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A renamed street outside the Saudi Arabia Embassy in Washington, D.C., was unveiled on Wednesday in honor of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, with speakers at the unveiling ceremony swiping President Joe Biden for his planned trip to the country.
The renamed street, Jamal Khashoggi Way, serves as a symbolic gesture honoring the slain journalist after the D.C. Council unanimously passed a bill last December approving the designation. Changing the sign outside the embassy will serve as a reminder of the Saudi government’s culpability in Khashoggi’s murder and could lead to accountability, advocates say.
“We will remind them every day, every hour, every minute, so long as they remain on this street: This is Jamal Khashoggi Way, and we hold them responsible and we will hold them accountable for the murder of our friend,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, a nonprofit organization founded by Khashoggi. “They killed him to silence him and the voices of democracy.”
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The sign was unveiled at 1:14 p.m. on Wednesday, which is the minute on Oct. 2, 2018, Khashoggi was last seen entering the consulate in Saudi Arabia where he was later killed, Whitson said.
Biden’s recent announcement that he will travel to Saudi Arabia in July to meet with country leaders, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been deemed responsible for the journalist’s assassination, was condemned by speakers who argue the meeting belies Biden’s commitment to promoting human rights.
“Can you at least ask, ‘Where is Jamal’s body?’ Doesn’t he deserve a proper burial? And what happened to his killers?” said DAWN board member Tawakkol Karman. “Biden has abandoned his commitment to support human rights across the world … Shame on the Biden administration.”
Khashoggi’s fiance Hanan Elatr has urged Biden to meet with her before traveling to the region, although it’s not clear whether he plans to do so.
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Biden promised during his 2020 campaign to make Saudi Arabia “pay the price” for its role in the journalist’s death. But despite a U.S. intelligence report determining Saudi Arabia was responsible for the 2018 assassination, Biden has declined to punish the country’s leader, instead largely keeping the crown prince at a distance.
The Jamal Khashoggi Way is the first street named after the slain journalist but “won’t be the last,” organizers said Wednesday. The group has plans to name more streets after Khashoggi, particularly those in front of Saudi consulates and related government buildings throughout the country.
