By G. Jefferson Price III
Last
Friday, as the world’s attention was riveted on the terrorists who
murdered French journalists for publishing cartoons and
texts lampooning Islam and the Prophet Mohammed, a 30-year-old Saudi Arabian
father of three was brought in shackles to the public square outside the Al
Jafali mosque in the Saudi port city of Jeddah where he was flogged with 50
lashes of a cane.
Friday’s 50 lashes were only a small part
of the penalties heaped upon Raif Badawi for running a website inviting public
discussion – and criticism – of the powerful clerics who hold sway in Saudi
Arabia, enabled and empowered by the Saudi royal family.
Under the terms of his punishment, Badawi
will be back for 50 lashes again this Friday and every Friday for 19 weeks
until he has received the full 1000 lashes of his sentence – unless, that is,
the Saudis do as they have been asked to do by the U. S. government which
called on “Saudi authorities to cancel this brutal
punishment and to review Badawi’s case and sentence.” In addition to the flogging, Badawi has been sentenced
to 10 years in prison and fined a million Saudi riyals – about $266,000.
And the U. S. government just wants our
Saudi so-called allies in the war on terror to “review Badawi’s case and
sentence.”? Actually, Badawi’s case already has been reviewed. In 2013, he was
sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes, but a Saudi court reviewing
the case increased the penalty to the current ten years and 1000 lashes.
These people are not our allies in the war
on terror. Their own inhumane treatment of their own people enables, facilitates
and inspires jihadists like the ones whose most recent targets were the
journalists in Paris and the innocent clientele of a kosher grocery store on
the outskirts of the French capital.
An unnamed ‘Saudi official” is quoted in
press reports denouncing the attacks in Paris last week as a “Cowardly terrorist act which Islam as
well as other religions reject.” From the ruling royals: silence.
And what would they call the public
beating and imprisonment of Raif Badawi? An act of courage?
Amnesty International, which denounced the
Saudi conduct as a vicious act of cruelty, published an
eyewitness description of the flogging that took place after Friday prayers at
the Al Jafali mosque:
According to this eyewitness: Badawi was removed from a bus in shackles and brought to
the public square in front of the mosque in the middle of a crowd.
“A crowd gathered in a circle.
Passers-by joined them and the crowd grew. But no one knew why Raif was about
to be punished. Is he a killer, they asked? A criminal? Does he not pray?” the
witness said.
“A security officer approached him
from behind with a huge cane and started beating him. Raif raised his head
towards the sky, closing his eyes and arching his back. He was silent, but you
could tell from his face and his body that he was in real pain. The officer
beat Raif on his back and legs, counting the lashes until they reached 50.”
In support of the assertion that the Saudi
kingdom is an ally in the war on terrorism, the Saudi embassy in Washington’s
website presents a document entitled: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Initiatives
and Actions to Combat Terrorism,” the document describes the Saudi concept of a
“Counter-Radicalization Program”:
“The
purpose of the program is to combat the spread and appeal of extremist
ideologies among the general populous. It strives to instill the true values of
the Islamic faith, such as tolerance and moderation. Central to this effort is
education about the dangers of radical Islam—consisting of school and religious
programs and popular pronouncements, and the provision of positive, alternative
outlets for at-risk groups—such as encouraging participation in sporting events
and athletic programs, social outings, etc.”
“Tolerance and moderation?” How are these represented in the public
beating and imprisonment of Raif Badawi for trying to open discussion about
religious fanaticism and its hold on power in the Saudi kingdom?
If it weren’t for the brutal realities of life in the kingdom and the
utter hypocrisy of its rulers, these attitudes would be laughable, certainly
worthy of satire and aggressive lampooning.
Raif Badawi’s website did not come close to the level of insult or vulgarity served up by Charlie Hebdou in Paris. In
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, that would have constituted apostasy for which the
penalty in the kingdom is death. Precisely the sentence carried out by the terrorists in Paris last week.
G. Jefferson Price III is a former Middle
East correspondent and foreign editor of the Baltimore Sun.
No comments:
Post a Comment