 
environmental club, child-abuse awareness club "Motherhood 
Home" (Bayt Omomati), and "Blossom", a zakat (alms for the 
poor) distribution program.  The students' projects reflected 
a high degree of sophistication in their use of social 
networking tools, partnerships with private sponsors and 
existing charities, and applying entrepreneurial principles 
to promote social responsibility.  They had partnered with 
Babson College on entrepreneurship, The Fletcher School, and 
Wellesley College for Women's Leadership.  The students were 
bright, active and very excited to work with the U.S. on 
doing more in the civil society space. 
 
¶3. (U) After the presentations, Pandith explained the role of 
her office and opened the floor to their questions.  During 
the ensuing and lively Q & A session, the young women asked 
Pandith about U.S. perceptions of Saudi women and ways to 
improve them, the role of the media in shaping perceptions in 
both countries, and how the Special Representative reconciles 
being an American and a Muslim. In her responses, Pandith 
highlighted the unprecedented power of forming 
people-to-people networks, importance of building 
civil-society institutions, and diversity of Islam and 
freedom of religion in the United States. 
 
¶4. (C) Pandith also had the opportunity to briefly meet with 
five students from King Abdullah University of Science and 
Technology (KAUST). In an informal setting, the students 
noted that along with the academic opportunities afforded 
them, the experience of interacting with young men and women 
from 70 different countries has been the most rewarding 
aspect of their study at KAUST. The students -- three women 
and two men -- who participated in the meeting were from 
Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, the West Bank, and Sudan. They 
unanimously described the American students at KAUST as 
extremely friendly and said that this trait had altered their 
perception of the United States. The Palestinian student, an 
elected member of the KAUST student body, stressed the 
importance of cultural exchange programs to correct the 
misperceptions that young Muslims have about the U.S.  One of 
the women said that she realized "how important diversity 
was." 
 
¶5. (C) PAS Jeddah coordinated Pandith's KAUST visit and 
student discussion with a representative of KAUST's Office of 
Communications.  Nonetheless, about 30 minutes into the 
 
JEDDAH 00000445  002.3 OF 003 
 
 
discussion with students, the KAUST representative became 
noticeably worried and told the PAO, CAO, and Management 
Officer (who had helped facilitate the meeting) that the 
university's senior administrators were "extremely agitated" 
that "additional U.S. Government staff were talking to 
students on campus."  The representative asked at least two 
CG staff to leave; the Management Officer and PAO did so, and 
the CAO remained with SRMC Pandith.  The meeting ended 
shortly thereafter, at 2 p.m., as the students had to go to 
class. 
 
 
MEETINGS WITH CIVIL SOCIETY: "ISLAMIC DAVOS" AND ARABIC NPR? 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
 
¶6. (U) As part of her goal to hear from civil-society 
activists in Saudi Arabia, Pandith met with presidents of 
charitable organizations, social advocates, and religious 
educators. During the meetings, she listened to two 
suggestions on how to reach out to Muslim youth.  Ms. Henna 
Al-Maimani of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry 
(JCCI) suggested creating an Islamic economic forum.  SR 
Pandith said she had a concept that she had been working on 
called "Islamic Davos" to promote economic and social 
development in Muslim majority countries.  SR Pandith said 
she would like to work with the Chamber on this idea. 
Another suggestion came from Dr. Sadiq Al-Malki, social 
advocate and professor of comparative social and political 
systems at King Abdulaziz University, to translate National 
Public Radio (NPR) programs into Arabic and broadcast them on 
radio stations in the Arab world to "show young Muslims a 
different side of America." 
 
 
MEETING WITH OIC SECRETARY GENERAL: HOW TO AVOID THE 
QUICKSAND 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) At the headquarters of the Organization of the 
Islamic Conference (OIC), the Special Representative briefly 
met with Secretary General (SG) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu. 
Responding to Ihsanoglu's question regarding outreach to 
American Muslims, Pandith explained that she is not permitted 
to conduct diplomacy domestically but stressed that the 
strong relationships she has developed with Muslims who live 
and work in America have had an impact on the way she 
approaches her job. She noted that she often connects 
American Muslims with others around the world, helping all to 
build relationships and share ideas. 
 
