The picture at the top of the New York Times article caught my eye. nyti.ms/... The face looked familiar. The article referred to him as a Harvard-trained physician, but further research turned up another article that stated his undergraduate training and medical school was at George Washington University in DC. Although I had not remembered his last name and have not seen him since graduation he was clearly the Walid I remembered as a medical school classmate when I attended George Washington University 1987-1991.
We had few rotations in common clinically, as he was headed for internal medicine and I chose electives for OB/GYN. However Walid was someone who could always be counted on for a smile or to hold a door for a classmate. He had the best private tutor and I confess I occasionally chose the study room next to his and listened to his tutor. I still recall some of the overheard memory tricks for genetics that helped me stop reversing introns and exons. I recognized the cut of custom made white shirts and the subdued but elegant fabric of all his clothes. The class rumor was that he was connected to the Saudi Arabian royal family and was very wealthy but he never acted superior, unfriendly or unwilling to help any stranger or classmate. Socially he was very much one of us, and well-liked. He seemed very devoted to medicine and to helping others and showed no evidence of desire to become politically involved in his country of birth. The NYT articles say that his father and grandfather were jewelers and his family was among the wealthiest in western Saudi Arabia. Walid came to the US in the 1980s for his education.
Walid was involved in helping to bring an exhibit of art from his country to one of the DC museums, but with the self-absorption of a medical student I never investigated. My only cultural exposures during that busy time were the symphony concerts I continued to attend even though the second part often turned into a peaceful nap.
But apparently Walid Fitaihi was one of the Saudis picked up in the sweep against “corruption” directed by Mohamed bin Salman. Know the name? Mohamed bin Salman is the one implicated as directing the torture and murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi recently. The murder Trump decided was not his concern as Khashoggi was “not a citizen”, although he was an American resident. But Walid is a US citizen based on application during his US medical training. He has dual US and Saudi citizenship.
Walid Fitaihi lived in the US, was Harvard trained and was very active in the Boston area and he and his father were major contributors to the Islamic Society of Boston, as was the wife of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador at that time. Walid was at one point on the Board and he participated in leading prayers.
In response to the 9/11 events he was quoted by the Denver Post as saying “There are Muslims who died, Christians who died, Jews who died—it’s a crime against humanity. It’s a test for us as a nation.” Clearly he was speaking as a concerned US citizen.
International Medical Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Walid was an endocrinologist and gave motivational speeches. He was a professor at Harvard, and he had children living in the US. In 2006 he returned to Saudi Arabia to help establish the International Medical Center, built by his family in their regional home as a private hospital with reportedly no evidence of financial involvement by the government. But he was one of the individuals swept up in the detentions in November 2017 at the Ritz-Carleton of about 200 individuals under control of Mohamed bin Salmad. In March 2018, only four months later, the Mayo Clinic News Network announced that the International Medical Center had joined the Mayo Clinic as the first healthcare facility in Saudi Arabia to become part of their well respected network.
The reports were that some individuals picked up in the sweep were tortured and some gave up huge amounts of personal wealth but were released with restrictions against leaving the country. Others, like Dr. Walid Fitaihi, were sent to jail for more prolonged detention without specified charges of wrongdoing or any judicial process. The March 2 report in the NYTimes was that Dr Fataihi was tortured for an hour a week after his detention and the family and friends report continued physical and psychological torture since then. He recently expressed fear for his life. His friends have been asked to help secure his release.
I am very disturbed that after the torture and murder of a journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, who was a US resident working for the Washington Post, our president has been willing to believe in spite of evidence obtained by our intelligence branches that Mohamed bin Salmad either had nothing to do with approving the murder or that we in the US should not stand up against such actions. It does not matter to me that Khashoggi was not officially a US citizen or that the murder happened in Turkey. He was a US resident working as a journalist. But if that mattered to the Trump Administration then here is a case of someone with US citizenship who is at risk for his life and jailed without charges in Saudi Arabia. We seem to be tied to the Trump financial interests in Saudi Arabia and this is being allowed to interfere with US interests and weaken out country’s standing in the world and any pretense we have to be concerned about international human rights even for our own citizens.
I feel helpless to do anything and I confess I know little personally about the situation with Dr. Fitaihi. But seeing that picture and recognizing the individual involved disturbs me greatly. I will email and call my Republican Senators and try to remind them of the days when at least the Republicans seemed to want the US to look strong internationally and to protect our citizens. I would encourage anyone who have better ideas of what to do to protect this and any other individual from torture and abuse to comment and make suggestions. CNN quotes his attorney, Howard Cooper, who asked the US State Department for help this January, that occasional family phone calls report physical and emotional deterioration during his jail time. www.cnn.com/… The NYT states that unlike the cases of known activists Dr. Fitaihi had no known record of political activism within the kingdom.
The family is asking for help publicly due to this, and have specifically asked for help from President Donald Trump and senior advisor Jared Kushner. Cooper says Fitaihi became a well-known motivational speaker and “a well-recognized voice in Saudi Arabia for the movement towards more American oriented ideas of civil rights and equality”. A State Department spokesperson said in a statement provided to CNN yesterday afternoon that the department is providing consular services and they have raised his case with the government of Saudi Arabia. They should insist that Dr. Fitaihi be released and given the option of returning to the US.
Contact your representative. www.house.gov/...
