National Press Club Suspends Journalist for Aggressively Questioning Saudi Royal
What, now we suspend reporters for asking tough questions? This wasn’t a diplomatic event. It seems to me the Prince is the one who started with the snark because he didn’t like Husseini’s (accurate) description leading up to the question.
This is what we help support with our oil addiction. Ugh.
000G’s gonna love this one, heh.
UPDATE: Here’s the NPC’s code of ethics, and here’s the statement they released about the incident (H/T jaunte).
On Tuesday, Prince Turki al-Faisal al-Sa’ud of Saudi Arabia spoke at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Included among the topics he discussed were womens’ rights in Saudi Arabia.
During the question-and-answer session, journalist Sam Husseini aggressively questioned the prince about the monarchy’s rule, questioning the legitimacy of Saudi Arabia’s unelected leaders. At one point, the prince simply concluded that Saudi Arabia needs time to change, as the United States did not allow women to vote until 1910:
HUSSEINI: There’s been a lot of talk about the legitimacy of the Syrian regime, I want to know what legitimacy your regime has sir. You come before us, representative of one of the most autocratic, misogynistic regimes on the face of the earth. Human Rights Watch and other reports of torture detention of activist, you squelched the democratic uprising in Bahrain, you tried to overturn the democratic uprising in Egypt and indeed you continue to oppress your own people. What legitimacy does you regime have — other than billions of dollars and weapons? […]
