A photo of Khashoggi at an event in the US Congress – Reuters
Some people have their bodies hidden in the sand in order to disappear from the regime, but their souls refuse to leave, and remain alive and present with a large inheritance and continuous repercussions that only increase in intensity and combustion with the passage of days. This is how the condition of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi can be described, about a hundred days after his murder in his country’s consulate in Istanbul. Khashoggi is not dead. Although it is the most important sentence that the Saudi regime now wishes to hear, it is actually particularly true, as Khashoggi’s first centenary represented a global occasion to recall the crime, shed light on it, and launch projects that commemorate the “martyr of the press” and the icon of its opposition to repressive regimes.
Washington Post.. Arabic!
The American newspaper The Washington Post launched for the first time an opinion page in Arabic, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the killing of the Saudi journalist. The newspaper said that it aims to achieve this goal Page To provide Arabic-language readers with the opportunity “to obtain free and independent opinion pieces and commentary on political and cultural issues that affect them.” The newspaper attributed the issuance of that page to the fact that it was a wish for the deceased journalist, and that it had previously been stated by the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, who promised to look into the matter, but the occurrence of the crime prevented him from receiving an approving response.
Pause for Amnesty International
During a stand by its activists near the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, on the occasion of Khashoggi’s first centenary, Amnesty International called for an international investigation into the case. Goksu Oz Ahsahalli, Campaigns Officer at Amnesty International Turkey, stressed the need for the murder of the Saudi journalist to be subject to an international investigation. “As Amnesty International activists and rights defenders, we demand justice for Khashoggi,” Oz Ahsahalli said in a statement issued by the organization’s branch. She pointed out that: The body of Khashoggi, who was brutally killed, was not found. For this reason, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his murder, we symbolically changed the name of the street where Khashoggi last appeared and called it Jamal Khashoggi. She added: “Amnesty International calls once again for the opening of an independent investigation by the United Nations into Khashoggi’s killing.”
Congressional events
On Thursday, members of the US Congress organized an event marking the 100th anniversary of Khashoggi’s killing, during which US lawmakers called on the Trump administration to take more serious measures towards Saudi Arabia and hold Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for Khashoggi’s killing. More than a dozen members of the US Senate and House of Representatives also organized an event in the Congressional Complex to stress the importance of freedom of the press and pay tribute to journalist Khashoggi and 50 other journalists from different countries of the world who were killed last year. Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said, “The assassination of Khashoggi is an abhorrent act and an affront to humanity, and if we decide that commercial interests take precedence over our values, we must acknowledge that we have lost all moral authority to condemn atrocities anywhere in the world.” Democratic lawmaker Tom Malinowski called on the US Congress to hold Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman fully responsible for Khashoggi’s killing if the White House continues to refrain from doing so. Malinowski suggested that Washington put pressure on Saudi Arabia so that Mohammed bin Salman does not become the next king.
Lawsuits
The American Open Society Organization filed a lawsuit against a number of American government institutions, demanding the disclosure of recordings centered around the Khashoggi case. Court documents showed that the organization filed the case against the CIA, the Pentagon, the National Security Agency, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The organization said in a statement that the case “requires the CIA to disclose all recordings, including but not exclusively the agency’s findings or ability regarding the circumstances surrounding his (Khashoggi’s) killing and the identities of those responsible for it.”
Saudi Arabia is confused
During the 100 days that followed Khashoggi’s murder, Saudi Arabia spent millions of dollars to develop its interests in the United States and improve its image and the image of the Crown Prince after the “shock” it suffered in the wake of this crime. However, on December 13, 2018, the US Congress voted to end US support for the Yemen war out of “punitive” motive for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, with global condemnation continuing even as the end of the first month of 2019 approaches, after which the next few months are not expected to witness an end to the repercussions of the incident unless Saudi Arabia takes sufficient measures to hold those directly responsible for the crime accountable, and convince the world of the soundness of the measures taken by the judicial system in the Kingdom. The Kingdom later announced the arrest of 21 people on suspicion of involvement in the operation, but it removed suspicions from the influential Crown Prince. However, the Public Prosecution’s announcement demanding the execution of five out of 11 defendants sparked American and international reactions that expressed their lack of “confidence” in such a procedure, including the United States, which demanded that Saudi Arabia provide a “reliable” account. As a result of the crime, any possible decline in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s relations with the United States, European Union countries, and other countries in the coming period will lead to curtailing the regional and international role that the Kingdom has been playing in light of the weight it poses in the global oil market, its religious status among the world’s Muslims, and its partnership with the United States in the war on so-called terrorism and confronting Iranian threats in the region.
Trump is also confused
Khashoggi’s murder led to a rapid shift in the United States’ position on the Saudi-led war in Yemen, prompting the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense at the end of October 2018 to call for negotiations between the Houthi group and representatives of the legitimate government, which Sweden hosted under the supervision of the United Nations, and resulted in the signing of an agreement between the two parties to stop the fighting in the city of Hodeidah. The incident of Khashoggi’s killing put the US President in the spotlight in front of his opponents from the Democratic Party due to the “unlimited” support that the Crown Prince has enjoyed since Donald Trump’s arrival to the White House, and his continued attempts to defend him even after the CIA concluded that the Crown Prince was directly responsible for Khashoggi’s killing in what is seen as a move by the US President from the traditional values of the United States and its commitment to defending human rights around the world.
