A SAUDI friend of mine told me that while he was flying from London to New York, an American passenger sitting beside him expressed his desire to know more about him, especially after learning that he is an Arab Muslim and above all a Saudi. This is not the first such incident. Saudi scholarship students pursuing higher studies abroad have told me that many Westerners wanted to know more about the Saudi life, culture, society and beliefs. It seems Saudis are like a closed box for them with a lot of question marks. Saudis still remain a mystery for many people outside the Kingdom and they want to decode its symbols. Most of these foreigners will be shocked after knowing the positive facts about our life and country, contrary to the negative stereotypes propagated by the media. I would like to advice all our scholarship students traveling to Europe and America to exert their efforts to correct the wrong picture of Saudi Arabia and Saudis in the minds of foreigners. We have to try to convince others through our high moral character and behavior as a peaceful Muslim community who want to have a good life and enjoy progress and prosperity like any other nation. We should explain to them the rights, benefits and free services enjoyed by Saudi citizens, which many Westerners do not get. We should also tell them that Saudi Arabia is not a desert country or an oil barrel as this modern state is unjustly described by its enemies. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman has given top importance for changing the wrong notion about Saudi Arabia by taking the historic initiative in 1985 to hold "Kingdom Yesterday and Today" exhibition. The show began from Germany and later it visited other countries in order to change the perception about Saudi Arabia, its people and culture. It was a great move by King Salman, when he was Riyadh governor, to project the true picture of Saudi Arabia, its people and culture after it was unfairly tarnished by the Western media. In my opinion, we need a strong cultural campaign to further improve the Kingdom's image and highlight its achievements. The holding of Saudi cultural week in some foreign countries with folk troupes presenting sword dance will not be enough. We have many other things to show beginning from the country's historic unification at the hands of King Abdulaziz and his men to enactment of the laws of governance, the consultative Shoura system, the municipal council system, judicial independence, national dialogue forums, family security measures, foreign scholarship program and the fight against terrorism. We are happy to know that the younger generation in the world wants to rediscover Saudi Arabia and its people as they are not satisfied with negative stereotypes. But the success of this campaign would depend on the sincere endeavors of young Saudi men and women.
