Biden Visit Cemented a Dark Era in Saudi Arabia
If President Joe Biden had glanced out the window of Air Force One as it flew over Jeddah during his trip last July, he would have seen the ruins of formerly bustling neighborhoods that were abruptly demolished on orders from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Regime officials have driven nearly half a million residents from their homes and businesses since last October without compensation — the largest forced expulsion and property expropriation in Saudi history. During the months-long demolition, MBS ordered the mass execution of 81 people, including dozens of protesters, to spread fear and quell any opposition.
But perhaps the president and his advisors averted their eyes on purpose. Biden came into office promising to make Saudi Arabia a pariah over its human-rights violations. But his recent journey to the kingdom — in a desperate and apparently unsuccessful attempt to boost oil production — made him look weak. His awkward fist-bumping of MBS was the final, embarrassing capitulation, a sign that the U.S. government effectively condones the crown prince's worst crimes.
If the president continues to exude weakness, MBS will only become more emboldened.
Just a week before Biden's trip to Jeddah, the brothers of a leading exiled Saudi dissident allegedly stabbed him to death in his home in Beirut. Manea Al-Yami founded the National Assembly Party, which advocates for an elected legislature and the separation of powers. Lebanese authorities are investigating the possible involvement of Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Lebanon in the murder.
The Saudi state has a history of using relatives to kill, torture and denounce family members to prove their loyalty to the regime. Saud Bin Nayef is the governor of the oil-rich Eastern Province, and his son serves as the interior minister. Their brother and uncle, Mohammed bin Nayef, who previously served as minister of the interior and crown prince, currently languishes in a prison cell and is facing treason charges.
King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, the late brother of the current king Salman bin Abdulaziz, imprisoned four of his daughters in 2002 for publicly questioning his domestic policies. For the past 20 years, they have been held in hellish conditions, all but forgotten by their country and the world. In 2011, The Saudi government forced an entire tribe to denounce one of its members, Muhammad Al-Wadani, a math teacher who was arrested after posting a YouTube video of himself calling for democracy, human rights and more jobs. The tribal chief, Nasser Al-Wadani, stood before then King Abdullah on state TV to denounce the teacher and proclaim full loyalty to the monarchy. Muhammad was sentenced to 15 years in prison, where he remains today.
Biden's weak hand with MBS is not helping him or the United States, and history will judge it as an embarrassment. His visit is unlikely to produce lower gas prices at the pump for most Americans, and it will certainly not lead to improved human rights in Saudi Arabia. To the contrary, encouraged by Biden's public coronation of his power, MBS will increase the levels of oppression inside the walled kingdom and beyond its borders.
MBS's investiture by the American president has removed a powerful constraint on his despotic nature and gives him license to double-down on atrocities that already include the killing of hundreds of thousands in Yemen, the mass execution of dissidents, and the expulsion of half a million Saudis from their homes. So, brace yourselves for more of the same. Having received America's seal of approval, MBS will carry out acts that are more heinous.
To add insult to injury, MBS is keeping Americans inside Saudi jails or trapped in what many Saudis euphemistically call "the Big Prison," unable to leave the country. While American hostages in Iran and Russia are able to pen op-eds in the New York Times or send letters to Biden himself, those in Saudi jails are too terrified to speak.
Their fear stems in part from the silence that they have been met with from the Biden administration. I personally know of one American, a retired business executive, who
has been held without charge since November 2021. He was swiftly detained after he posted a tweet criticizing MBS. His family has asked that his name not be published for fear of reprisals. But the State Department is aware of his name and case. It recently contacted his family to share that it is reviewing the case but “the Department has not made a wrongful detention determination at this point."
Shortly after Biden left Saudi Arabia, this individual was formally charged with support for terrorism based on his tweets and emails to known Saudi dissidents. It's not too late to right these wrongs. Biden and the legions of those serving him on the National Security Council and at the State Department should recognize his Saudi visit for what it was — a failure. They should then advocate more forcefully for the release of Americans in Saudi Arabia and for the civilized treatment of loyal Saudi citizens.
The MBS fist-bump may continue to be a symbol of U.S. weakness. But U.S. policy toward Saudi Arabia can return to a position of strength — if Washington has the will.
Ali Al-Ahmed is the founder and director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington, D.C.
