America has been angered by an incident in Saudi Arabia. What actually happened was that USCIRF member Abraham Cooper was visiting Diriyah near Riyadh. Diriyah is a historical city which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. During the tour, Cooper was asked to remove his Jewish cap, a kippah, which USCIRF described as reprehensible.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched his ambitious project ‘Vision 2030’ on 25 April 2016. One of its main objectives was to improve the global image of Saudi Arabia. Stories of many changes have also been heard in recent years. However, a recent incident has raised many questions on this vision of Saudi. Vision has been put in the dock by an American agency whose job is to promote religious freedom. The name of the agency is US Commission on International Religious Freedom i.e. USCIRF. With this, once again the sourness in America-Saudi relations has increased.
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What happened that the dispute escalated so much?
The controversy has increased so much that America has reduced its visit to Saudi Arabia. Actually, the member of the commission is Abraham Cooper who was visiting Diriyah near Riyadh. Diriyah is a historical city which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Cooper was asked to remove his Jewish head covering, or kippah, during the tour. USCIRF has described this incident as condemnable.
It issued a statement saying that no one should be prevented from accessing any heritage site just because they are a Jew. This incident has happened at a time when there is tension between Saudi Arabia and America regarding the war in Gaza. America is busy trying to improve its relations with Saudi.
Saudi refused to comment
USCIRF also reported that Cooper and its vice president, the Reverend Frederick Dewey, were invited to visit the site last Tuesday as part of their official visit. Cooper said Saudi Arabia is in a period of exciting change under its 2030 vision, but what happened to them raises many questions on this vision.
USCIRF said it was particularly regrettable that this happened to a US government agency that promotes religious freedom. This has not only directly refuted the stories of government changes but has also exposed the reality of religious freedom in Saudi. However, the Saudi Embassy in Washington has refused to comment.
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