A simple message from King Faisal of Saudi Arabia // The second slide is a speech by King Faisal with the current Saudi King - King Salman - standing next to him.
The year is 1973 and Saudi Arabia’s third monarch King Faisal bin Abdelaziz has banned the sale of oil from the Middle East to the United States following US President Nixon’s request to Congress for over $2 billion worth of aid to Israel during its 1973 war with Egypt and Syria. King Faisal’s embargo forced the US to the negotiating table to call upon Israel to return the lands it had seized from Egypt and Syria during the previous 1967 War.
This embargo didn’t just target the US it also targeted several of Israel’s wartime allies including the UK Canada and Apartheid South Africa. Over the next few years an international crisis ensued and a surge in oil prices led to a boom for Saudi Arabia’s Economy. King fasil was then able to use these newly acquired riches to send aid to Egypt and Syria during and after the war as well as to the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
UN King Faisal desired unity among Muslim nations and led the establishment of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation following an arson attack on Masjid Al Aqsa in 1969. Just one year after King Faisal’s Oil Embargo was lifted he was assassinated in a public meeting by his nephew who had recently returned to Saudi Arabia after a long stay in the United States. It was reported at the time that the king’s nephew had a history of mental illness but some speculated that his assassination was linked to his continued support for Palestine. King Faisal consistently called on Israel to withdraw from occupied territories including East Jerusalem up until his death in 1975