Request to the New Saudi Minister of Culture and Information on the banning of

"If Olaya Street Could Talk."

                                                                                                      
February 16, 2009

Hon. Abdul Aziz Al-Khoja
Saudi Minister of Culture and Information
P.O. Box 570
Riyadh, 11161
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Your Excellency:

Congratulations on your recent appointment.

My family and I lived in the Kingdom over a 25 year period from 1978 to 2003, with a four year break in the middle. I wrote a book about the experience, entitled “If Olaya Street Could Talk: Saudi Arabia- The Heartland of Oil and Islam.”  Although the book was written primarily for an American, and to a larger extent, a Western audience, I was both surprised and pleased by the strong positive reaction from my Saudi friends and the Arab media.  The book received a front page review in Al Hayat, and there was a three page interview in Al Majallah. It also received a positive review in the Khaleej Times in the UAE. The reviews can be seen on my website, www.tazapress.com. As of this writing, additional articles are pending in Al Arabiya and Al Watan.  At the urging of a Saudi friend, I applied to the Ministry for approval to distribute the book in the Kingdom. Furthermore, I had received a request from Jarrir bookstores for 300 copies, pending approval.

Enclosed are copies of my letters to the Honorable Madani, in November, 2007, and April, 2008. In addition, I called him in that same month, and the phone call was not returned.  Inaction by the Ministry was a clear decision, and I have placed an announcement on my website that the book is banned in the Kingdom.

I consider my book a realistic account of the Kingdom, highlighting the interactions between Saudis and Americans. As with any realistic book, there are positives and negatives.  The purpose of the book is for the leadership of the United States to reassess its current policy of endless war.

Now, the page is turned, as the common expression has it. Hopefully you will read the book, and then decide that a Saudi living within the Kingdom can decide on his / her own if I was accurate in my account, and furthermore, if I was fair. Yes, an open policy— a stance of tolerance. Thank you for your consideration.