US delegation ends Saudi trip early due to Kippah incident

The US delegation on religious freedom ended its trip to Saudi Arabia prematurely on Monday after a member was instructed to take off his kippah.

The incident occurred near Riyadh in Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, according to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The delegation’s leader, Orthodox Rabbi Abraham Cooper, was asked to remove his kippah, a request he declined, emphasizing, “No one should be blocked from accessing a heritage site, particularly one that symbolizes unity and progress, merely because they are Jewish.”

The USCIRF highlighted that Cooper and Vice Chair Reverend Frederick Davie were visiting the site officially last Tuesday when officials delayed their tour multiple times before asking Cooper to remove his kippah in public, despite prior approval for the visit by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Cooper remarked on the contradiction this request posed to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiative, which aims at progressive change, stating that the demand to remove his kippah amidst rising antisemitism was unacceptable for the USCIRF team to proceed with their visit. He lamented that such an incident involved a representative from a US agency dedicated to fostering religious freedom.

The USCIRF, a advisory body to the US government established by Congress, expressed regret over the incident. Vice Chair Davie called the experience “stunning and painful,” contradicting both the Saudi government’s narrative of change and the delegation’s observations of increased religious freedom within the country. This event unfolds amid heightened tensions between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and the US’s push for normalizing relations between them post-conflict in Gaza.