Washington, DC’s prestigious media club has suspended one of its members for taking a Saudi prince to task during a press conference. Prince Turki al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia is a former director of the Saudi intelligence agency and ambassador to the United States.

 

The National Press Club suspended Sam Husseini, communications director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, after he leveled the following at al-Faisal:

 

“There’s been a lot of talk about the legitimacy of the Syrian regime, I want to know what legitimacy your regime has sir. You come before us, representative of one of the most autocratic, misogynistic regimes on the face of the earth. Human Rights Watch and other reports of torture detention of activist, you squelched the democratic uprising in Bahrain, you tried to overturn the democratic uprising in Egypt and indeed you continue to oppress your own people. What legitimacy does you regime have—other than billions of dollars and weapons?”

 

The executive director of The National Press Club, William McCarren, accused Husseini of giving a speech rather than asking a question, but al-Faisal did answer Husseini. He defended his government’s pursuit of women’s rights by claiming that in Saudi Arabia women are allowed to vote and run for office. He did not mention that these elections are meaningless and that all power remains with the royal family. Al-Faisal did point out that in the United States women did not gain the right to vote in national elections until 1920, 131 years after the Declaration on Independence, whereas the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has only existed for 79 years.

 

Later that day, Husseini received word via email that his club membership had been suspended for two weeks because of his “conduct” at the news conference, which constituted a “direct violation of House Rule 4.”

 

House Rule 4 forbids “boisterous and unseemly conduct or language” at National Press Club events.

 

Husseini refuted the accusation that his questioning constituted a rule violation. “I engaged in tough journalism with a powerful government official from an autocratic regime that is allied with the U.S. government,” he wrote on his blog.

 

The Institute for Public Accuracy is a media advocacy organization that encourages mainstream news outlets to interview alternative sources for stories.

-Sidney Finster

 

Memo: Proper Journalists Ought to be Subservient to Power (by John Glaser, Antiwar Blog)

Journalist Questions Legitimacy of Saudi Regime, Is Suspended from National Press Club (Sam Husseini)