MidEast Journalism: Whatever it Was, It Never Happened

Goodness! There are all sorts of stories being reported in Saudi media today that involve retractions, corrections, and allegations that “It never happened!”

First off, the Saudi woman reported to have converted to Christianity:

Alleged Saudi convert claims she is still Muslim

Then there’s the story of the Saudi woman who allegedly sought Israeli citizenship:

I’m Palestinian, not Saudi, asserts Ala Khalaf

As a Palestinian, she says, obtaining Israeli citizenship was the only way she could keep her family together. But she had never claimed to be Saudi.

And finally, there’s Abdulrahman Al-Atawi, a Saudi citizen held in an Israeli jail for six years after inadvertently crossing into Israel in the Sinai. Press reports that he, too, has sought Israeli asylum are false, he says:

‘Zionists spread asylum rumors about me,’ says Al-Atawi

These stories serve as a useful reminder: Be very skeptical about any reporting coming out of the Middle East.

by Crossroads Arabia

Crossroads Arabia is written by a former US foreign service officer who has had two tours in Saudi Arabia, 1981-83, 2001-03, who reads and speaks Arabic and has spent the bulk of his career in the Middle East, with assignments in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Bahrain in addition to those in the KSA.

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