Iโve been thinking about the attack on King Khalid International Airport all morning. And I still canโt stop feeling angry.
For me, Saudi Arabia is a country of people who build and create. Great, ambitious projects, yes. But also thousands of small things that make everyday life better for others.
I love the people of this country.
One of the things that touches me most as I learn Arabic is something so simple.
You wish someone something good, and sometimes they don't just say โyou tooโ. They say โand even more for youโ, or โmay you receive many times what you wished for meโ.
Maybe if youโve spoken Arabic all your life, you barely notice these little exchanges. But Iโm still learning, and I notice them. They touch me every time.
There is something beautiful about receiving a kind wish and wanting to give the other person even more kindness in return. And I think these little things tell us something about how people see one another and how they choose to treat each other.
I love how readily people offer help to someone who needs it, even a complete stranger. I admire their strength, their dignity, and the way they stand together when hardship comes to their home.
Iโve written more than once that Saudi Arabia is a treasure. And I mean it. Above all, because of its people. People with kind and wise hearts, and remarkable strength of spirit.
And all morning I keep coming back to one thought.
These are the people whose home was attacked.
This is the country someone chose to send missiles into. To a civilian airport, where people were simply working, travelling, waiting to meet their loved ones, living their ordinary lives.
War is ugly everywhere. No one, anywhere, deserves this. But when it reaches a place you love, and people who have shown you so much kindness, the pain and anger become terribly personal.
I cannot see a trace of honour or kindness in the decision to fire missiles at a civilian airport.
I keep thinking about the people who spend their lives building, creating, helping others. And then about those who made a decision that ended lives and changed so many others forever.
How can someone have so little regard for human life?
I cannot reconcile these two things.
And today, I cannot stop feeling angry.
Please take care of yourselves and your loved ones. ๐ค
More than anything in the world, I wish I could be there with you right now. ๐
#SaudiArabia #Riyadh
May Allah have mercy upon those who lost their lives in this attack.
The Houthis claim theyโre fighting for Palestine, yet their attacks have reportedly killed a Palestinian and other Muslims from Sudan, Egypt and Bangladesh while repeatedly targeting Riyadhโs airport and putting innocent lives at risk.
International airports are not battlefields. They are filled with innocent civilians, families, women, and children. Yet the Houthis continue to launch missiles toward civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
That alone should tell you everything you need to know about their actions. They claim to be defending Muslims while putting Muslim lives in danger. Their actions speak louder than their slogans.
May Allah protect the innocent and hold the oppressors accountable.
It would be a mistake to view the #Houthis as merely a #Yemen or Saudi problem. The longer they remain entrenched, the farther their reach will extend and the greater the threat they will pose to regional and global security.
The Iranian-backed Houthi militia seeks to exaggerate their attacksโ impact to mask battlefield losses and boost collapsing morale.
Saudi forces continue countering attacks. Temporary flight pauses protect passengers. All Saudi airports, including those targeted, continue handling arrivals and departures.