US embassy cable - 04SANAA1635

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SANAA 001635 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR NEA/PI AND ALINA ROMANOWSKI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, YM, DEMOCRATIC REFORM 
SUBJECT: DEMOCRACY IN ACTION: TEACHERS DEMONSTRATE AGAINST 
OPPOSITION HARDLINERS 
 
REF: SANAA 1611 
 
1. (U) Summary: The Al-Quds Girls Public School in Sanaa 
received a computer lab with brand-new equipment through a 
Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) grant.  After an 
American Embassy delegation visited the school, reports 
appeared in local newspapers stating that the female 
principal forced the students to uncover their heads for the 
delegation.  During Friday sermons at local mosques two 
opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) denounced the 
principal demanding her ousting and encouraging other mosques 
to do so as well, and advocated mandating the "hijab" (veil) 
and a more conservative uniform for female students.  In 
response, the school principal rallied a large number of 
teachers to resist publicly the hard-line MPs' efforts.  End 
Summary. 
 
MEPI HELPS SPARK DEBATE 
----------------------- 
 
2. (U) On April 6, the Ambassador opened a MEPI-funded 
e-learning Internet Classroom at the Al-Quds Girls School, a 
local public school.  After the inauguration, visiting MEPI 
officers and American Embassy staff accompanied the school 
principal to visit a few of the classrooms to talk to the 
students about their science education, textbooks, requests 
for improving their educational experience, etc.  A local 
newspaper later reported that some of the schoolgirls claimed 
that the principal demanded they uncover their heads for the 
delegation. 
 
3. (SBU) On the following Friday, imams Shaykh Hazza'a 
Al-Maswari and Shaykh Mohammed Al-Hazmi, both Members of 
Parliament affiliated with the opposition Islah Party, 
denounced the principal and demanded she be removed from her 
post.  (Note:  Al-Hazmi has also made anti-American 
statements and Emboffs have been informed that a government 
committee is being formed to investigate the al-Hazmi issue, 
see reftel.)  On May 18, newspapers came out on both sides of 
the issue.  Al-Balagh (independent Arabic weekly) wrote an 
op-ed piece calling for the dismissal of the principal. 
Al-Meethaq (GPC-affiliated Arabic weekly) criticized 
inaccurate information circulated by some press regarding the 
Al-Quds school and the Islah-affiliated imams for allegedly 
slandering the principal.  It also noted that the principal 
has filed an anti-slander lawsuit in court against the press. 
 
4. (U) Al-Motamar Net (GPC-affiliated Arabic news website) 
reported on June 13 that the Al-Quds school e-learning issue 
had turned into a political argument between the ruling 
party, the General People's Congress Party (GPC), and the 
opposition Islah Party.  According to the site, claims that 
the principal forced girl students to unveil were manipulated 
by Islah to institute more conservative public school 
uniforms. 
 
TEACHERS DEMONSTRATE AGAINST MPs 
-------------------------------- 
 
5. (U) On June 9, female teachers staged a demonstration, 
marching to Parliament to protest offensive statements 
allegedly made by the two MPs.  (Note: Press estimates of the 
crowd range from "hundreds" to two thousand to 20 thousand.) 
As reported in the Yemen Observer (independent English 
weekly) June 12 issue, the demonstrators asked Parliament to 
strip the two men of their parliamentary immunity and bring 
them to justice for the insults they allegedly directed at 
the principal and certain schoolteachers.  A press statement 
issued by the protesters stated that the two MPs launched a 
campaign of slander against female teachers and the girls, 
school principal as a ploy to impose more conservative 
uniforms in public schools, including the hijab. 
 
6. (U) According to a few press reports, some of the teachers 
did not know why they were marching.  When informed by press 
of the subject of the demonstration, some teachers allegedly 
disagreed with the demonstration's organizers and withdrew 
from the protest.  Others confessed that they had taken part 
in the rally under threat of salary reductions.  The families 
of the female students marched in counter-protest.  Reports 
indicated they were organized by the Islah Party to protest 
the GPC's campaign to institute a more liberal school 
uniform, which would leave the girls, faces uncovered. 
 
7. (SBU) DCM and PD Chief met with the Minister of Education 
Abdul Salam al-Jowfi, who said that the Internet classrooms 
were not the issue in the dispute.  In fact, information 
gathered by PD showed that the problem arose prior to the 
e-learning classroom inauguration. 
 
8. (SBU) COMMENT: While the MEPI program did not directly 
encourage this democratic action, American presence in the 
schools was exploited to garner public support against the 
GPC-supported school principal.  The teachers' demonstration 
against parliamentarian pressure is an example of Yemen's 
nascent democracy.  End Comment. 
HULL