The United States’ relationship with Saudi Arabia has grown tense over the past few weeks as more information comes to light about the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, columnist for the Washington Post, and a Saudi-born American citizen.

Khashoggi was last seen October 2nd when he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, leaving his fiance behind in his car, and was not heard from again. Footage from the site showed a 15-man team entering soon after, and footage from a few hours later showed a man, later identified as Mustafa al-Madani, walking out of the consulate wearing Khashoggi’s clothes.

While the Saudi government’s official stance has been that they had no knowledge of Khashoggi’s whereabouts for several weeks, on October 20th they admitted that Khashoggi had died at the consulate, allegedly due to a “fistfight” between him and the fifteen other men.

While Saudi Arabia is no stranger to controversy, they were ostensibly on track towards progressive modernization due to their crown prince Mohammed bin Salman—or as he likes to be called—MBS. Though a political conservative, the crown prince has recently headed a more liberal push towards social issues, like allowing women to finally drive. This lead many to believe Saudi Arabia’s past history of corruption was over, yet this does not seem to be the case.

On the world stage, many countries have called out Khashoggi’s assassination as a botched cover-up by Saudi Arabia. The UK, Germany, and France released a joint statement condemning the country’s actions, and have asked for more clarification regarding the events of Oct. 2nd, and US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has said that the US would be revoking the visas of anyone involved in Khashoggi’s murder.

Khashoggi’s death has headlined the news for weeks now, and even the least news savvy students of OHS have had some form of opinion regarding the situation. Senior Mohammed Thangalvadi is one such student: “His death was very tragic, and it’s a shame he was killed” he commisserated. “If he was killed, who’s safe going there?”

Oakdale Staff have had similar opinions, as Computer Science Teacher Kevin Trigger shared, “It’s terrible, and an incredible threat to modern journalism. You can’t just kill people you disagree with”.

Khashoggi was a renowned journalist and proponent of social liberties, and with his death, many around the world are in mourning. Regardless if Saudi Arabia is proved responsible or not, they’ll soon have to deal with the social and political repercussions of his death in any case.    

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-45979507

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45812399

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-45906396

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-45789369

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/25/middleeast/saudi-turkey-khashoggi-investigation-intl/index.html