Okaz/Saudi Gazette WASHINGTON — More than 88,000 Saudi male and female students currently study in the US under the Scholarship Program of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, according to the Saudi cultural attaché in Washington. In an exclusive interview to Okaz/Saudi Gazette, Mohammed Al-Issa said about 36 percent of the students are women. "There were about 7,000 Saudi students in the US in 2007 but the number steadily increased until it peaked in 2014 with 120,000," he explained. Al-Issa, who has spent about 10 years as the Saudi cultural attaché in the US, said about 850 Saudi students study in the top 10 American universities including Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Columbia, Brown and Cornell. "We have more than 360 student clubs in the US, about 17 percent of which are chaired by female students," he said. Asked about the students who deliberately undermine their country and its leadership, Al-Issa said such cases are a very few in number and does not need to be counted. "The students who abuse their role are extremely few considering the large number of the Saudi students who are committed, honest, serious and patriotic," he said. Al-Issa cited the case of the son and brothers Nimir Al-Nimir, who was convicted and executed for inciting sedition. He said they studied abroad under the scholarship program, received all their rights and were nicely treated and respected, but even then they did not shy away from harming their country. "They have received their entire rights and more. They were never harassed or questioned yet they turned out be ungrateful," he said. The attaché warned that the scholarship of any student who was found to be undermining the country's interests would be stopped immediately. "The homeland is a red line. Any student who dares to undermine it will be held accountable and will be reported to the concerned authorities in the Kingdom to take action against them," he said. Al-Issa described the Saudi women students as honest, committed and straightforward and said they were able to change the stereotype about the Kingdom in American society. "We have a number of brilliant Saudi women doctors working in renowned medical centers, engineers and pharmacists who are projecting a bright image of their country," he said. He revealed that there are more than five voluntary organizations working under the umbrella of the cultural attaché to display the beautiful image of Saudi Arabia in the US. "They are answering questions about the Kingdom even from Saudi citizens themselves," he added. Al-Issa said the attaché helps Saudi students get government and private sector jobs in the US in order to gain more experience, which they may use when they return to their country. "We have helped more than 6,000 students obtain employment in the US," he said. According to Al-Issa, intermarriage between Saudis and the Americans is rare and has not been a phenomenon. "I often tell the male students that if they marry a foreigner, who will marry our women in Saudi Arabia," he said.
