Saudis kill 'armed' protestor opposed to 'megacity' 33 times size of NYC

Saudi political activist Omar bin Abdulaziz termed al-Howeiti the 'Martyr of NEOM.'

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
Visitors watch a 3D presentation on 'Neom', a new business and industrial city, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 25, 2017 (photo credit: REUTERS/HAMAD I MOHAMMED)
Visitors watch a 3D presentation on 'Neom', a new business and industrial city, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 25, 2017
(photo credit: REUTERS/HAMAD I MOHAMMED)
BERLIN - Security forces for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia killed a protestor who refused to sell his property to permit the building of the megacity project called Neom.
The protestor, Abdul-Rahim al-Howeiti, was shot dead by security forces in Al-Khuraybah, near Saudi Arabia’s border with Jordan, according to a Thursday report in the British Daily Mail.

The Mail said that Saudi government media claimed that al-Howeiti had “shot at security forces” and tossed Molotov cocktails to protect land belonging to his Howeitat tribe.
Saudi political activist Omar bin Abdulaziz termed al-Howeiti the “Martyr of NEOM.”
Al-Howeiti was protesting against the construction of Neom, a metropolis set to be 33 times the size of New York City and backed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. 
The Wall Street Journal titled its 2019 story about Neom: “A Prince’s $500 Billion Desert Dream: Flying Cars, Robot Dinosaurs and a Giant Artificial Moon.” The article said that “Saudi Arabia”s crown prince turned to US consultants for help imagining a massive new city-state in a barren section of his kingdom. What emerged was a Jetsons-style world of automation.”
Al-Howeiti's Howeitat tribe gained notoriety in the 1962 film epic film Lawrence of Arabia for fighting with British forces against the Ottoman army during WWI. T.E. Lawrence, the British intelligence officer and soldier, mentioned the Howeitat tribe in his book “Seven Pillars of Wisdom.” The Howeitat have lived in Saudi Arabia for hundreds of years and their different tribes are spread across the Kingdom, Jordan and the disputed Palestinian territories.
According to the Daily Mail, “The tribe has expressed dismay at being forced to relocate from the area where Neom is being constructed, allegedly without any consultation from the Saudi authorities.”
The Wall Street Journal said the Kingdom "plans to forcibly relocate more than 20,000" people from the region  to build the super city.


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