VZCZCXRO4745
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHGI RUEHJS RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHPW RUEHROV
DE RUEHRB #1143/01 3471216
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 121216Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9421
INFO RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 RABAT 001143 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR R, S/P, S/CT, NEA/PPD AND NEA/MAG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER PHUM KISL KPAO KIRF MO
SUBJECT: UNDER SECRETARY GLASSMAN'S VISIT TO MOROCCO 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: During his November 20-22 visit 
to Morocco, Under Secretary of State for Public 
Diplomacy and Public Affairs James Glassman 
conducted a variety of activities focused on 
providing support and productive alternatives to 
young people vulnerable to radicalization.  The 
visit succeeded in conveying U.S. concerns about 
extremist violence in a way that generated 
thoughtful discourse with government officials on 
ways forward.  In separate meetings, Moroccan 
Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs Ahmed 
Taufiq and the head of the "Mohammedia League of the 
Ulemas," Dr. Mohammed Al Abbadi, discussed religion, 
foreign policy, youth extremism and public diplomacy 
with U/S Glassman.  The Minister stressed the 
importance of the concept of justice in Islam, and 
emphasized the role of U.S. foreign policy in 
shaping opinion.  Dr. Al Abbadi engaged readily with 
the Under Secretary in a discussion of the power of 
ideas, historic "paradigm wars" in both the West and 
the Muslim world, and the efforts of the 'Mohammedia 
League' to interpret Islam for the modern era.  The 
Under Secretary invited Dr. Al Abbadi to participate 
in an upcoming conference to launch the new 
publication "Problems of Extremism," and Al Abbadi 
accepted. 
 
¶2.  (U) During his Morocco stop, the Under Secretary 
also visited the impoverished Casablanca 
neighborhood where the English Access 
Microscholarship Program ("Access") began, and met 
with some of the original Access students and 
teachers.  He also visited a Dar Chebab (youth 
center) to see how Peace Corps and Public Diplomacy 
are collaborating on youth outreach.  Through 
representational events, Under Secretary Glassman 
heard from Moroccan leaders in local government, 
non-governmental organizations, and media, who 
welcomed the Under Secretary's clarification of key 
elements of U.S. policy in the region.  Press 
coverage focused on the site visits, and highlighted 
the Under Secretary's praise of Moroccan civic and 
human rights reforms.  End summary. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs 
Ahmed Toufiq, a professor of African history, writer 
and novelist, welcomed the visit of U/S Glassman as 
an opportunity "to hear his views and ask some 
questions."  The U/S explained his interest in 
helping prevent young people from going down the 
path of extremism and violence, and his hope that 
the U.S. and Morocco can expand cooperation in this 
area, as the two countries have been cooperating for 
over 200 years.  He asked to learn more about what 
the Ministry is doing, in this area that is so 
important to both countries. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Minister: Integrating Religion and Development 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4.  (SBU) According to Minister Toufiq, the events 
of September 11, 2001 and the May 16, 2003 bombings 
in Casablanca spurred an effort by the Government of 
Morocco to integrate religious affairs in the 
overall process of Moroccan development.  He cited 
concerns about the "stability of the community, and 
a lagging-behind in the evolution of the religious 
mindset," and mentioned television as another source 
of confusion.  In his view, extremism results from 
several factors, including perceptions of injustice 
between states, for which he sees the U.S. as partly 
responsible, and the turning over of religious 
affairs to certain groups.  He said Morocco is 
trying to maintain the customs of its religious 
heritage in political life, parliament, and society. 
Moroccans do not consider that terrorism or violence 
should be a solution to injustice; yet there is a 
kind of Islamic fever or "flu" that is prevalent. 
He asserted that Morocco is a Muslim country, guided 
by Islamic law (Shari'a), but that the new 
integrative approach will make Morocco a model, in 
which there is no separation of state and religion, 
yet one is not allowed to "spoil" the other.  In 
order to do achieve this, the Ministry wants to 
improve the social status of imams, and is training 
1,600 religious scholars to spread out across the 
country to conduct training seminars for imams. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The U/S asked about the influence of 
 
