Of all the human rights organizations with which I am familiar, the one that has the most credibility is Freedom House. Yesterday its Center for Religious Freedom released an 89-page report on Saudi government publications in the United States (click here for the press release, here for the report in PDF).
Today’s Washington Times carries an excellent account of the report: “Group cites Saudi hate tracts.” Here are the first two paragraphs of the Times article:
The government of Saudi Arabia is spreading “hate propaganda” in religious tracts sent to mosques throughout America, telling Muslims to hate Christians and Jews and to kill any Muslim who converts to another religion, a leading human rights group charged yesterday.
Saudi government literature collected during the past year from American mosques also tells Muslims living in the United States to “behave as if on a mission behind enemy lines,” says an 89-page report released by the Human Rights Group Freedom House.
And here’s the reaction of the Saudi embassy official reached by the Times:
Abdulmohsen Alyas, a spokesman for the Saudi Embassy in Washington, said he had not seen the Freedom House report.
When told of the report’s contents, Mr. Alyas said, “Saudi Arabia recognizes that extremism is part of a worldwide problem that all nations must work on diligently to bring to an end.
“Saudi Arabia condemns extremism or hateful expression among people anywhere in the world.”
I’m confident Mr. Alyas will get right on the case, but isn’t this act wearing a little thin three years after 9/11?
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