Saudi students rebuff US communications guru

[SOO MAAL]

Saudi students rebuff US communications guru

>By Guy Dinmore in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

>Published: September 27 2005 23:07 | Last updated: September 27 2005 23:07

>>

Indignant Saudi women on Tuesday turned the tables on Karen Hughes, the US under secretary for public diplomacy, rejecting her analogy of them as the “broken wing†of a bird that the US will help fly.

 

The lesson in Arab pride came in the setting of a women’s university auditorium in Saudi Arabia’s coastal city of Jeddah, the second stop of Mrs Hughes’ listening tour of the Middle East that kicks off her campaign to mend America’s own broken image among Muslims.

 

Mrs Hughes, better known as the long-time communications guru for President George W. Bush, began the “open dialogue†before several hundred women at Dar al-Hekma university by introducing herself as a “working momâ€.

 

She went on to talk about the importance the US attaches to freedom and welcomed a new Saudi labour law that is supposed to open up more job opportunities for women.

 

Mrs Hughes said she looked forward to the day that Saudi women would play an active role in civil society and quoted Laura Bush, the first lady, as saying a bird can’t fly if one wing is broken. America hoped Saudi women will “spread your wingsâ€, she said.

 

Students and teachers lined up at the microphones to express in perfect English their indignance at the stereo-typing of Saudi women as living in a closed society, unable to work or drive or vote. They also slammed the US media for spreading such an image, notably one Oprah Winfrey show that they said presented a Saudi woman beaten by her husband together with the message that theirs was a country to be avoided.

 

“We are happy, not just content, but happy,†one student objected.

 

Mrs Hughes quickly replied that she thought Arab women were strong and intelligent, but stuck to her guns, saying that Americans “take their freedom very seriouslyâ€, and that means speech, religion, voting and driving – for work and shopping.

 

The discord between the American official, setting foot in the Middle East for the first time, and her Saudi audience reflects the immense complexities facing the Bush administration as it tries to focus on the ideological dimension of its “war on terrorâ€.

 

The theme of terrorism did not appear to go down well either. Selected intellectuals in Cairo and Jeddah – of whom virtually none could be described as radical Muslims or from the left – showed little enthusiasm for discussing the subject.

 

Yet in small ways, the weight Mrs Hughes carries -- thanks to the close relationship with Mr Bush -- has pushed some doors open already.

 

One US diplomat described as a “historic breakthrough†permission given to western male reporters to sit in the same auditorium as the young female students, instead of watching the proceedings on a screen in a separate room. The decision was taken by a princess in the royal family who attended the conference.

 

Afterwards, the young women – many from wealthy families who spend their summers in the west – were eager to give interviews, explaining why driving was not such a big deal for them, and that the right to vote would come eventually.

 

“We don’t want the US to force us to bring change,†said one teacher. “They did not allow the blacks to vote before, and now they are forcing the world to accept their views.â€

 

Students described Mrs Hughes as “very kind†and “friendlyâ€, but begged to differ on her views. “I go out with my driver. I go to the beach. I don’t feel caged in,†said one student. “People think we go on camels and live in tents.â€

 

When pressed, they admitted that they would like the right to drive and vote but insisted that reform would come at Saudi Arabia’s pace and choosing. Some complimented King Abdullah for his gradual reform efforts, saying he wanted women to drive but that many conservatives in Saudi society did not.

 

Speaking on her plane heading towards Turkey, her last stop, Mrs Hughes reflected on her Saudi experience and admitted to being surprised on several accounts.

 

She said she was a little surprised that Mr Bush “doesn’t get more credit†for his declaration of support for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

 

She was also surprised at the reaction of the Saudi women students.

 

But it did confirm her preconception, she said, that a “big challenge†in diplomacy lay ahead.

[SOO MAAL]

Saudis asked to help curb venom in US mosques

Reuters

Sep. 27, 2005 - U.S. envoy Karen Hughes said on Tuesday Washington had privately discussed the issue of hate literature in American mosques with the Saudi government and asked for their help in getting rid it.

 

Hughes, whose job as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy is to counter the negative U.S. image among Muslims and explain President George W. Bush's policies, brought the subject up publicly in a meeting with Saudi journalists.

