By: Kendjana Adolphe
In the last few months, Saudi Arabia has been in the middle of two major events, which has worsened its relationships with other countries, some western powers, such as the United States, and some Middle Eastern countries, such as Turkey.
Since 2015, Saudi Arabia formed a coalition of Arab states with Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco to support the civil war in Yemen that has been going on for about three years in an effort to restore the power of the previous government, push out Iran and deliver aid to Yemen’s starving population. Some Western powers, such as France, the United Kingdom and the United States supplied the Saudi-led coalition with weapons and other needed resources to support the country.
This deadly war affecting one of the poorest countries in the Arab world caused the death of thousands of civilians, with Saudi Arabia lying in the middle of the conflict. On Aug. 9, 2018, more than 50 people were killed in Yemen during a bombardment organized by a Saudi-led coalition. According to the Guardian, 51 people were killed, including 40 children ages six to 11, and 79 others were wounded, 56 of them being children. After the investigation by a Yemeni publication, it was discovered that the United States supplied the bomb that caused such a disaster.
In November, the U.S. declared that they would suspend re-fueling Saudi’s military aircraft flying in Yemen. Also, in this defense spending bill, U.S. President Donald Trump included a clause requiring the Pentagon and State Department to certify that Saudi Arabia is doing enough to reduce civilians’ death in the Yemen war (Aug. 13).
As for the U.K., another arms provider to Saudi Arabia, they claim to stop bombs going off on the streets of Britain. Their secretary Jeremy Hunt said in an interview with BBC, “we are, of course, going to be talking about the Yemen situation [during the Washington meetings]with the administration here but as far as Britain is concerned when it comes to arms sales, we have one of the strictest regimes in the world. And we constantly review whether the arms agreement that we make when we sell them, whether they are being agreed to.”
Another event that tarnishes Saudi Arabia’s image around the world is the death of a well-known Saudi journalist and critic, Jamal Bin Ahmad Khashoggi. As reported by NBC News, an American senate staffer declared that the political climate has turned hostile to Saudi Arabia over the war in Yemen and the killing of Khashoggi.
Yemen has been in civil war for several years, and various countries has become involved, including Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was revealed to be the result of the bombardment, which result in death of civilians. @hrw
On Oct. 2, 2018, Khashoggi was seen for the last time at the consulate of Istanbul. Shortly after his disappearance, the United States and other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Germany, reacted by withdrawing participation in the Saudi future investment initiative conference that would take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. CNN, the International Times and the U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin officially published the country’s withdrawal on Twitter while Richard Branson, an English businessman, investor and author halted a $1 billion project with Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi’s disappearance.
Two weeks after the disappearance of Khashoggi, Oct. 20, Saudi Arabia declared that he was indeed dead and had been killed in the Turkish consulate after a fight. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that the journalist lost his life trying to escape a 15-member group. They were trying to compel him to come back to Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, according to BBC News.
Before he fled his native country, Saudi Arabia, he was an editor for the newspaper “Al Watan” and turned it into a Saudi Arabian progressive, encouraging modern liberalism. There was a past turbulent relationship with Khashoggi because he wrote on Twitter about the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Bin Salman, and his father, the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud; he was forced to exile in Sept. 2017. As a result of this history, Saudi Arabia was considered as a possible actor in Khashoggi’s disappearance.
Although U.S. President Trump sounded in the beginning as if he would support an investigation and its findings, he released numerous unreliable statements showing that he is not willing to take actions. Trump said many times in the past that he would not want to do anything that could risk a $110 billion worth in arms of collaboration with the Saudi government since the Arabic kingdom is a great market for oil. He also added that Khashoggi was a resident, but not a full citizen of the United States.
To the president’s reaction, Fred Ryan, publisher and CEO of the Washington Post said, “The CIA has thoroughly investigated the murder of this innocent journalist and concluded with high confidence that it was directed by the crown prince. If there is reason to doubt the findings of the CIA, President Trump should immediately make that evidence public.”
Lindsey Graham, Senator of South Carolina, and Trump’s fan demanded serious sanctions against Saudi Arabia including any royal member involved in the crime.
The President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Saudi Arabia and stated that he believes Khashoggi’s murder to be premediated even if the Saudis claimed that the plan was to persuade the reporter to return in Riyadh but release him if he refused. The group removed the security camera from the consulate before the journalist’s arrival. However, audio files and some video evidence can prove that Khashoggi was tortured then killed inside of the consulate building, according to Turkish officials, as reported by BBC.
However, the Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, maintains that the Crown Prince knew nothing about what happened, and the murder was done by individuals acting “outside the scope of their authority.”
After the confirmation of Khashoggi’s death, countries such as France, Spain, Denmark and the Netherlands called for an investigation. The U.K.’s main opposition labor party has called on the governing conservative party to suspend arms sales to the kingdom. However, months after this tragedy, no actual action has been taken by foreign countries.
Frank Orlando, instructor of political science at Saint Leo University, believes that there will not be further action against Saudi Arabia.
“I don’t think there is going to be a lot of other action because the time to do it was when the details came out and President Trump made a pretty defensive statement that the US relationship with Saudi Arabia is more important than what happened. He downplayed what happened,” said Orlando.
Khashoggi’s death received a strong reaction from different people who see his death as one of many other problems in Saudi Arabia, such as women’s rights. One person who is concerned about the treatment of women in the country is Thobeka Felicia, a criminology and political science student and human rights peace activist and ambassador of the Global Women March in Johannesburg, South Africa. She thinks that the issue of Saudi women in this matter is being “overshadowed.”
“I feel as though Jamal’s death has become overly politicized and even Jamal himself. This, therefore, means the issue of Saudi women is still diluted and although people are aware of what kind of country Saudi is, they don’t have any clue to what extent,” stated Felicia.
Furthermore, she added that politicians have made the death of a high-profile critic more about themselves than the concept of bringing justice; they seek personal interest in the matter. For example, Turkey spoke about gaining opportunities against Saudi Arabia and Qatar as well. Once again, according to Felicia, this situation shows how greedy elitists are.
