RAY HANANIA
July 21, 2019

Irresponsible reporting blamed for putting innocent lives and academic careers in danger
Fueling the paranoia is an online petition calling for MIT to break financial ties with Saudi government

CHICAGO: Irresponsible, biased reporting by several US newspapers against Saudi Arabia is fanning flames of fear, bullying and intimidation among many Saudi students in the US.

“We’re living in fear,” said a Saudi academic, declining to be identified for fear of retribution not only from Ivy League universities but also from students, professors and residents in the Boston area. “It’s frightening!”

Saudi students who spoke to Arab News are complaining that unprofessional reporting by newspapers is creating negative stereotypes about Saudis as a whole, and putting pressure on academic institutions to sever ties with the Kingdom.

This means many of Saudi Arabia’s brightest students and future doctors, engineers and lawyers risk being deported and failing to continue their education.

An online petition is calling for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to break all financial ties with the Saudi government, which hosts 100 students at the university through the Misk Foundation, a charity funded by the crown prince to empower, educate and employ thousands of the Kingdom’s brightest youth. The petition, which is being heavily promoted by politically partisan professors and academics at MIT, appears to be either misguided about Misk’s agenda, or is driven by anti-Saudi lobbyists.

Members of the Saudi academic population said the petition is creating an atmosphere of paranoia and fear that has many of them staying in their dorms, homes and apartments when they are not at school to avoid angry sentiment.

more:

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1528951/saudi-arabia

Saudi students, including at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, say they feel threatened by what they consider an anti-Saudi agenda being promoted in mainstream America. (Shutterstock)