Saudi Arabia And The School Of Oriental And African Studies

EDM number 1933 in 2010-12, proposed by Robert Halfon on 15/06/2011.
Categorised under the topic of Higher education.

That this House is deeply concerned about the links betweenthe School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)and the Saudi Arabian Royal Family, uncovered by a Freedom of Information request; notes that in the last four years the Saudi Arabian Royal Family has given more than 755,000 to the Islamic Studies Centre at SOAS and its Journal of Qur'anic Studies; notes that this journal is formally edited and advised by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a man banned from the UK and USA for endorsing suicide bombings and the murder of pregnant women; further notes that al-Qaradawi has been condemned by over 2,500 Muslim scholars worldwide for his hate speech and intolerance; deeply regrets the fact that in 2006 SOAS co-ordinated English training for Mutassim Gaddafi, currently National Security Advisor to Colonel Gaddafi in Libya; further regrets the formal contract signed in 2010 between SOAS and the Al-Fateh University in Tripoli, Libya, just months before the Arab Spring swept through the region, especially since Al-Fateh is the alma mater of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi; further notes that SOAS has also received a personal 1 million donation from King Fahd of Saudi Arabia in 1995 to establish a Chair in Islamic Studies at the university; and condemns the Saudi regime for its lack of religious tolerance, freedom of speech, equality for women, and also its brutal suppression of democratic protests in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in the last six months.

This motion has been signed by a total of 6 MPs.