A U.S. Congress-mandated group cut short a fact-finding mission to Saudi Arabia after officials in the kingdom ordered a Jewish rabbi to remove his kippah in public, highlighting the religious tensions still present in the wider Middle East.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom sought to distance the order over his skullcap from what he described as progress made in the kingdom under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on quietly allowing different faiths to worship privately.
He also said Saudi Arabia may release four Uyghur Muslims held prisoner in the kingdom for asylum in the U.S. over possible persecution they could face if they return to China.
“The situation in Saudi Arabia is very complex,” said the Rev. Frederick Davie of New York City, the commission’s vice chair. “And not everybody’s on board, and this may be an example of that.”
Cooper refused and the rest of the group agreed to cut their visit short over the demand. However, Davie noted that Cooper’s kippah hadn’t been an issue in government meetings or while eating in public earlier on the trip.
