US embassy cable - 05TUNIS879

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 TUNIS 000879 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/MAG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SOCI, TS 
SUBJECT: BEYWATCH: NEWS FROM TUNISIA 
 
1. The following is one of a series of reporting cables 
drafted predominantly by Post's entry level officers.  We 
believe the different perspectives offered in each of the 
following paragraphs will (taken together) accurately reflect 
what we consider to be the country's paradoxical nature -- 
Tunisia is highly developed in some respects, but much less 
so in others.  For more information about Tunisia or the 
Embassy Tunis Entry Level Officer Development initiative, see 
our Siprnet website (Ref). 
 
Topic                    Paragraph 
---------------------------------- 
Nation Of Sports Fans............2 
Golfers' Paradise................5 
Smelly Soap, Healthy Eggs.......10 
Paradoxical Medical Care........12 
Anti-Americanism Diminishing....15 
 
A Nation Of Sports Fans 
----------------------- 
2. The idea of "working out" is strange to most Tunisians. 
Gyms are rare and tend to be under-equipped compared to gyms 
in the U.S.  However, along with the rest of the developing 
world, sports and sporting figures are extremely popular in 
Tunisia.  Soccer, the most popular sport, is everywhere. 
Large numbers of young Tunisian males play on weekends and 
during the weekday after school, often on dusty fields with 
rocks serving as the goalposts.  Tarek Dhiab, the celebrated 
Tunisian World Cup star, is parlaying his fame into starting 
a sports television channel and has not ruled out a future in 
politics.  (NB: We plan to report more on the political 
aspects of sports in Tunisia septel.) 
 
3. One of the reasons for this popularity seems to be the 
apparent freedom of speech that exists for Tunisian 
journalists who cover sports.  Some Tunisians say this is the 
only freedom of expression in Tunisia.  A Tunisian contact 
commented, "In Tunisian newspapers, the only truth to be 
found is in the sports section and the obituaries, the rest 
is garbage."  Sports can be one of the only real outlets for 
Tunisians to express themselves.  Tunisians can yell at the 
coach and hold rallies for their sports teams; on game days 
roads are often blocked off near the stadiums and cars with 
screaming fans in team colors cruise around town. 
 
4. Tunisia recently has played host to several world-class 
athletic championships.  In 2004 Tunisia hosted and won the 
Africa Cup, a soccer tournament, which brought the 
continent's rising stars to Tunis.  In February 2005 Tunisia 
hosted the World Championship for the country's second most 
popular sport, Team handball.  Tunisia placed fourth after 
narrowly losing to France in the consolation match.  This 
July, Tunisia will host the FIBA (International Basketball 
Federation) Women's Under-19 (U19) World Championship in the 
beach resorts of Nabeul and Hammamet.  This is Tunisia's 
first U19 World Championship berth in a sport that has become 
increasingly popular in Tunisia.  The Public Affairs section 
recently took advantage of this by sponsoring a visit by 
cultural envoys and former Georgetown basketball players 
Omari Faulkner and Courtland Freeman.  The players, in 
coordination with the Tunisian Basketball Federation, 
conducted intensive basketball clinics in cities throughout 
Tunisia that were extremely popular. 
 
A (Sometimes Crowded) Golfers' Paradise 
--------------------------------------- 
 
5. Blessed with early spring weather, Tunisia is a key 
destination for European golfers who like to get a jump on 
the summer golfing season.  Although one can golf year-round 
in Tunisia, March and April typically see a deluge of 
European golfers arriving to enjoy weather in the 70s to 80s 
(F), relatively inexpensive green fees, and all-inclusive 
hotel accomodations on the Mediterrean coast.  A typical 
traveler, for example, can expect to pay a mere 650 USD for a 
week in at a 4 star hotel with 4 rounds of golf included. 
 
6. Unfortunately, the swarms of bargain golfers to Tunisia 
are pushing the regular locals off their home turf.  Resident 
golfers, whether Tunisian or foreign, who play most weekend 
mornings are being forced to relocate to less crowded 
courses, despite their pre-existing annual memberships on 
their preferred courses.  "This is totally outrageous and 
against typical course management which normally favors 
annual club members with preferred tee times," ranted one 
local golfer. 
 
7. Not surprisingly, profit maximization is what motivates 
golf course managers to favor the foreign invaders.  They are 
happy to pack the courses during the high season, despite the 
ill effects on the resident community.  Some claim that the 
local regulars' purchasing power pales in comparison to the 
droves of package travelers who pack a typical course with 
550 players on a weekend day, spending 70-100 USD a head.  By 
contrast, an annual membership offering unlimited golf (carts 
and caddies extra) runs a mere 350 to 500 USD in Tunisia, 
although some courses are beginning to push rates up.  Tunis' 
La Soukra Golf Club, for example, the only course in the 
capital's metropolitan area, now fetches more that 1,000 USD 
for an annual membership -- still a bargain by international 
standards. 
 