¶8. (U) To illustrate her point, Pandith mentioned her work 
with Eboo Patel, Executive Director of Interfaith Youth Core 
based in Chicago, noting that she worked with Patel in 
developing his program aimed at promoting pluralism in 
Western Europe. Responding to SG Ihsanoglu's inquiry as to 
whether Pandith's job was to rebuild the image of America, 
Pandith said, "This is not about that.  This is about seeding 
relationships of common interest for the common good." 
 
¶9. (SBU) Ihasanoglu expressed his appreciation of the Special 
Representative's role and noted that in his open letter to 
President Obama he suggested that the U.S. establish a new 
partnership with "the Muslim world" based on two principles: 
"mutual respect and mutual interest." "If not built upon this 
foundation," he said, "We will be standing on quicksand." He 
concluded by stressing to SRMC Pandith that her mission needs 
to be a long-term project. Pandith agreed, noting that this 
was indeed Secretary Clinton's intention. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Toward the end of the meeting, Ihsanoglu concluded 
that while Muslims in Europe are experiencing a severe 
identity crisis, Muslims in the U.S. easily reconcile their 
faith with an American identity.  Ihsanoglu described the 
U.S. as a "modern-day Ottoman Empire," in that America 
integrates people of different backgrounds and ethnicities. 
 
¶11. (U)  OIC highlighted the meeting in its latest 
newsletter, issued on November 3, entitling the short 
article "U.S. Special Envoy for Muslim Communities Farah 
Pandith Elaborates to the OIC Secretary General on Her 
Mandate."  The summation sentence of the article:  "Ms. 
 
JEDDAH 00000445  003.3 OF 003 
 
 
Pandith explained that the objective of her office is not 
improving the image of the U.S. but facilitating, connecting 
and implementing concrete and specific ideas which will bring 
both sides, particularly youth, together based on mutual 
respect and mutual interest and on a long-term approach." 
 
 
MEDIA COVERAGE 
--------------- 
 
¶12. (U) SRMC Pandith gave an exclusive interview to leading 
pan-Arab, London-based daily Saudi newspaper "Al-Hayat".  The 
interview focused on her vision for her office and mission, 
and on President Obama and Secretary Clinton's efforts to 
increase engagement with Muslims around the world. 
 
 
COMENTS 
-------- 
 
¶13. (C) Special Representative andith was well received in 
Jeddah.  Her positive message, personal ackground, and 
infectious entusiasm allowed her to easily connect with 
Saudis especially young adults, in Jeddah and at KAUST(located in Thuwal, about 50 mies north of Jeddah). We can 
and should do more to engage civil society in Jeddah building 
on this favorable and positive visit. 
 
¶14. (C) The reaction of KAUST's senior administration during 
the campus visit quite possibly reflected the growing 
scrutiny that the university is receiving from governments, 
religious figures, and media throughout the Middle East (and 
even farther afield).  In addition, KAUST is trying to cope 
with the fallout from a string of mostly adverse publicity in 
the wake of a number of recent events:  King Abdullah's 
firing of prominent Saudi cleric Sheikh Sa'ad al-Shethry for 
criticizing the university's mixed-gender policy (a Saudi 
first), a recent YouTube video that purportedly showed a male 
Saudi student dancing at the university's cafeteria, a highly 
publicized accusation by an American KAUST student and 
blogger that a major Saudi Arabic-language newspaper 
plagiarized and ran a large excerpt and photos from the 
student's blog as the paper's own original reporting (ref B), 
and the KAUST administration's decision -- based on USG 
export-usage requirements -- to deny Syrian students access 
to the university's U.S.-sourced supercomputer. 
 
¶15. (U) SRMC Farah Pandith has cleared this message. 
QUINN