US embassy cable - 05MADRID699

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 000699 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/24/2015 
TAGS: SOCI, KPAO, KISL, SP, Spain's Muslim Population 
SUBJECT: SPANISH MUSLIMS VIEWS ON U.S. FOREIGN POLICY 
 
REF: MADRID 645 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Ricardo Zuniga for Reasons 1.4 (b) and 
 (d). 
 
1.  (SBU)  SUMMARY.  This message is the second of two cables 
discussing Spain's large and growing Muslim community and is 
based on Poloff's discussions with leading members of the 
Muslim community in Madrid (Reftel).  Poloff recently met 
with three prominent members of the Muslim community--Yusuf 
Fernandez, the Spokesman for the Islamic Federation of Spain; 
Ebraheem A.S. Alzaid, the Director of the Islamic Cultural 
Center in Madrid; and Mustapha El M'Rabet, the President of 
the Association of Moroccan Workers and Immigrants in Spain 
(ATIME).  The following is a glimpse of these leaders views 
of U.S. foreign policy and U.S.-Spanish relations.  The 
Muslim leaders all disagreed with U.S. policy in Iraq, 
Palestine, and the Middle East in general.  They were all 
clear in making a distinction between their rejection of USG 
policies and their admiration for the U.S. people.  According 
to the community leaders, the U.S. Embassy can help the local 
Muslim community by working on Islamophobia issues, hosting 
events with Muslim mosques, and having the new Ambassador try 
to reach out to Zapatero to revive U.S.-Spanish relations. 
They welcomed the Embassy's outreach efforts to the local 
Muslim community.  Sadly, these meetings revealed that even 
moderate Muslim leaders eagerly accepted conspiracy theories 
placing the USG in the worst possible light.  END SUMMARY. 
 
//DISAGREEMENT WITH U.S. POLICY TOWARDS THE MIDDLE EAST// 
 
2.  (U)  Spanish Muslims almost universally disagree with USG 
foreign policy in Iraq, Palestine, and the Middle East in 
general.  The community leaders all stated that the top U.S. 
priority should be to resolve the Israeli/Palestinian 
dispute.  M'Rabet was hopeful that the Iraqi elections would 
help the Iraqi people, but he was skeptical that "democracy 
could enter via tanks."  M'Rabet said the death of U.S. 
soldiers in Iraq did not bring him any joy; when he sees 
American deaths, he sees young, innocent kids. Fernandez 
asserted that the only solution in Iraq is total U.S. 
withdrawal of troops.  Alzaid pointed out that many of the 
worshipers at the M-30 mosque were against U.S. policies in 
Iraq and Afghanistan.  (NOTE:  The Islamic Cultural Center 
and the M-30 mosque are housed in the same Madrid complex. 
The M-30 mosque receives its name from its proximity to a 
major Madrid highway.)  M'Rabet cautioned against any future 
U.S. military action in Iran. 
 
//U.S. PEOPLE DISTINCT FROM U.S. POLICIES// 
 
3,  (U)  Alzaid, a Saudi national who lived in the United 
States prior to September 11,  believes that U.S. foreign 
policy towards the Muslim world in the wake of the 9/11 
attacks has been unjust.  He said that the U.S. was "a good 
example of liberty and tolerance to the rest of the world," 
but he believes that people now have more fear of the U.S. 
than respect.  He believes that Americans are generally more 
open than Europeans and pragmatic in their relations with the 
rest of the world rather than viewing relations through the 
lens of hundreds of years of history like many Europeans. 
 
4.  (U)  All of the Muslim leaders were clear to make the 
distinction between their rejection of U.S. policy and their 
admiration for the people of the U.S.  Both M'Rabet and 
Fernandez pointed out that "millions of people did not vote 
for Bush," and Fernandez insisted that Spanish Muslims are 
not anti-American.  He singled out former Attorney General 
John Ashcroft and his "disregard for the rights of Muslims" 
as an example of how U.S. policies had changed for the worse 
after September 11.  He added that European Muslims have a 
generally bad image of U.S. government policies based on 
episodes such as Yusuf Islam's (Cat Stevens) not being 
allowed to enter the U.S. on a United Airlines flight and the 
visa problems of Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan who wanted to 
teach at Notre Dame University. 
 
