We recently discussed the sentencing of a political dissident in Saudi Arabia to being crucified and beheaded under the Kingdom’s medieval Sharia-based legal system. Now, as if to reaffirm the Kingdom’s opposition to basic human rights and freedoms, the Kingdom has reportedly sentenced a professor and activist to to 10 years in prison and barred him from traveling abroad for another decade. Abdel-Karim al-Khadar, a professor of Islamic studies from conservative Qassim Province, has been under arrest for over two years (since April 2013) for criticizing religious extremism and fighting for women’s rights. That is enough to jail you in the Kingdom, a country that remains one of our closest allies.
Khadar was sentenced by Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court on charges including disobeying the ruler, founding a human rights organization and supporting protests.
The inclusion of the crime of “founding a human rights organization” in Saudi Arabia is particularly telling.
As we denounce Islamic extremism around the world, it is easy to forget that Saudi Arabia continues to apply cruel Sharia sentences, deny basic liberty to women, bar religious freedom to non-Muslims, and brutally put down dissident. Christians cannot even build a church in the country or freely engage in religious ceremonies despite the constant demands of Saudi Arabia to guarantee the free exercise of Islam in other countries.
I should clarify, the 13% from Saudi Arabia breaks down to less than 7% of the total oil used in this country coming from the Kingdom. We will be below 5% in a few years.
You see many liberals putting their heads in the sand vis a vis oil, because they hate oil. Their mindset and “truthiness” is so 20th Century. The TRUTH is the US has dramatically reduced our dependence on the Middle East for oil. Indeed, the US now produces 40% of its needs and will be over 50% within in a few years. But, for the oil we import, the vast majority comes from Canada[37%]. We only import 13% of our needs from the Kingdom, and that amount decreases every year. One needs to look to Europe and other continents for supporting this evil country, not North America. We be pumping oil like mofo’s!
Amy, I disagree with your understanding of Islam. Consider the example of Christianity, where you have a wide array of beliefs among its adherents. Many Amish, for instance, think it’s wicked to use a car or telephone. Some Christian sects believe modern medicine is the work of Satan.
Similar differences exist within the Islamic faith. Lumping them all together is, by definition, prejudiced.
By “it” (“It is a totalitarian system masquerading as a religion”), I mean Islam.
It isn’t “Islamic extremism”; it’s Islam.
Best that those who don’t have a solid foundation in Islam don’t categorize it.
Likewise, I don’t offer my opinion about “global warming”/”climate change” because I don’t have a physics background and climatology is extremely complicated, and I don’t have a background in that, either.
I have, however, been reading in the Quran, Hadith, and elsewhere about Islam since 9/11. I suggest others do the same. I used to be one of those who thought Islam was strawberry ice cream to Judaism’s vanilla and Christianity’s chocolate. What a difference a little education makes. It is a totalitarian system masquerading as a religion.
randyjet
That is the typical cherry picking of incidents in any picture conservatives use to patch together an argument. They leave out what disproves and use only that which supports their position. War is only won by taking it to the enemy until they quit. Germany was beaten when they invaded Russia. Japan was beaten in China. Four fifths of the Germany military was exhausted fighting the Russians. Three quarters of Japan’s army and air force was engaged in fighting the Chinese. Yet Germany and Japan refused to quit until the atrocities of war were visited on them to such a degree that they could no longer continue.
The difference between Germany and Japan and the Allies was the intent. Germany and Japan were racist societies that believed those other than themselves were less than human and expendable. The only intent of the allies was to stop this racism and end the war. That would not have been possible without visiting the strongest atrocities of war on the enemy. It worked. The proof is there today.
Conservatives have been pretty much reduced to ideologues whose programs have been proven to be inadequate and things of the past. The world is evolving to a symbiotic relationship between the we and the I. Unfortunately America is dragging these clowns along, slowing down the progress.
This illustrates why I have said before that extremism is the norm, not the exception, in the Middle East. It may not be PC, but that’s the reality. Change must also come from within, but look at what innovators face. Not only must they overcome their own brainwashing since birth to catharsis, but to act, they must face a hostile government.
This also undermines why our founding fathers ensured the right to bear arms is Constitutionally protected. God forbid we ever find our country’s long slide away from accountability, checks and balances, and individual freedoms ends in a despot, it allows some small, final check against the rise of a tyrant.
