US delegation on religious freedom forced to leave Saudi Arabia over kippah row

A US delegation visiting Saudi Arabia was forced to cut short its visit after its chair was asked to remove his Jewish head covering (kippah).

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) delegation was visiting Diriyah, a historic town and UNESCO world heritage site, on Monday (Mar 11). However, Orthodox rabbi Abraham Cooper, the chair of the commission, called off the visit when he “refused the requests that he remove his religious head covering”.

“No one should be denied access to a heritage site, especially one intended to highlight unity and progress, simply for existing as a Jew,” Cooper said in a statement.

Statement by USCIRF

USCIRF said Cooper and the vice-chair of the commission Rev Frederick Davie were invited to tour the site last Tuesday and the visit was already cleared by Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry.

As per allegations, officials requested that Cooper remove his kippah “while at the site and any time he was to be in public.”

The USCIRF dubbed the incident ‘regrettable’, saying that it was disappointing it happened to the representative of “an American government agency that promotes religious freedom”.

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Cooper also invoked Saudi Arabia’s 2030 vision to highlight the striking fundamental religious challenges. He noted, that Saudi Arabia “is in the midst of encouraging change under its 2030 vision.”

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“However, especially in a time of raging antisemitism, being asked to remove my kippah made it impossible for us from USCIRF to continue our visit,” he added.

Rev Frederick, the vice-chair, also termed the incident as “stunning and painful”.

“It directly contradicted not only the government’s official narrative of change but also genuine signs of greater religious freedom in the kingdom that we observed firsthand,” he added.

USCIRF and Saudi Arabia

The commission is a controversial US government advisory body mandated by the US Congress.

The body has recommended the US Department of State designate Saudi Arabia as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, for alleged systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations every year since 2000.