An Open Letter to All Foreigners
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Author: Zaid Fahd Al-Sulaiman
Released 18 June 2004
This is an open letter that I am sending not only on my behalf but on behalf of every honorable citizen who grew up in this country and learned the meaning of safety and security. It is a letter that is louder than the booms of destructive bombs and stronger than the sounds of cowards’ machine guns. Those cowards want to disfigure the honorable image of Saudi Muslims in the eyes of the world and use religion as an excuse for doing so. What they aim at is to destabilize the Kingdom’s security, economy and people that always were — and still are — supporters of peace.
To every foreigner, man or woman, who has served this country and its people in factories, hospitals, schools, companies, we thank you. To every foreigner of any religion or faith who has respected and honored what is valuable to this country and strove to contribute to its development, we thank you. To our friends from abroad who have sent us e-mails and faxes affirming their love and support for this country and its people, we thank you and are grateful.
Every person who has lived in this country, whether Saudi or not, has become a Saudi by residency and is as interested as any Saudi in maintaining peace and security here. The children of those non-Saudis who have lived and worked in peace among us are our children and your family is our family. This is what we have been taught by our religion, our customs and our traditions. We are all facing the same problem. And we know that whoever wants to harm you actually wants to harm us.
It is crucial that the world realize we are part of it. We respect all other religions and all nations, especially those who have played important roles contributing to the education of our children, training our young people and taking care of our sick. Thankfulness and gratitude is their right. It is crucial that the whole world realize that whoever commits these foul acts does not represent Saudis and does not represent the values Saudis have learned. What is represented is only selfishness and ignorance.
As for us, we look forward to being a permanent part of the larger civilized world. We look forward with hope to interacting with the world and benefiting from the experience of others. We look forward with optimism to the international cooperation in building our companies, factories, oil refineries and to the world’s sharing its experience and technology with us.
To every foreigner working in this country, I repeat that you are in your country. And we will not leave the job of protecting you and your safety to security men alone. We are all security figures. We are all family and brothers.
Note:
Zaid Al-Sulaiman is a Saudi businessman based in Jeddah.