RABAT 00001143  002 OF 005 
 
 
private religious schools, and the Minister agreed 
that some of these private establishments have been 
teaching that Morocco isn't following Islam 
properly.  On the other hand, for the vast majority 
of students trained in the state system, the modern 
schools were not meeting the students' religious 
needs.  The Minister explained that some people try 
to talk about "Moroccan Islam," but Morocco does not 
have any special Islam but rather has a particular 
political context, which is the view that Islamic 
guidance can adapt to the development of the 
society. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The Minister said that "everyone is trying 
to exploit religion" and that therefore maintaining 
a kind of neutrality doesn't help political leaders 
[in grappling with the problem of religious 
extremism and its causes].  The Minister sees 
religion as the unifying or "gathering" element, 
with the King as Commander of the Faithful, the 
reference point.  He noted that it was the King who 
mediated differences of religious opinion in order 
to put the new, liberal family code (Moudawana) in 
place. 
 
--------------------------- 
U.S. Policy vs. Perceptions 
--------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The U/S expressed concern about 
misperceptions of American society and western 
intentions that create problems beyond just 
differences of opinion on U.S. policy.   The 
Minister agreed that efforts to show the U.S. more 
positively will help.  Moroccans tend to see the 
U.S. as a pinnacle of freedom, but at the same time, 
they do not know much about the U.S.  When he 
visited the U.S., he himself found Americans to be 
much more like Moroccans, for example in their 
family life, than he expected. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) He opined, however, that the U.S. has not 
done enough to explain U.S. policy on Israel, for 
example U.S. Security Council vetoes.   Everyone 
agrees that Israel has a right to exist, he said, 
but there is no reason for Israel to oppress 
Palestinians and violate agreements.  And, 
therefore, U.S. efforts to talk about values and 
principles alone will not be very effective when 
they are muddied by reality, i.e., by U.S. support 
for injustice.  In response, the U/S Glassman noted 
that U.S. support for the Palestinian Authority and 
the Palestinian people is not well-enough 
understood, and mentioned that the U.S. is providing 
USD 700 million this year in support to the 
Palestinian people.  He also described opening a new 
U.S.-funded youth center in the West Bank during 
this trip to the region.  The Minister responded 
that helping people was not sufficient.  The U.S. 
needed to address the root problems. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) When the U/S asked if the Minister felt it 
was important for religious scholars to visit the 
U.S., Minister Taufiq circled back to his earlier 
point about American policy.  Speaking as an 
ordinary person, he said, the U.S. needs to show 
leadership towards a political solution [to the 
Arab-Israeli conflict] that is just and fair. 
Exchanges are fine, and people will come away with a 
better impression, but it is not enough.  The U.S. 
is the only country with the power to bring peace. 
He added that Morocco suffers somewhat from its 
traditional alliance with the U.S.  In reponse, U/S 
Glassman pointed out that the U.S. gets criticism 
from around the globe for pursuing a solution the 
world wants, i.e., the two-state solution.  He 
reiterated that misperception of U.S. values and 
intentions is an issue.  The Minister politely 
disagreed, saying that Moroccans always thought of 
the U.S. as different and better than, for example, 
France on the issue of religious freedom and 
tolerance.  Lately, however, with the slanders 
against Islam that are increasingly current in U.S. 
society and media, the U.S. image here is becoming 
more negative. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) After listening to the Under Secretary's 
description of a terrorist retraining/re-education 
program that he visited in Saudi Arabia, the 
Minister asserted that the situation in Morocco is 
 
