I spent my vacation in Europe this year in hopes of escaping the unpleasant hate campaigns against us. Unfortunately, I was unable to escape some annoying media coverage about Saudis in the European city where I was staying. I regularly read in some leading French newspapers about the extravagance of various Saudis who were holidaying in Cannes, Nice and other Mediterranean playgrounds. I was deeply shocked and hurt by one particular report which described how the local economy had been rescued and rejuvenated by incredible Saudi extravagance. It is disturbing and upsetting to see our money being wasted in such unproductive ways, especially when the Arab world is experiencing one of the most difficult periods in history. The campaigns against us have even gone to the extent of demanding the division of our country and the seizure of our oil fields. The hedonistic rich in our society, however, act as if they were completely unaware of these hostile forces which are lurking in wait for a lapse on our part in order to justify a war against us. It is some of our own thoughtless and self-centered Saudis who provide our critics with the necessary material to tarnish our image.
A French newspaper — Nice-Matin of Aug. 23 — carried banner headlines in the front page of how rich Saudis had saved the season for them. On reading further, I discovered that the newspaper was not commending any constructive Saudi contributions to the country’s economy. On the contrary, the article highlighted a great deal of wasteful spending by Saudis which, in turn, boosted the business activities of banks, shopping centers and restaurants in Cannes, Nice and other tourist attractions in the south of France. Our rich people have been regularly and annually parading their highly expensive possessions — yachts, for example, valued in the tens of millions of dollars.
The report in that French paper is sadly typical of the reports carried in other newspapers in various parts of Europe; the common element in all of them was the ostentatious spending habits of rich Saudis. Some of the stories are unbelievable — special planes being chartered every day to bring them dinner from home, whole shops and showrooms being reserved for a few Saudis and an entire luxury hotel — or entire hotel floors — being reserved for a single man. The irresponsible behavior of a few rich people among us harm every citizen of our country. Some strong and forceful steps should be taken to stop such pointless waste of the Kingdom’s riches.