8. Pressure creates resistance and all of this has created a 
bit of a storm against the management at one of the more 
popular golf courses in Hammamet (a hotel-laden town on the 
Mediterranean geared for tourists less than an hour's drive 
from Tunis), with a number of regular golfers opting for 
better customer service elsewhere.  Thankfully, there are 
other courses to play on.  With daylight lasting until 9 p.m. 
during the summer months and practically empty courses after 
the spring droves have flown north for the summer, one can 
only hope that all will be soon forgotten and Tunisia's 
relaxed pace of play will resume. 
 
9. Not surprisingly, the clout of the Tunisian First Family 
permeates even Tunisia's golfing culture:  A son-in-law to 
President Ben Ali recently became President of the Tunisian 
Golfing Federation.  However, this is hardly virgin 
territory, since the son of the country's first President 
brought golf to Tunisia by building the first courses. 
 
Artificial Rosewater And Heart-Friendly Eggs 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
10. The modernization of Tunisian consumer taste continues 
apace.  Omo, a brand of laundry soap, is currently 
advertising new rose and jasmine-scented versions.  This in a 
country famous for its artisanal distilled essence industry, 
whose products, such as rose and jasmine water, are used to 
perfume laundry and in cooking.  A traditional Tunisian 
household is not complete without an ample supply of these 
perfumed waters, often made from a family recipe. But is this 
changing?  While the annual handicrafts festival is still a 
major draw for Tunisians, and welcomed guests this year with 
displays of rose water distilleries, Omo has obviously 
decided that Tunisian consumer tastes have reached the point 
where offering an artificial "modern" version of a readily 
available traditional product makes sense. 
 
11. In another sign of evolving tastes, upper class Tunisians 
are flocking to buy the new Omega-3 eggs offered by a local 
agribusiness.  These "heart-friendly" eggs, which are 
advertised as low in cholesterol and high in Omega-3 oils, 
are produced by feeding chickens a strict linseed feed-only 
diet.  Omega-3 mutton is said to not be far behind. 
 
High Technology But Uneven Care 
In Country's Best Private Clinics 
--------------------------------- 
 
12. Because of their high cost compared to public hospitals, 
private clinics in Tunisia are available only to the well off 
-- or well connected.  However, some say the price is a 
relative bargain for the level of care they can provide, and 
so medical tourism is a growing source of income for the 
Tunisian economy.  The clinics' parking lots are full of cars 
from Libya, and knowledgeable sources say growing numbers are 
flying in from the UK to seek quicker and cheaper treatment 
than they can get at home. Apparently, the British National 
Health Service also has contracted with some clinics to 
provide non-elective surgery in order to relieve long waits 
for the procedures in the UK. 
 
13. A good example is the new private La Soukra clinic (just 
down the road from the golf course mentioned in Para 7), at 
which emboff underwent knee surgery.  Its operating room 
appears to be a sterile environment.  The clinic has a modern 
x-ray machine that creates 3-D images of the bones in the 
knee, images that later wowed the doctors back in the states 
with the level of technology it represented.  Other high tech 
equipment monitored the patient, and the skilled surgeon, 
trained in France, performed the delicate operation without 
complications. 
 
14. However, the clinic has flaws that undercut its value. 
Like elsewhere in Tunisia, its marble is not treated with an 
anti-slip coating, and patients and equipment slide too 
easily in unexpected directions.  Nor do the x-ray 
technicians bring patients a lead apron when taking x-rays, 
nor even appreciate the need for one.  The physical therapist 
does not have a suitable wheelchair, forcing the patient to 
walk on crutches the length of two buildings soon after 
surgery.  The technician who changed the dressings on the 
wound had a sneezy cold and did not wear gloves or clean her 
hands after wiping her nose.  The ambulance technician that 
carried the patient to the hospital did not strap her to the 
gurney.  The nurses would not bring ice for the swelling 
knee.  (NB: The real problem, knoweldgeable sources say, is 
threefold: there are virtually no trained nurses in private 
or public establishments; there is very little pre-hospital 
care, i.e, ambulances and EMTs; and, while the clinics have 
lots of great technology, there are not enough trained 
technicians to use it -- especially radiologists.  The 
general lack of liability and accountability in this and 
other sectors of the economy also contribute.) 
 
Buck Up Washington -- We Are Winning 
The Public Diplomacy War In The Middle East, 
One Head, Hat, And Hair At A Time! 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
15. Anti-Americanism in Tunisia has diminished greatly in the 
last two years, and we believe Tunisians' affinity for our 
country continues to recover from its former dismal levels. 
This country was hardly the only one in which the recent war 
in Iraq and the second Intifada excited powerful emotions -- 
like other Arabs, Tunsisians felt personally affronted over 
the gore they viewed on pan-Arab satellite channels.  In 
2003, no-show rates at Embassy events were significantly 
elevated.  Even pro-American Tunisians would turn purple with 
anger when discussing these issues.  However, this is no 
longer the case, though there is still much room for 
improvement.  While we are not out of the woods yet, some 
signs indicate that we are winning some public diplomacy 
battles, if not the war for hearts and minds, in Tunisia. 
 
