DAMMAM, 7 August 2006 — Over 10,000 Saudi men and women from the Eastern Province have signed a heavily worded letter addressed to President George W. Bush condemning the United States for its unequivocal support of Israel in its attack on Lebanon.
Signatories of the letter include leading and influential academics, journalists, religious leaders and artists. The message, together with the signatures, was handed by a group of Saudis to the US Consul General in Dhahran, John Kincannon.
Describing the Israeli attack as “barbaric and unjustified” and highlighting Israel’s “targeting” of “unarmed civilians, women, children and the infirm” through a “continuous, systemized and destructive campaign”, the letter said the US support of Israel was shocking.
The letter further stated that the US’s “continuous justification” of “Israeli crimes” was deplorable and held Washington guilty of providing “military and political support” to Israel.
Having referred to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s rejection of a cease-fire in the Rome conference, the letter held the US “responsible for the continuous destruction and killing in Lebanon and Palestine” and ended with a call on the US to compensate Lebanon financially and to work “hard for an immediate cease-fire.”
Included in the group that handed the letter to the US consul were Saudi writers Zaki Ali Saleh and Ali Ahmed Al-Bahrani as well as Muklif Daham Al-Shimari, the president and founder of the Shimar Council.
