NYPL Cancels Saudi-backed Event After Protests

On September 18th, the New York Public Library cancelled a planned event with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman’s private foundation after protests about his abuse of human rights. We would like to thank our allies Action Project and Code Pink for quickly mobilizing to oppose the event.

The library’s announcement shortly followed the appearance of an op-ed in the Guardian penned by Matthew Zadrozny, President of Save NYPL, and Annia Ciezadlo:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/18/why-is-new-yorks-most-famous-library-getting-into-bed-with-the-saudi-crown-prince

Now that the New York Public Library has cancelled the Saudi crown prince’s MiSK event, here are some things you can do next:

1. Contact your Senators in New York (that’s Chuck Schumer and Kirstin Gillibrand) and ask them to withdraw US military aid for the Saudi-led coalition’s war in Yemen.

2. Keep asking who at NYPL approved the MiSK event and why?! Was Mohammed bin Salman invited to use NYPL’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building because of trustee Schwarzman’s ties to MBS (who invested $20 billion with Schwarzman at Blackstone)?

3. Write to NYPL President Tony Marx: president@nypl.org to ask him why NYPL decided to help whitewash the reputation of this murderous dictator, and call Marx’s assistant at 212-930-0098 to make your views known.

4. Help us save NYPL and hold its trustees accountable to the people of NY. Support us at: https://savenypl.org/donate.

(All of us at SaveNYPL volunteer our time and labor, but need help with legal expenses, web hosting, etc.)

5. Follow and support the organizations and activists who partnered with us on this protest action: Code Pink, Action Corps, Human Rights Watch, Sunjeev Berry, and Ken Roth.

Thank you!