 

But she did not discuss it -- nor other human rights issues -- in a meeting later with Saudi King Abdullah.

 

"I hope you will find room to respect people of different faith and different faith traditions," Hughes said at a luncheon with Saudi media.

 

"We are concerned that literature has been found in American mosques that has a message that is not tolerant and we hope the people of Saudi Arabia will work with us as we try to deal with this issue."

 

U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia James Oberwetter said Hughes was the first top Bush administration official to talk publicly in the kingdom about the anti-Christian, anti-Semitic material, which some human rights groups say has been sanctioned by the Saudi government.

 

"We've been raising the issue privately," Hughes told reporters traveling with her to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. "One of my jobs is to raise issues in, I hope, a respectful way to help other countries understand American values."

 

Hughes said she had never met Abdullah before and that they only "talked on personal terms."

 

"In a follow up meeting, I would feel very comfortable raising those issues," she said.

 

The U.S.-Saudi alliance, built on the twin pillars of security and oil, has been strained since the September 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks on New York and Washington carried out by al Qaeda. Most of the hijackers were Saudis.

 

 

Copyright 2005 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 

Copyright © 2005 ABC News Internet Ventures

[SOO MAAL]

Hughes asked to correct misperceptions in U.S.

By Nicholas Kralev

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Published September 28, 2005

 

JIDDA, Saudi Arabia -- Karen Hughes, the Bush administration's top public diplomacy official, came to Saudi Arabia in a bid to improve the U.S. image, but her hosts turned the tables yesterday and asked her to help create better perceptions of Saudi Arabia in the United States.

Mrs. Hughes, who is on a five-day "listening tour" of the Middle East, chose Saudi Arabia as her second stop after Egypt because of the "huge challenge" the administration faces in the nation that produced 15 of the 19 hijackers on September 11, 2001.

She sought an opportunity to explain unpopular U.S. policies that cause anger and resentment in the region.

Instead, she received an earful of complaints that the American people have wrong ideas about the Saudis and little is being done to correct those misperceptions.

"You have to abandon the principle of collective guilt," said Khaled al-Maeena, editor in chief of the Arab News daily.

"Don't dehumanize us," he said during a lunch with Mrs. Hughes and American reporters that was hosted by the Saudi Journalists Association.

Earlier yesterday, students and professors from Dar al-Hekma College decried the way Saudi women are portrayed in the United States.

During a town-hall meeting with Mrs. Hughes at the all-women's college, one student noted "a very negative picture of Muslim women that is created by the American media and supported by the U.S. government."

A professor who had spent two months at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., denounced the local press for criticizing the Saudi visitors' use of a classroom without male students, as Saudi tradition demands.

"We have a free press," Mrs. Hughes said. She went further than many other U.S. officials do in such circumstances by defending the American press.

"I think that, by and large, the American media has held the standards of fairness and objectivity," she said.

Then it was Mrs. Hughes who turned the tables, voicing concern about the "explosion of Arab media," such as the Al Jazeera television network.

"I'd like to challenge them to enlighten, rather than incite" anti-American feelings, she said.

Mrs. Hughes noted that Saudi women are not permitted to drive. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice deliberately avoided the issue when she visited the kingdom in June.

"I feel that my ability to drive is an important freedom," Mrs. Hughes said to hundreds of students. "But I understand that your traditions are very different, and I respect that."

However, the audience members, with all but their faces covered, continued their offensive.

"Americans think that Arab women are not very happy," one student said in reference to perceptions that women are oppressed by the patriarchal society and their own husbands. "We are all pretty happy."

Nora Barakat, a 21-year-old student, said her American mother, who converted to Islam when she married her Saudi husband, is "treated badly" in the United States because she wears a scarf.

Leen Assassa, a 19-year-old Syrian, said Americans should not pity Muslim women or judge them, but try to understand and respect their culture and traditions.

Mrs. Hughes, a close friend and confidante of the president's -- Mr. Bush swore her in as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs earlier this month -- agreed that mutual understanding is vital for a better relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia.

She promised to increase educational, cultural and professional exchanges.

[Shirwac]

She did a good job as BUSH's communication "guru", lets see how well she presents US's views of Arabs and Islam.