16. Only when not lecturing emboffs on the "double standards" 
inherent in U.S. foreign policy would Tunisian contacts 
half-jokingly explain their hyperbolic devotion to the 
problems of other Arab countries by describing themselves as 
"more Palestinian than the Palestinians."  Memories of the 
Israeli raids on the PLO when it was headquartered here 
1982-94 probably boosted their anger over more recent events. 
 However, another theory is that Tunisia's foreign policy for 
hundreds of years has been based on balancing two great 
powers against each other to preserve the country's autonomy 
and/or independence.  First it was the Ottomans versus the 
Spanish, until France surpassed Spain.  Then after World War 
2, it was the U.S. versus the Soviets who subsequently have 
been replaced -- if only in many Tunisians' view -- by the 
EU.  The country lost its independence and became a French 
"protectorate" approximately 120 years ago when the Ottomans 
(specifically, the Ottoman-backed semiautonomous local 
rulers, the Beys of Tunis) could no longer balance French 
power.  According to our records, in the early 1990s many 
Tunisian contacts lamented the dissolution of the Soviet 
Union for fear the U.S. soon would act as France had less 
than a century before.  Tunisia is an ancient country but the 
Tunisian Republic is not even fifty years old.  Locked into a 
"balance of power" mindset, Tunisians fear their country 
remains weak and vulnerable.  It is; however, we believe they 
are wrong to think that history will repeat itself. 
 
17. Nevertheless, these fears are diminishing steadily as all 
that American civilization has to offer this country -- which 
admittedly continued to permeate this society even during the 
worst days of the last few years -- is beginning to crowd out 
Tunisians' fears.  The Carthage Jazz Festival brought in a 
variety of American Jazz groups this year.  Although they 
were not top names, all shows sold out quickly, and groups 
played to packed large venues.  Meanwhile, sales of pirated 
American DVDs have grown steadily after access to French 
satellite TV was briefly interrupted (see reftel).  Some 
restaurants have re-adopted American themes, and small 
American flag stickers are seen on the backs of a few mopeds. 
 Human rights NGOs are beginning to reach out to the U.S.  We 
think the elections in Iraq and recent progress on the Gaza 
Disengagement and the Roadmap have been hugely beneficial in 
contributing to the new detente. 
 
18. Although, many (including the GOT) cite young women's 
increasing use of the Muslim veil (aka Hijab) as proof that 
the U.S. is losing the battle for Muslim heads (and minds), 
we beg to differ and note the following. 
 
- Starting in 2004, Tunisians have begun wearing New York 
Yankees baseball caps in ever greater numbers, and now we 
believe this hat is the single most common piece of headgear 
in the capital and other major cities like Sfax, not to 
mention the country's more westernized tourist-infested 
eastern coast running from Nabeul to Mahdia.  The caps let 
wearers identify with America -- or New York -- without 
appearing to support the U.S. Government.  (NB: Tunisians are 
generally unfamiliar with baseball.) 
 
- Starting in late 2004, poloff noticed lower middle class 
Tunisian adults, as well as upper class Tunisian children, 
began wearing clothes (hats and tshirts) on which the U.S. 
flag was printed. 
 
- Visit Tunisian universities (where as previously reported 
women outnumber men) or cafes open to both sexes and you will 
see the number of young women dying their hair blond has gone 
up.  Henna has been used to give Tunisian women's hair a 
reddish tint for years, but the existence of Blond Arab 
Tunisian women is a new phenomenon.  This is a style of the 
rich most of all, but lower middle class women are doing it 
too, albeit with somewhat darker dyes.  While this is still a 
new trend, we submit the hypothesis that the rate of growth 
of the use of blond hair dye in Tunisia is higher than the 
rate of growth of wearing the hijab.  That's hard 
(impossible?) to quantify, but if true, you read it here 
first. 
 
19. Admittedly, baseball caps, flag emblems, and hair dye are 
about more than just attitudes towards the U.S.  In 
particular, blond hair for Tunisians signifies Europe and the 
West as much as it does America.  For that matter, the Hijab 
is inherently neither "anti-" nor "un-" American.  Our 
argument is only that (mostly young) Tunisians appear to be 
adopting fashions that other Tunisians can interpret as being 
pro-American after a few years during which these fashions 
were conspicuously missing.  Like wearing bluejeans in 
Eastern Europe during the Cold War, these are ways young 
people can show dissatisfaction with the status quo, or just 
make a fashion statement, or some combination of both. 
Regardless, we predict further positive developments. 
 
HUDSON