//U.S. - MOROCCO RELATIONS// 
 
5.  (U)  M'Rabet told Poloff that he is worried about the 
future of Morocco and does not have confidence in King 
Mohamed VI and his advisors.  He said that many of the 
initial changes made when Mohamed VI inherited the throne 
from Hassan II were simply an illusion.  The new king may 
have changed advisors and re-named policies, but the 
political and economic situation has not improved under his 
watch.  He said that the King still has too many powers and 
the government too few powers.  The economic situation has 
not improved, and M'Rabet sees continuing immigration from 
Morocco to Spain.  He believes that Moroccans could benefit 
from political institutions similar to European institutions. 
 He pointed out that the authoritarian Japanese government 
during World War II had made a successful transition to 
democracy after the war.  M'Rabet believes that there is no 
forum for open debate in Morocco and that the political 
parties are not well developed.  This has led to increased 
alienation from politics among young Moroccans and the 
increased acceptance of the Islamist parties.  He does not 
know what the U.S. can do to help Morocco, but he does 
believe that the first step towards more open democracy in 
Morocco is more effective political parties. 
 
//U.S. - MUSLIM RELATIONS// 
 
6.  (U)  M'Rabet expressed hope that President Bush and the 
next Ambassador will work with Zapatero to improve bilateral 
relations.  Fernandez asked Poloff why the U.S. does not have 
a unit working on Islamophobia issues, while the State 
Department covers anti-Semitism issues.  He believes that the 
British government has done a better job than the U.S. of 
working with their Muslim community.  All of the Muslim 
leaders were concerned about the portrayal of Muslims on 
television and in films. 
 
7.  (U)  Alzaid said that the U.S. needs the Islamic world 
and the Islamic world needs the U.S.  He would like to have 
American commentators and media not treat the whole Muslim 
world as if they were the same as the 19 September 11 
hijackers.  He would be open to the Islamic Cultural Center 
co-hosting an event or a joint activity against terrorism at 
some later date.  His center has a grand exposition room that 
could be used for events by the U.S. Embassy, and he would 
like to see future student exchanges between Spanish Muslims 
and American students. 
 
8.  (U)  All three leaders welcomed enhanced Mission outreach 
to Spain's Muslim community.  Post has organized a Muslim 
outreach group to coordinate and promote increased contact 
with the Islamic community.  This includes sending community 
leaders invitations to special events, organizing visits by 
Citizen Diplomats, and hosting meetings between the Charge 
and Muslim leaders.  Alzaid's previous travel to the U.S. 
made him respect the tolerance of the U.S. people.  M'Rabet 
was well-informed and articulate, and would be a good 
candidate to visit the U.S. in the future.  He has many 
contacts with journalists in the U.S., and he respects the 
role of the free press in the U.S. 
 
//CONSPIRACY THEORIES LINGER// 
 
9.  (C)  Poloff had good discussions with all of the Muslim 
leaders he met.  Fernandez, as the spokesman for the more 
established Islamic Federation, is known as being a moderate 
Muslim, but he surprised Poloff towards the end of the 
interview with his readiness to accept conspiracy theories 
regarding the 9/11 attacks.  He supported the notion that a 
missile hit the Pentagon rather than a plane, and he drew a 
diagram of the Pentagon, claiming the angle would be too 
difficult for a plane to fly into the building.  He also 
expressed his doubts about Mohammed Atta's ability to captain 
a jet plane and gave Poloff the listing of a couple of web 
sites in the U.S. and France that pose doubts on the USG 
version of events of September 11. 
MANZANARES