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Diriyah Ruins: The group wanted to visit the World Heritage Site
Photo: Valery Sharifulin / ITAR-TASS / IMAGO
The war in the Gaza Strip is causing tensions between the USA and Saudi Arabia.
Now an incident has occurred that could further strain the relationship.
A US delegation prematurely ended a visit to the country.
The reason was a dispute over Jewish head coverings.
As the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) announced in a statement, the chairman of the commission, Abraham Cooper, was asked to take off his kippah.
However, the Orthodox rabbi rejected this.
The incident occurred while visiting Diriyah, near the capital Riyadh.
The delegation was invited to visit the historic city, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
USCIRF said Cooper and his co-chair, Pastor Frederick Davie, were invited to tour the site last Tuesday as part of their official visit.
After several delays, officials then asked that Cooper remove his yarmulke while on site and generally in public.
The visit had previously been approved by the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry.
Managed from the premises
US embassy staff who accompanied the group tried to mediate.
Despite their efforts, the group was eventually escorted from the site.
The delegation then did not continue its visit to the country.
According to the USCIRF statement, Cooper said of the incident: "No one should be denied access to a cultural heritage site, especially one intended to emphasize unity and progress, simply because they exist as a Jew." The country is changing.
But especially in times of growing anti-Semitism, the request made it impossible to continue the visit.
They look forward to “continuing discussions with the Saudi government about how to address the systematic problems that led to this disturbing incident.”
The Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington has not yet responded to a request, the AFP news agency said.
The USCIRF is a body mandated by the US Congress to advise the US government.
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