Canada does not clash with the de facto Saudi leader, but our ostensible concerns about human rights violations undermine Washington's empty narrative. It reflects.
Official. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been acquitted.
The autocratic desert ruler, shunned by Western leaders for approving an operation to bone-saw the bodies of journalists,} Like one Arab journalist, now "out of the cage"is the result of a fist-to-fist fight between MBS (as he is known by his name) and US President Joe Biden in Jeddah last month. After an image went viral.
It must have felt like the icing on the cake for Riyadh.
Four years after USinvestigators concluded that he ordered the murder of Washington Post journalist and Saudi commentator Jamal Khashoggi, MBS is now has been vigorously sued by the US, UK and France. The same countries whose leaders called him an "outcast" and pressed for an investigation into the murder of Khashoggi. In his November 2019 Campaign His Trail, Bidensaid:
The Crown Prince denied knowledge of the journalist's murder,ignoring last year's conclusions of US intelligence ,
Turning a blind eye to unsavory truths about dictators is nothing new to Western leaders, so Saudi Arabia's reacceptance on the world stage is a complete no-brainer. It wasn't unexpected. The Kingdom's status as an important source of global energy and investment, especially after Russia invaded Ukraine and reaffirmed the Gulf States.
Nonetheless, every fist and handshake is a depressing reminder that oil-rich tyrants hold the West tight. With each official visit to Riyadh and the welcome of the crown prince, he gains a sense of legitimacy and redemption.
But as MBS pointed out during the conference, the same could be concluded about US human rights failures in the Middle East. The killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in May was likely carried out by Israeli forces during raids in the West Bank according to US investigations.
Canada's reputation in this area is not as good. The federal government's ostensible concern over human rights violations often reflects Washington's empty rhetoric. The arms trade is not commonly associated with Canada, but Canadian companies have been Saudi Arabia's top arms supplier for the past decade, making Saudi Arabia its largest customer after the United States. I'm here.
This is despite evidence that the regime uses these armored vehicles against the minority Shia civilian population. Some of these citizens are now seeking political asylum in Canada and have reported that their family members were killed in provincial mass executions on protest-related charges.
Equally deplorable is our complicity and silence in the Saudi-led seven-year war in Yemen, described by the United Nations as the world's worst humanitarian disaster. The country's warring parties recently renewed his two-month armistice, first signed in April of this year. But for many families it is too late
Doctors Without Borders last weekthree children were killed in the northern village of Al-Jabr. The Abs district, which reported collecting firewood, unknowingly took an unexploded ordnance home in June. The 3-year-old youngest died instantly when she left an object near her bed that night and her 8-year-old sister unknowingly activated it in her sleep.
This kind of terror is rare in Yemen. Landmines and unexploded ordnance accounted for more than 75 percent of war-related child casualties, according to a new study by the child rights agency Save the Children, from April to 2018. More than 42 of her children were killed or injured during that time. End of June.
The recent US reaction to ongoing independent reports of human rights abuses in Yemen has been pathetic. The Biden administration has announced the possibility of a new international commission to document and report on human rights abuses in Yemen. The call saw Saudi lobbying block an independent United Nations investigation into possible war crimes, and the United Nations' eminent group of experts on Yemen to urge Canada and the United States to perpetuate the conflict. It comes after calling it one of several world powers to contribute. Last September, it continued to supply arms to Saudi Arabia.
This is the classic formulaic response to global conflict where elected leaders know they are responsible but are too cowardly to face them. Between the clash of fists and lofty rhetoric, Yemeni children stand no chance.
Shenaz Kermalli is a freelance journalist and Toronto he is his instructor in journalism at Metropolitan University and the University of Toronto. @shenazkermalli
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