Opposition: Saudi king’s son promotes ‘racist policy’ against nation’s blacks
Special to WorldTribune.com
WASHINGTON — The Saudi opposition has been lobbying in the United States to oppose racism in the Gulf Arab kingdom.
The Institute for Gulf Affairs protested a Saudi government forum in the United States in mid-September.
The opposition institute said its target was Deputy Saudi Foreign Minister Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah, son of the king and deemed an architect of Riyad’s policy against the estimated three million blacks.
“Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah is deputy foreign minister and he implements this racist policy against blacks,” the institute said.
On Sept. 16, the Saudi royal family organized an economic forum in Los Angeles headed by Abdul Aziz. The institute lobbied Washington to press Riyad to end the policy of discriminating against Saudi blacks, deemed slaves.
“The Saudi monarchy bans blacks from many jobs including diplomats,
judges, security officers, ministers, mayors, senior clerics, and heads of
government departments,” the institute said on Sept. 16. “The Saudi Foreign
Ministry bans blacks from all diplomatic positions. That’s why none of you
have met a Saudi black diplomat before.”
The institute said the Saudi royal family has blocked the appointment of
blacks in government and civil service. The statement cited the absence of
blacks in media, education and government.
“The monarchy bans black women from appearing on television or working
as on camera reporters, and from many low-level jobs such including school
principal,” the institute said. “There is not one single black school
principal in Saudi Arabia.”
The institute has lobbied both Congress and the administration to
protest Saudi racism. The lobbying urged Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker
to use the Los Angeles forum to speak out against racism.
The statement also cited Suleiman Al Huraisi, a 24-year-old black man
beaten to death by the Saudi religious police. The police, who hurled racial
epithets as they beat him, accused Al Huraisi of possessing alcohol in his
Riyad home.
“None of his killers were ever brought to justice,” the institute said.

