March 11 (UPI) — U. S. diplomats who visited Saudi Arabia last week cut short their visit after a Saudi official asked the Jewish president to remove his kippah, the organization said Monday.
“No one can be denied access to a heritage site, especially one meant to show unity and progress, just because they exist as Jews,” Cooper said.
“We note, with particular regret, that this happened to a representative of a U. S. government company that sells freedom,” he continued. “USCIRF looks forward to continuing discussions with the Saudi government on how to address the systemic issues that led to this disturbing situation. incident. “
“The request by Saudi officials asking President Cooper to remove his kippah is staggering and painful,” said USCIRF Vice President Frederick Davie. “This directly contradicts not only the government’s official narrative of change, but also the original symptoms of greater devout freedom in the Kingdom. that we’ve observed firsthand. “
According to the Brookings Institution, censorship of freedoms and repression of political opposition on social media platforms is the norm in several countries in the Arab world.
In a report released last year, the U. S. also denounced violations of religious freedom in China, Russia, Iran and India. One of the main findings was that governments had continued to target members of devout communities within their borders.
While Saudi Arabia has worked to foster interfaith debate and tolerance, it has also violated freedoms by prohibiting the practice of any faith other than Islam,” the State Department said in its 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom.
USCIRF in its 2023 annual report that the U. S. Department of StateThe U. S. Department of Homeland Security designates Saudi Arabia as a “country of specific concern” for “systemic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom each and every year since 2000. “
The State Department has designated Saudi Arabia as a CPC several times since 2014, most recently in December 2023.