In Rebuke to Riyadh, DC Renames Street Facing Saudi Embassy Jamal Khashoggi Way

One month ahead of President Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia, the District of Columbia is renaming the street in front of the Saudi embassy Jamal Khashoggi Way, trolling Riyadh for its role in the killing of the dissident Saudi activist and journalist in 2018.With members of the D.C. Council in attendance, a Jamal Khashoggi Way sign was unveiled directly in front of the embassy’s main entrance.“We intend to remind the people who are hiding behind these doors … that we hold them responsible and we will hold them accountable for the murder of our friend,” the executive director of DAWN, the pro-Arab world democracy organization founded by Khashoggi prior to his death, Sarah Leah Whitson, said.Ms. Whitson also criticized what she called the “shameless capitulation” of the Biden administration for seeking improved relations with the Saudi government and scheduling an official presidential visit to the kingdom.Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist, entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, seeking the necessary documentation for a planned marriage with his fiancee waiting outside for him. The 59-year old never emerged.The Saudi government initially denied any wrongdoing. Under mounting international pressure, Riyadh eventually admitted that Khashoggi had been killed inside the consulate in what the Saudis characterized as a repatriation effort gone wrong. The CIA later released a report concluding that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered on the orders of the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman.The Saudi regime has consistently denied that connection. Several lower-level Saudi officials and agents received jail sentences over the killing.The D.C. Council voted unanimously late last year to rename a one-block stretch for Khashoggi.“I’m very proud that we did this,” the D.C. Council chairman, Phil Mendelson, said. “The Saudi government cannot forget what happened, what it did. This is a constant reminder.”The renaming is ceremonial, as signified by the brown street sign instead of the usual green, and it won’t affect the embassy’s mailing address. Yet the sign will remain indefinitely. An email to the Saudi Embassy seeking comment did not receive a response.Khashoggi’s Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, could not attend the ceremony, but a statement from her was read aloud.In it, she criticized the Biden administration for “putting oil over principles and expediency over principles.”Ms. Cengiz also directly requested of President Biden, when he meets with the crown prince, “Can you at least ask, ‘Where is Jamal’s body?’”Criticism of Saudi Arabia’s record on human rights is nothing new, of course. The street renaming comes on the heels of reports of a new crackdown on homosexuality in the kingdom. The Guardian reported that Saudi officials have been seizing rainbow-coloured toys and clothing from shops in the capital, Riyadh. Capital punishment has been meted out to individuals accused of homosexual acts in Saudia Arabia. By contrast, in Washington yesterday, Mr. Biden held a White House gay pride celebration, telling LGBTQ Americans they have his support in the growing culture wars ahead of November midterm elections. The AFP reported that Mr. Biden, Vice President Harris, and several Cabinet members — including the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, who is gay — joined hundreds of cheering representatives from the LGBTQ community in the White House East Room to celebrate Pride Month.The White House press secretary, Karine Jean Pierre, would not say whether Mr. Biden would raise the issue of Khashoggi’s murder when he meets with Mr. Bin Salman next month.“The president is a straight shooter. This is not something that he’s afraid to talk about,” she said. But she didn’t confirm if the killing would be a topic of conversation.

In Rebuke to Riyadh, DC Renames Street Facing Saudi Embassy Jamal Khashoggi Way

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