WikiLeaks: Serial 'Desperate Housewives' Ampuh Lawan Jihad di Arab Saudi

Detik.com - Film serial TV "Desperate Housewives" yang terkenal itu, ternyata lebih ampuh membujuk kaum muda Arab Saudi untuk menolak jihad keras daripada TV propaganda pemerintah AS yang nilainya jutaan dolar.

Hal itu diungkapkan oleh para informan kepada Kedutaan Besar AS di Riyadh menurut bocoran kabel diplomatik yang dirilis WikiLeaks dan dilansir media Inggris, Guardian, Rabu (8/12/2010).

Film serial TV orisinil Amerika itu disiarkan tanpa sensor di saluran televisi Saudi, MBC 4. Selain "Desperate Housewives", acara-acara TV Amerika seperti "Late Show With David Letterman" dan serial sitkom "Friends" diizinkan mengudara di Saudi sebagai bagian dari "perang ide" yang dilancarkan kerajaan tersebut terhadap elemen-elemen ekstremis.

Menurut kabel diplomatik rahasia berjudul "David Letterman: Agent of Influence", acara-acara khas Amerika itu terbukti lebih efektif dibandingkan alat propaganda utama AS, saluran berita TV al-Hurra yang didanai pemerintah AS.

Al-Hurra pernah menyiarkan wawancara panjang dengan para politikus AS termasuk mantan presiden George Bush. Namun televisi tersebut bermasalah dengan para jurnalis lokal yang direkrutnya. Terbukti pada sebuah kesempatan, stasiun tersebut menyiarkan seruan kelompok Hizbullah untuk mengangkat senjata terhadap Israel. Itu tentunya bukan tujuan saluran tersebut ketika diluncurkan di Timur Tengah pada 2004 lalu.

Menurut para diplomat, daya tarik para aktris dan aktor seperti Eva Longoria, Jennifer Aniston dan David Schwimmer menunjukkan TV komersial punya pengaruh lebih luas daripada al-Hurra.

"Ini masih tentang perang ide di sini, acara Amerika di MBC dan Rotana (saluran milik News Corporation yang dimiliki raja media Rupert Murdoch) merebut hati warga Saudi kebanyakan dengan cara yang tak pernah dilakukan al-Hurra dan propaganda AS lainnya," kata dua eksekutif media Saudi pada seorang pejabat AS dalam sebuah pertemuan di Jeddah.

"Warga Saudi saat ini sangat tertarik akan dunia luar dan semua orang ingin belajar di AS jika mereka bisa. Mereka terpesona akan budaya AS dengan cara yang belum pernah terjadi sebelumnya," demikian menurut kabel diplomatik Mei 2009.

Menurut seorang pejabat senior saluran al-Arabiya, acara Amerika di saluran MBC 4 dan MBC 5 sangat populer di Saudi. Acara itu bahkan juga ngetop di daerah-daerah terpencil dan daerah konservatif di Saud.

Report: Saudis Give Nod to Israeli Strike on Iran

The head of Mossad, Israel's overseas intelligence service, has assured Benjamin Netanyahu, its prime minister, that Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye to Israeli jets flying over the kingdom during any future raid on Iran's nuclear sites.

Earlier this year Meir Dagan, Mossad's director since 2002, held secret talks with Saudi officials to discuss the possibility.

The Israeli press has already carried unconfirmed reports that high-ranking officials, including Ehud Olmert, the former prime minister, held meetings with Saudi colleagues. The reports were denied by Saudi officials.

"The Saudis have tacitly agreed to the Israeli air force flying through their airspace on a mission which is supposed to be in the common interests of both Israel and Saudi Arabia," a diplomatic source said last week.

Although the countries have no formal diplomatic relations, an Israeli defense source confirmed that Mossad maintained "working relations" with the Saudis.

John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who recently visited the Gulf, said it was "entirely logical" for the Israelis to use Saudi airspace.

Bolton, who has talked to several Arab leaders, added: "None of them would say anything about it publicly but they would certainly acquiesce in an overflight if the Israelis didn't trumpet it as a big success."

Meet Saudi Arabia's 'Miss Beautiful Morals' Contestants

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Sukaina al-Zayer is an unlikely beauty queen hopeful. She covers her face and body in black robes and an Islamic veil, so no one can tell what she looks like. She also admits she's a little on the plump side.

But at Saudi Arabia's only beauty pageant, the judges don't care about a perfect figure or face. What they're looking for in the quest for "Miss Beautiful Morals" is the contestant who shows the most devotion and respect for her parents.

"The idea of the pageant is to measure the contestants' commitment to Islamic morals... It's an alternative to the calls for decadence in the other beauty contests that only take into account a woman's body and looks," said pageant founder Khadra al-Mubarak.

"The winner won't necessarily be pretty," she added. "We care about the beauty of the soul and the morals."

So after the pageant opens Saturday, the nearly 200 contestants will spend the next 10 weeks attending classes and being quizzed on themes including "Discovering your inner strength," "The making of leaders" and "Mom, paradise is at your feet" — a saying attributed to Islam's Prophet Muhammad to underline that respect for parents is among the faith's most important tenets.

Pageant hopefuls will also spend a day at a country house with their mothers, where they will be observed by female judges and graded on how they interact with their mothers, al-Mubarak said. Since the pageant is not televised and no men are involved, contestants can take off the veils and black figure-hiding abayas they always wear in public.

The Miss Beautiful Morals pageant is the latest example of conservative Muslims co-opting Western-style formats to spread their message in the face of the onslaught of foreign influences flooding the region through the Internet and satellite television.

A newly created Islamic music channel owned by an Egyptian businessman aired an "American Idol"-style contest for religious-themed singers this month. And several Muslim preachers have become talk-show celebrities by adopting an informal, almost Oprah-like television style, in contrast to the solemn clerics who traditionally appear in the media.

Now in its second year, the number of pageant contestants has nearly tripled from the 75 women who participated in 2008. The pageant is open to women between 15 and 25. The winner and two runners up will be announced in July, with the queen taking home $2,600 and other prizes. The runners up get $1,300 each.

Last year's winner, Zahra al-Shurafa, said the contest gives an incentive to young women and teens to show more consideration toward their parents.

"I tell this year's contestants that winning is not important," said al-Shurafa, a 21-year-old English major. "What is important is obeying your parents."

There are few beauty pageants in the largely conservative Arab world. The most dazzling is in Lebanon, the region's most liberal country, where contestants appear on TV in one-piece swimsuits and glamorous evening gowns and answer questions that test their confidence and general knowledge.

There are no such displays in ultra-strict Saudi Arabia, where until Miss Beautiful Morals was inaugurated last year, the only pageants were for goats, sheep, camels and other animals, aimed at encouraging livestock breeding.

This year's event kicks off Saturday in the mainly Shiite Muslim town of Safwa, and mostly draws local Shiite contestants. But it's open to anyone — and this year, 15 Sunni Muslims are participating, al-Mubarak said. "This is a beautiful thing," she added.

There have long been tensions between the two sects in the kingdom. Hard-liners in the Sunni majority consider Shiites infidels, and the Shiites often complain of discrimination and greater levels of poverty.

Al-Zayer, a 24-year-old international management student, said she signed up because she is the "spitting image" of her mother. "I'm proud of my devotion to my parents," she said.

What does she think of Lebanon's beauty contests?

"It's a matter of cultural differences," she said. "In Saudi Arabia, they are Islamically unacceptable."

Awsaf al-Mislim, another contestant, said if she does not win the crown, she will have won something more important.

"I will be proud to show everyone that I competed with the others over my devotion to my parents," the 24-year-old said.