10/11/2001, Mayor Giuliani Says New York City Won’t Accept $10 Million “Relief” Check From Saudi Prince-NY Times

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10/11/2001, “Giuliani Says City Won’t Accept $10 Million Check From Saudi,“ NY Times, Jennifer Steinhauer

10/12/2001, Image caption: “One month after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal of Saudi Arabia, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, right, hands New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a check for $10 million for relief efforts on Thursday, October 11, 2001, in New York. Prince Alwaleed, a member of the Saudi royal family who was sixth on Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s richest men for 2001, also visited ground zero. (AP Photo/Stan Honda, pool)”

10/11/2001, “Giuliani Says City Won’t Accept $10 Million Check From Saudi,“ NY Times, Jennifer Steinhauer

“Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani said today that New York City would not accept a $10 million charitable donation from a wealthy prince from Saudi Arabia who criticized the American government’s policies in the Middle East.

.Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Alsaud… attended a memorial service at the site today, where he handed the mayor a check for $10 million for the Twin Towers Fund, one of various charity funds set up to benefit survivors of the attack.

Mr. Giuliani initially accepted the check….Along with it was a letter from the prince, in which he expressed his condolences for “the loss of life that the City of New York has suffered.”…

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What the letter did not say was what a press release attached to a copy of the letter did:
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“However, at times like this one, we must address some of the issues that led to such a criminal attack. I believe the government of the United States of America should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance towards the Palestinian cause.” The press release attributed the statement to the prince.

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“‘Our Palestinian brethren continue to be slaughtered at the hands of Israelis while the world turns the other cheek,’ Prince Alwaleed stressed,” the release read….

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The mayor, who had been told of the press release just moments before his daily briefing but after receiving the check, was visibly annoyed by it. “I entirely reject that statement,” he said….

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“There is no moral equivalent for this act,” the mayor said. “There is no justification for it….

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And to suggest that there’s a justification for it only invites this happening in the future. It is highly irresponsible and very, very dangerous.”…

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His press office released a statement attributed to the mayor that the check would not be accepted….
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The (Prince’s) letter added, “I would also like to condemn all forms of terrorism and in doing so I am reiterating Saudi Arabia’s strong stance against these tragic and horrendous acts.”… 

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A spokesman for the prince, Amjed Shacker, who was reached on his cell phone as he prepared to board a plane for Saudi Arabia, said he knew of no such rejection and indeed seemed perplexed to learn of it. “The mayor took the check at 9 a.m.,” he said. “We have no knowledge of that. He accepted the check.”…

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Added: CNN, 10/12/2001: “Giuliani rejects $10 million from Saudi prince”

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10/12/2001, “Giuliani rejects $10 million from Saudi prince,“ CNN

“Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Thursday the city would not accept a $10 million donation for disaster relief from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal after the prince suggested U.S. policies in the Middle East contributed to the September 11 attacks.
 
“I entirely reject that statement,” Giuliani said. “There is no moral equivalent for this [terrorist] act. There is no justification for it. The people who did it lost any right to ask for justification for it when they slaughtered 4,000 or 5,000 innocent people.”

Prince Alwaleed gave the mayor a check after a Thursday morning memorial service at Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center towers destroyed in the attacks.

The prince offered his condolences to the people of New York, but after the ceremony he released a statement suggesting the United States “must address some of the issues that led to such a criminal attack.” 

“The check has not been deposited. The Twin Towers Fund has not accepted it,” Giuliani said in a statement late Thursday.

The prince’s statement said the United States “should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stand toward the Palestinian cause.

“While the U.N. passed clear resolutions numbered 242 and 338 calling for the Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip decades ago, our Palestinian brethren continue to be slaughtered at the hands of Israelis while the world turns the other cheek,” the statement said. 

Giuliani flatly rejected the prince’s position. “To suggest that there’s a justification for [the terrorist attacks] only invites this happening in the future,” he said. “It is highly irresponsible and very, very dangerous.

“And one of the reasons I think this happened is because people were engaged in moral equivalency in not understanding the difference between liberal democracies like the United States, like Israel, and terrorist states and those who condone terrorism.

“So I think not only are those statements wrong, they’re part of the problem,” Giuliani said.” 

 

 

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