Stand up to Saudi Arabia , local Iraqis demand
ICC Note: Iraqis in the U.S. announce to the world that Saudi Arabia is no friend of the U.S. and the U.S. government should act accordingly.
7/22/07 Saudi Arabia (heraldnet) – A group of about 50 Iraqis who live in Everett gathered Tuesday in downtown Seattle ‘s Westlake Center to protest the U.S. government’s alliance with Saudi Arabia .
Holding signs accusing Saudi Arabia ‘s leaders of crimes against humanity, they urged voters to pressure legislators to hold the Middle Eastern kingdom accountable for the number of Saudi terrorists killing people in Iraq .
“We know the U.S. is a friend to Saudi Arabia , and something must be done about it,” said Adil al Rikabi, a man considered by many of the region’s Iraqis as their leader. “As Americans, as people who have their citizenship, we’re asking the government to make a decision about its alliance with Saudi Arabia .”
On a flier they handed out to passersby, they called Saudi Arabia “the essential supporter of terror
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U.S. military leaders recently released information about the number of Saudis involved in the insurgency in Iraq . Nearly half of all foreign fighters targeting U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians are Saudis, according to those reports.
Last month, Saudi cleric Sheikh Saleh al Fozan said liberal Muslims are not real Muslims – an edict that jihadists can use as a call to kill all non-Muslims and Muslims who don’t adhere to strict Islamic teachings.
Saudi Arabia ‘s official religion is Wahhabism, a strict form of Islam that ostracizes all other faiths, including more mainstream Muslim sects.
Wahhabi clerics teach that anyone who does not follow their fundamentalist beliefs is an enemy of Islam.
Osama bin Laden is the scion of a wealthy Saudi family. And Saudi Arabians made up 15 of the 19 hijackers in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York , Washington , D.C., and Pennsylvania
“They don’t have respect for humans there,” al Ali said.
On the drive to Tuesday’s protest, al Ali’s three teenage daughters used makeup pencils to write “I am Iraqi” on their 3-year-old brother Muhammed’s forehead. Al Ali tied an Iraqi flag to the front of his family’s Chevrolet van and secured an American flag to the back.
The family piled into the van and headed south on I-5 toward Seattle .
They’ve danced in downtown Everett ‘s streets to celebrate the U.S. invasion of Iraq , and had a barbecue when ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was executed.
But they never protested anything about the U.S. government, which they credit for saving their lives.
On Tuesday, that changed.
“Call your lawmakers and tell them to stop Saudi Arabia ,” Iraqi men shouted into a megaphone.
Many pedestrians walked by the protesters without even glancing at them. A few stopped and applauded.
“I’m proud to help this country,” said Maliki, who has worked to train U.S. soldiers about Iraqi culture at Fort Lewis . “But I also want to help my own country. We had to do this.”
