The crisis involving the King Fahd Academy in Bonn has now been contained. The drama started with the German authorities getting suspicious that the academy was inciting violence and hatred toward others. The issue was resolved after officials were forced to intervene and offer concessions that would guarantee that the school continues its work.
Anyone following this case knows that the fiasco was caused by one of our “Arab brothers”, who happened to be a naturalized German. German authorities say the man gave speeches that incite violence and encourage hatred.
Two points are worth making here. First, we can’t go on accusing others, whether in the West or in the East, of plotting and conspiring against us. The claim that everyone is against us lacks justification and is no longer convincing. The case of the Saudi school in Bonn testifies to this. A tape containing the speeches given by the man linked to the case was enough to convince Saudi officials that something was not right, and it was enough to support the case of the German prosecution.
The incident took place in Bonn, not in London or Washington, the two capitals where there have been malicious media campaigns against us.
Germany has proven itself to be a country that adopts a rational foreign policy, a country that follows a wise and independent path away from America’s terrorist and arrogant policy. As Saudis, we have never had a political quarrel with the Germans. The latest Western leader to visit the Kingdom was Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who received a warm welcome.
We paid millions of dollars to set up an educational institution in Bonn where Saudi children can learn. But having spent the money we didn’t pay much more attention to it, and this kind of negligence has often cost us dearly in the past. Instead of the academy serving as a cultural center to bring the people of the two countries together, it is now being regarded negatively by the German and other foreign media.
We continue to build schools and other academic institutions in major capital cities around the world only to hand over their keys to our “Arab brethren” to run them. These brothers, unfortunately, have no loyalty or love for the countries that gave them their new citizenship. If we insist on building these schools, the least we should do is allow our own people to run these institutions. There are many qualified and competent Saudis with untainted records whose loyalty to their country is beyond question and who could be trusted to manage these centers.
— Arab News Local Press 8 November 2003