RABAT 00001143  003 OF 005 
 
 
completely different.  The Government of Morocco is 
not opening a dialogue with terrorists, and does not 
believe this problem is a matter of religion.  It is 
a matter of criminal acts.  Morocco does not want to 
acknowledge that any ideology could justify such 
acts, he said.  Listening to the U/S's comments 
about his visit to Colombia, the Minister 
emphatically agreed that religion does not imply 
radicalization. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Scholars Promote Reinterpretation and Outreach 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The meeting with Dr. Ahmed Al Abbadi, 
Secretary General of the Mohammedia League of the 
Ulemas, a scholar of Comparative Religion and 
Islamic Thought who has taught at the University of 
Chicago and is a former Fulbright Fellow at DePaul 
University, had a different tone.  Prior to his 
current position, Abbadi was Director of Islamic 
Affairs at the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic 
Affairs.  He welcomed U/S Glassman and explained 
that the work of the Mohammedia League is to re- 
explore, intellectually, the 1400-year legacy of 
Islam.  The League is working to re-clarify the main 
themes of Islam, in terms of jurisprudence, laws of 
interpretation, and how to deal with the texts.  The 
League is involved with issues concerning women, and 
works closely with Moroccan women to find modern 
approaches that are nevertheless rooted in Moroccan 
tradition.  The League has a research center and is 
working on funding and building a think tank.  It 
publishes books and other materials. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) The U/S asked if Abbadi felt there had 
been a kind of vacuum in the past that extremist 
thinkers moved in and filled.  Al Abbadi agreed that 
this had happened but noted that the pace of change 
in modern life is so quick that it would have been 
impossible for Muslim societies to anticipate and 
design a system for the younger generation without 
trying to control their thinking, which is wrong and 
not even possible.  He agreed that Islam is 
adaptable, but said that, like the West, the Muslim 
World has experienced "paradigmatic wars."  He said 
Islam today is struggling with two main paradigms, 
one that sees religion and its laws as designed to 
create a good society on earth in which people can 
live a happy life and another that sees them as a 
mechanism enabling the religious faithful to reach 
heaven. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) To explain why extremist views are 
currently popular, he described overlapping "wounds" 
that affect Muslim society today, starting with the 
collapse of the Ottoman empire and historic regional 
conflicts, and moving through western double 
standards, the Iraqi-Afghani "cocktail" of 
conflicts, and wealth disparity.  All these 
overlapping items need to be addressed and fixed, he 
said.  We need both reconciliation and equity. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) On the subject of Saudi King Abdallah's 
interfaith dialogue initiative, Al Abbadi described 
it as a wonderful first step.  People can say it's 
exploitative, but there are many ways to perceive 
such dialogues, ranging from the most negative 
(studying "the other" to undermine him) to the most 
positive (for mutual recognition, "to enjoy the 
wisdom of the other.?"  Unfortunately, he noted, the 
budgets in both Morocco and the U.S. that support 
this kind of dialogue are "skinny."  We need chairs 
in our universities to do serious studies, not just 
look at exotic topics.  In terms of curricula, he 
said, we need to see Americans represented in 
Moroccan and Saudi textbooks, as we ourselves would 
like to be seen represented in American texts. 
 
¶15.  (SBU) Under Secretary Glassman and Dr. Al 
Abbadi discussed with interest and enthusiasm 
various "new media" initiatives that each side is 
exploring.  The U/S specifically mentioned the new 
academic journal "Problems of Extremism," modeled 
after old "Problems of Communism," and invited Al 
Abbadi to the launch conference in the first quarter 
of next year -- an invitation that Al Abbadi 
graciously accepted. 
 
¶16.  (SBU) At the end of the meeting, Al Abbadi 
 
RABAT 00001143  004 OF 005 
 
 
spoke movingly about the global impact of the recent 
U.S. elections.  Once again, he said, the U.S. 
showed that "yes we can," and that big things are 
both feasible and possible.  "Is Barack Obama 
himself perfect, the only one who can lead America? 
No, of course not, that's not the point.  The point 
is that humans are flexible and can transcend the 
past, which is something that America has once again 
demonstrated to the rest of the world." 
 
