Americans divided over US policies on Israel, say US students
Prince Turki Al-Faisal, former Saudi ambassador to the US, with US students and officials in Riyadh. (AN photo)
Published: Jun 20, 2010 23:38 Updated: Jun 20, 2010 23:38
JEDDAH: Nine students from various universities in the United States completed a 10-day tour of Saudi Arabia before leaving over the weekend. The tour was part of a joint program between Saudi Arabia and the National Council on US-Arab Relations (NCUSAR) based in Washington D.C.
“Although many of us, myself included, have spent years studying the Middle East, this was our first physical visit here,” said Myles Murphy of the University of California, San Francisco. “Obviously, a 10-day trip mostly involving meetings with societal and intellectual elites is simply a tiny window on a widely diverse, complex, misunderstood and misrepresented area of the world.”
Gaelen Mancino of St. John’s College in Maryland said the misunderstanding works in the other direction, too.
“One thing I think Saudis may misconceive about America is that we are unified in our thoughts, viewpoints and particularly our policies,” he said. “One of our colleagues identified the US as ‘a Christian nation,’ which is a blatant misunderstanding of who we are as Americans.” Mancino expressed the view that Americans are divided on US policies pertaining to Israel.
“I personally have been led to believe through meeting Saudis of different backgrounds and families that many in the Kingdom think America has a unified policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This could not be further from the actuality of the situation.”
NCUSAR, founded in 1983, is an American nonprofit organization dedicated to improving American knowledge and understanding of the Arab world.

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ARSHI ALI KHAN
Jun 22, 2010 02:48
Report abuseGALEN MANCINO
Jun 22, 2010 03:29
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Jun 22, 2010 10:27
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Jun 23, 2010 13:11
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Jun 24, 2010 20:34
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