This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RIYADH 000186 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DHAHRAN SENDS 
PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/17/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SCUL KWMN SA
SUBJECT: FEMALE CONSULATE STAFF PARTICIPATE IN EID CALLS 
FOR FIRST TIME 
 
 
Classified by Consul General John Kincannon for reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C) For the first time in Consulate history, two female 
Mission staff members participated in most of the Consulate's 
calls over the recent Eid Al-Adha.  Consulate staff 
traditionally call on the Emir of the Eastern Province (EP), 
the EP head of the Saudi Arabia National Guard (SANG), and a 
number of leading EP families.  This year the Emirate and 
SANG "strongly recommended that the Consulate not bring 
female staff members," a change from the outright "no" we 
received from the Emirate in the past.  All of the families 
except one agreed to accept a delegation that included female 
staff, some more enthusiastically than others.  We sent a 
full delegation to these families, while only the Acting CG 
and PolFSN called on the Emir, the SANG, and the one family 
that was uncomfortable receiving Eid calls from female staff. 
 The range of responses we received as we asked about 
bringing female staff reflects the changing nature of the 
debate in Saudi society over women's roles.  End summary. 
 
---------- 
Background 
---------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The tradition of Eid calls is older than the 
Consulate, and Consulate staff have joined in the tradition 
since the Consulate was established in 1944.  In the EP and 
neighboring Gulf states, Eid calls are something of a public 
institution, at least for males, in that men call on their 
professional associates as well as a broad spectrum of 
friends and family.  For example, hundreds of EP notables, 
including businessmen, government officials, and tribal and 
religious leaders, call on the Emir of the EP following 
morning prayers on Eid day, after which he hosts a large 
breakfast for callers.  (In the rest of the Kingdom and in 
other Arab states, on the other hand, people generally 
restrict their calls to close family and friends.)  A 
Consulate delegation, including the CG, other American staff, 
and several FSNs generally calls on the Emir, the SANG, and 
leading business families. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) To the best recollection of post's long-serving 
PolFSN, female Consulate staff members never participated in 
Eid calls until this year.  PolFSN asked the Emir's chief of 
staff on several occasions if they could, and the answer, 
until this year, was always "no."  Until this year, PolFSN 
also never asked the families we call on if they would accept 
female staff members as part of our delegation. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
The Responses:  From Tortured to Delighted 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (SBU) As two female Mission staff members, Dhahran and 
Jeddah PAOs, were in Dhahran on January 10, the day of the 
Eid calls, and wanted to participate in the Consulate's 
delegation, we asked each institution and family we intended 
to call on if they would accept a delegation that included 
female members.  We decided to send only the Acting CG and 
PolFSN on calls where female staff members were not welcome, 
thus preserving our relationship with those institutions and 
families, and to send the full delegation - including Acting 
CG, PolFSN, Dhahran and Jeddah PAOs, and several male staff 
members - where female staff members were welcome. 
 
¶5.  (C) The responses varied wildly.  The Emir's chief of 
staff, after consulting with, we presume, the Emir, said, "At 
present, the Emirate has no instructions pertaining to the 
subject matter and certainly welcomes all visitors.  However, 
a female visitor may well find the situation uncomfortable 
sitting in a hall with a thousand male visitors.  We 
therefore strongly recommend that the lady visit at a later 
date.  Perhaps a private audience could be arranged with His 
Royal Highness at a date convenient to all."  The chief of 
staff of the SANG commander in the EP gave a similar 
response, saying "given that all the visitors will be male, 
we don't see how we can welcome a female visitor."  One other 
family, the Al-Zamils, with whom we planned to lunch, 
expressed their regret, saying that, given the sensibilities 
of some of their expected guests, we should not include 
females in our delegation on Eid day. 
 
¶6.  (C) The eight other families we planned to call on agreed 
to the inclusion of female staff in our delegation, with 
varying degrees of enthusiasm.  Sulaiman Al-Suhaimi, who, as 
chairman of the board of Saudi Holland Bank, appointed the 
first female board member in 2004, expressed his delight. 
Saud Al-Gosaibi, speaking for his family, began his answer by 
noting the large number of male visitors, including religious 
figures, expected to call on his family, as a prelude, we 
thought, to discouraging the idea.  But he then reversed 
himself mid-stride and said that all visitors, women 
included, would be welcome.  (Note:  Al-Gosaibi is a 
candidate for the upcoming EP Chamber of Commerce & Industry 
(EPCCI) elections, in which women can vote and run for the 
first time, and we think his reversal came because he saw the 
contradiction between having women participate fully in the 
EPCCI elections and not allowing women in his family's 
majlis.  End note.)  The Al-Faraj family reversed itself as 
well, initially giving the same answer as the Al-Zamils, but 
then calling PolFSN at midnight before the Eid calls to say 
that female staff members were welcome both on Eid calls and 
to the family's weekly majlis. 
 
----------------------- 
Saudi Hospitality Rules 
----------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) On Eid day itself, the eight families the full 
Consulate delegation called on received all delegation 
members, including the two women, with customary Saudi warmth 
and hospitality, and several of our hosts explicitly remarked 
how glad they were to receive the women.  Out of the hundreds 
of people we exchanged greetings with over the course of the 
day, only four guests pointedly refused to look at or greet 
the female members of our delegation.  One of the four was 
followed by his three young sons.  In what we hope is a 
symbol of the future, he skipped past the women with his eyes 
averted, but his sons, smiling, gladly shook their hands. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8.  (C) The role of women in Saudi society is changing: 
women are now able to run and vote in Chamber of Commerce 
elections, a woman was recently elected to the board of the 
Engineers' Syndicate, and King Abdullah stated in an 
interview that women would drive at some point.  The answers 
we received when asking if female staff members would be 
welcome as part of our Eid delegation reflect these changes, 
and the friction they are causing.  We think it significant 
that the Emirate, and likely the Emir himself, did not give 
us an outright "no" as in the past:  is a "no" no longer 
acceptable?  The willingness of most of the families we 
visited to open themselves to potential criticism from their 
more conservative well-wishers by welcoming female members in 
our delegation is a sign of progress, but also an indication 
of how firmly entrenched some influential members of Saudi 
society are in their objection to the more equal and public 
participation of women in society.  End comment. 
 
(APPROVED:  KINCANNON) 
OBERWETTER