Saudi Arabia
SEVER TIES WITH THE SAUDI REGIME
Click here to join us in the call!
It’s time to sever ties with a regime that uses a bone saw to hack up the body of a journalist and dissolve the pieces in a vat of acid. According to the CIA, Saudi’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), was responsible for the grotesque murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
It’s time to sever ties with a regime that drops bombs on Yemeni school children, on Yemeni hospitals, marketplaces, residences—even on weddings and funerals. Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen is so brutal that Yemen is now suffering the worst humanitarian crisis on earth. Since 2015 some 85,000 children under the age of five have died from acute malnutrition as a result of the war; that’s one child every 10 minutes.
It’s time to sever ties with the world’s most misogynist, gender-segregated nation. All Saudi women live under the kingdom’s oppressive male guardianship system, under which women need permission from a male to travel, study, obtain a passport, marry, and engage in other key life events. Women are separated from men in schools, restaurants and public buildings.
It’s time to sever ties with a regime that tortures women activists. Although Saudi Arabia recently granted women the right to drive (it was the only country in the world with this prohibition), the kingdom arrested a number of the very women who led the campaign for the right to drive. These brave women are now languishing in prison, subjected to horrific beatings, electroshock and sexual harassment.
It’s time to sever ties with a regime that chops off people’s heads in public executions for offenses ranging from atheism to homosexuality to sorcery. Saudi Arabia has one of the highest execution rates in the world. It also uses long prison terms and physical punishment against everyone from bloggers to lawyers who dare question the regime’s absolute power.
War. Misogyny. Beheadings. Repression of peaceful dissent. The list goes on. We say: Enough is enough.
It’s time to boycott and divest from the Saudi regime.
- Musicians should not perform there.
- Companies should reject any business with the country.
- Institutions, such as universities and think tanks, should sever all ties.
- Politicians should not take money or direction from the Saudi lobby.
- PR firms should drop Saudi Arabia as a client.
In October 2018, along with a broad coalition, we helped convince dozens of companies and notables, from the New York Times to Uber CEO to the head of the World Bank, to pull out of the Saudi Future Investment Initiative. We then focused on the PR firms. Three of them—BRG Group, Glover Park Group and the Harbour Group—agreed to sever ties with the kingdom. In November 2018 we launched a petition and protests asking Vice Media not to produce promotional/propaganda videos for Saudi--that campaign is ongoing.
Now we are focusing on performers. We appealed to The Black Eyed Peas, Mariah Carey, Dutch DJ Tiesto, Yemeni-Emirati singer Balqees Fathi and Jamaican rapper Sean Paul to cancel their performances. They refused to listen. So we are expanding our campaign, building a strong coalition of groups and celebrities.
Click here to join us in the call!
NO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAUDI ARABIA UNTIL THEY END THEIR WAR ON YEMEN AND REPRESSION OF WOMEN, JOURNALISTS, AND PEOPLE WHO ENGAGE IN PEACEFUL DISSIDENT.
Advice for VICE: Doing business with the murderous Saudi regime isn’t edgy!
In light of the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi and the ongoing war in Yemen, many prominent companies have announced they will be cutting ties with Saudi Arabia. Add your name to our petition demanding that VICE ends their contract with the Saudi Research and Marketing Group now!
The U.S. has spent over $8 trillion on military forces in the Persian Gulf in the last four decades, supposedly protecting the Gulf from the then-Soviet Union and Iran. The effect has been to give backing to an absolute monarchy that opposes religious freedom, female equality and humane treatment of migrant workers–– the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The hereditary despots of Saudi Arabia are infamous for beheading and/or and floggings political dissidents. In January 2016 alone, the Saudi government beheaded 47 people, some of whom were guilty of such “crimes” as political activism. Between March 2015-2016, Saudi Arabia massacred over 6,000 people in a war of aggression against Yemen, and at least half of them were civilians. It’s time for the US to reevaluate the toxic relationship with Saudi Arabia!
Educate yourself and your community! Order CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin’s latest book, Kingdom of the Unjust, Behind the US-Saudi Connection, and invite her to your community to talk about this important issue! Email brienne@codepink.org to book her now.
Below are more resources and ways you can get involved, and you can email brienne@codepink.org if you have questions, comments, or ideas!
Yemen
In March 2015, Saudi Arabia led an international coalition (backed by the United States) to launch air strikes against the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, sparking a full-blown armed conflict.
The increase in violence exacerbated the existing issues that have blighted Yemen for years: poor governance, lack of rule of law, widespread poverty, and insufficient access to basic healthcare and water, among others.
Four out of five Yemenis today rely on humanitarian assistance for their survival. There is no access to essential services such as clean water and electricity, and food prices have soared creating a desperate situation for millions. Yet Saudi Arabia continues its brutal campaign against the poorest country in the Middle East.
CODEPINK calls for an end to the Saudi-led airstrike against Yemen!
- Tell your senators to stop ALL weapons sales to the Saudi regime
- Sign the petition: Stop the violence in Yemen
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Watch & share videos from Yemen! CODEPINK has launched a series of videos called Voices from Yemen. Share our videos on your Facebook page to help lift up the voices of Yemenis!
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#RememberYemen! Download this sign that says #RememberYemen in English and Arabic, take a photo or video of yourself with it, and post it on your social media accounts and tag CODEPINK!
- Watch Video: Medea Benjamin crashes the US-Saudi investment forum
Confronting UBER!
Join us in telling UBER to not partner with Saudi Arabia in oppressing Saudi Women! Sign our petition here: http://www.codepink.org/uber
2016 Summit on Saudi Arabia: Understanding the Kingdom and its Global Role:
- Program Description
- The Real News Coverage of Summit Presentations (7 Videos)
- Read all about the Summit in Ben Norton's article in Salon: Inside the first-ever summit calling for an end to the “suicidal death pact between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia"
- End the U.S.- Saudi Alliance
- Chris Hedges' talk at the Saudi Summit
More Actions!
- Sign the petitions:
- Thirty participants in the “28 pages breakout session” at the 2016 Summit on Saudi Arabia called upon the Summit to organize actions to declassify Saudi government involvement in the 9/11 terror attacks, including petitioning, lobbying and demonstrations. Read details and sign letters to Congress at: 28pages.org and HR14.org.
More Info
- In Trump’s World Where Money Talks, Saudi Arabia Gets a Free Pass by Medea
- Who’s the Real Troublemaker in the Middle East?
- 10 Reasons to Oppose the Saudi Monarchy, by Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK
- Is Saudi Women's Vote a Step Forward? by Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK
- Events of 2015 in Saudi Arabia by Human Rights Watch
- The Burden of Being a Female in Saudi Arabia by Bayan Perazzo
- www.saudius.org
- Audio: Peace Movement Briefing on U.S.-Saudi Alliance by Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK
- Video: CODEPINK protests at the Saudi Embassy
- Video: Letter From Mothers of Sentenced Saudi Youth
Proliferation of weapons sales to Saudi Arabia
More than $21 billion in defense sales to Saudi Arabia include battleships, Blackhawk helicopters, machine guns and more than 1 million rounds of advanced ammunition.
Mar 12