The UN is a joke because countries like China and Saudi Arabia got on the Human Rights Council, merely to make trouble for political adversaries and protect their own interests. We are also in a Machiavellian relationship with the Kingdom, as we look the other way for behavior very similar to ISIS, just to have a desperately needed base and fair weather ally in the Middle East.
I would very much like to develop our own domestic and close ally energy production, as well as continue work on clean renewables. Defunding the Middle East oil trade will hopefully reduce the influence and power of these countries.
The oil market is global in nature. Regardless of how much oil we produce domestically, Saudi Arabia can determine whether it’s economically viable or not. Until we develop alternatives to oil, we must pander to this barbaric country.
I guess I should not be surprised that some conservatives echo the Nazis complaint that the Nuremberg Trials were simply victors justice. They are ignorant of the facts of the trials and history of the UN war operations in addition to being irrational. There were a number of defendants in the trials who were found NOT GUILTY and released. Hardly a kangaroo court such as the Nazis had. Some of those found guilty such as Adm. Doenitz had some charges dismissed before the trials when they produced evidence that the UN commanders had used similar tactics. Adm Nimitz sent a letter to the court attesting that the US had used similar rules on unrestricted submarine warfare, and that charge was removed from consideration.
It is also a testimony to their moral bankruptcy when they can equate FDR especially with Hitler and the other clear war criminals. Churchill does have some problem areas, but he too is hardly the equivalent of Hitler or the Nazis. It is also funny that the detractors find common ground with the left wing nuts who equate the internment camps of Japanese Americans with the death camps of the Third Reich. They also like to forget about the fact German Americans were also interned and cry racism. It thus becomes funny to hear former racists or supporters of segregation use that hammer to hit at FDR. Sort of like Hitler criticizing the South for their policies against black Americans.
randyjet – couple of things. 1) I said using the same criteria used by the Nuremberg Trials 2) I have always mentioned the German-Americans and Italian Americans who were interred by the US.
Money talks, morals walk. Saudi Arabia is nothing more than a third world backward bunch of thugs with infinite financial resources. Qatar and the rest are no different. The proof is the incredible stupidity of them hosting the World Cup in Football when they don’t have a recreational level team between them. That we do business with them is human nature. In some ways we are worse and they do business with us.
But this story can’t be true.
Clock Boy Ahmed Mohamed is moving to Qatar; he said it is just like America!
“But there are many Jim Crow Americans who have no desire for human rights.”
Beldar,
I agree with your post but then I got to this line and I’d like to know how many? Would you say as many as that support black on black violence?
Paul: It is their country and their rules. Which is what many Americans said of Nazi Germany in the late 1930s and before we got into the war with Germany after Pearl Harbor. The main purpose of the Nuremburg Trials, following WWII and the Holocaust, was to establish an international law against Nazi behavior. The fact that Saudi Pirate Territory belongs to the UN Human Rights Council is indicative of a failure of the international community and also the United States to stand up for human rights.
But there are many Jim Crow Americans who have no desire for human rights.
Beldar – using the Nuremberg standard, Roosevelt and all of his cabinet officers, all the top US and British commanders, plus Churchill would have been convicted of crimes against humanity.
If only the West had other crude oil options then they might be less inclined to “support” these theocratic countries.
Their country, their rules. Their idea of human rights is clearly different than ours.
A Pirate Territory which has a lot of crude oil is going to be…… crude. That Bin Laden ickPray was a Saudi. Nuff said. Encourage Putin to start the bombing of the Saudi. Intolerance is in the eye of the beholder. I am intolerant of those who wear tents or turbans on their heads. I am a little more tolerant of so called Westerners such as Cat O Lics who wear beanies– such as the Pope.
If more Americans were intolerant of Saudis, perhaps they would be more tolerant. This so called country just joined the UN Human Rights Council. Fly over Saudi territory and flush. Twice and only after pooping.
If we are going to elect The Donald, and he is going to build us a Wall, then lets go one step further and bar all religious beanie, turban or tent wearers from coming in. Check the luggage.
And this is the country that just joking the UN Human Rights Council! When will the West stop supporting this and other theocratic countries?
Too bad they have all that crude oil.
While Saudi Arabia has a good relations with the Western media and most Western governments, while it can obtain enough support to become a member of UN human rights council, it is hard to put pressure on it. The best way probably is through non-mainstream/alternative media and grassroots action.
Reblogged this on pundit from another planet.