U.S. Senators' Letter on Saudi Violations of Religious Freedom & Extremist Teachings

By Andrew Cochran

Fifteen Senators of both parties, led by Sens. Susan Collins and Charles Schumer, sent a letter today to Sec. of State Rice about Saudi Arabia's violations of religious freedom and the continued export of extremist teachings from Saudi Arabia. The Senators express their �appreciation for the Department of State�s 2004 designation of Saudi Arabia as a �country of particular concern� (CPC) for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.� Moreover, they urge Sec. Rice to persuade the Saudi government to stop the distribution of such material and to implement other measures to curtail Saudi-based extremism. The State Department has a March 15 deadline, under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, to take action against Saudi Arabia for the designation of the Kingdom as a severe violator of religious freedom.

The letter cites the outstanding study released by Freedom House of Saudi-sponsored extremist teachings in the U.S, as previously discussed on this blog here and here. And it needs their defense, because it is now under fire by those who use the standard language of anti-Christian and anti-Semite bigots.

One Freedom House trustee, Farooq Kathwari, resigned in protest, and yesterday he posted his resignation letter on "The Muslim Observer." Kathwari labeled the report a �flawed, poorly executed and referenced study,� in large part due to the report�s use of the writings of certain experts, among them Contributing Expert Steven Emerson, Fouad Ajami, and Khalid Duran, whom Kathwari considers "biased". "The Muslim Observer" goes further, engaging in the old familiar bigots' refrain that �the Christian right and zionist extremists� for influencing Freedom House to publish the study. Just a reminder: the Freedom House study found that one publication promoted through the Saudi Embassy's own Cultural Department in Washington prohibits Muslims from taking American citizenship and thereby �acquiescing to their infidelity and accepting all their erroneous ways.�

Sen. Schumer, Sen. Collins, and the other Senators got it right today: "Saudi Arabia�s efforts to export militant Wahhabi ideology throughout the world inflame the type of anti-American sentiments that lie behind the potential of terrorist attacks that continue to be the greatest threat to our national security. Therefore, it is essential that Saudi Arabia be held accountable for its support of radical Islamic ideology.�

These and the other Senators signing the letter - Brownback, Santorum, Bayh, Chambliss, Smith, Ensign, Lautenberg, Coleman, Wyden, Dodd, Kohl, Nelson (NE), and Dorgan - should be commended.

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