----------------------- 
Where "Access" Was Born 
----------------------- 
 
¶17.  (U) In Casablanca, Under Secretary Glassman 
visited Sidi Moumen, the impoverished suburb that 
was home to Morocco's May 2003 suicide bombers. 
While there, he met with several of the original 
students and teachers in the first-ever English 
Access Microscholarship Program ("Access"), which 
then-Ambassador Margaret Tutwiler put in place to 
help provide economically disadvantaged students 
with essential job skills and intercultural 
understanding.  All spoke movingly and with 
enthusiasm of the difference Access had made in 
their own lives and in their communities.  Since 
2003, the program has grown to include 1,500 
students currently enrolled in Morocco, and similar 
programs in 54 other countries around the globe. 
The U/S also watched a play performed by girls and 
boys about the social and economic pressures that 
can drive young people to extremist groups.  The 
Idmaj Cultural Center is a beneficiary of support 
from the Casablanca-Chicago Sister Cities linkage. 
U/S Glassman presented the Center with an additional 
collection of Arabic language books and some soccer 
balls. 
 
--------------------------------- 
PAS and Peace Corps Collaboration 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶18.  (U) In Tiflet, a town of about 60,000 residents 
located between Rabat and Meknes, the Under 
Secretary visited one of the youth centers (Dar 
Chebabs) staffed by Peace Corps Volunteers.  A 
husband-and-wife Peace Corps team has been helping 
local boys and girls with English, life skills, and 
afterschool clubs and activities for the past two 
years, and this visit turned into an occasion for 
the entire community to celebrate their efforts as 
they prepare to return to the U.S.  Some of the 
young people (as well as both Volunteers) had 
participated in one of the PAS-funded Peace Corps 
summer camps and spoke enthusiastically of that 
experience.  They also presented a play on the risk 
of AIDS, showed off the products of the journalism 
club, and engaged in a lively and fun Q&A with the 
Under Secretary.  The Under Secretary presented a 
PAS English language teaching kit to the Dar Chebab, 
along with books and posters in English, Arabic, and 
French. 
 
¶19.  (U) Two local TV stations (semi-private 2M and 
government SNRT) plus Al Hurra covered U/S 
Glassman's visit to Sidi Moumen, highlighting 
comments by local residents about the positive 
impact of Access and other U.S.-Moroccan partnership 
efforts such as Sister Cities.  Print media focused 
largely on the Tiflet stop, drawing on a Moroccan 
Press Agency report highlighting the Under 
Secretary's comment that Moroccan civic reforms in 
recent years have made it a pioneer in the region, 
notably through its new family code that exemplifies 
the enlargement of civic freedoms.  Print media also 
noted the now-global "Access" English language 
program and its origins in Sidi Moumen, Casasblanca; 
the "Yes" exchange program; Peace Corps youth 
outreach efforts; and other U.S. public diplomacy 
programs. 
 
¶20.  (U) Rounding out the Under Secretary's visit 
were two representational events for key public 
diplomacy interlocutors, one hosted by Ambassador 
Riley in Rabat and one by Consul General Millard in 
Casablanca.  Among others, guests included the young 
editor of Morocco's Islamist newspaper (and a former 
Fulbright fellow); the director of a major NGO that 
promotes education through information technology; 
the host of a daily radio program on Islam and 
 
RABAT 00001143  005 OF 005 
 
 
women's health issues within an Islamic framework; 
the mayor of Sidi Moumen; the founder of a very 
popular arts and culture center; the producer of a 
hugely popular TV competition to select and train 
Morocco's best young soccer players; and the 
Secretary General of the Ministry of Youth and 
Sports.  These influential men and women appreciated 
the Under Secretary's clear, nuanced, and positive 
discussion of U.S. foreign policy in the region, as 
well as his evident interest in their own efforts to 
engage Moroccan young people and provide them with a 
better and more hopeful future. 
 
¶21.  (U) U/S Glassman has cleared this cable. 
 
Riley