From liberty to slavery

Ben-Dror Yemini

Op-ed: As the Arab world battles jihadism, the free world – with Europe at its forefront – has found itself paralyzed in the face of Islamic extremism on its soil.

Margot Wallstrom. Alone in her criticism of Saudi extemism. (Photo: AFP)

The free world is now in midst of a struggle for freedom. It might ignore it, it might be blind, it might be in denial. But the battle is underway.
In the Arab and Muslim world, the battle is being fought against jihad in all its forms. The Islamic State, Boko Haram, Hamas, Taliban, al-Shabab, Al-Qaeda and Jabhat al-Nusra are all fighting to establish a mighty empire.

Elsewhere, countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who in recent decades have financed Wahhabism and Islamic extremism, bear the main responsibility for the murderous festival of blood that is seeping across the Muslim world, from Nigeria to Yemen, Afghanistan to Syria, Libya to Iraq.

This fight is not just confined to the Arab and Muslim world. It has also reached the free world, which flies the flag of freedom, liberty and human rights. There is a unified front against Boko Haram, al-Qaeda and Islamic State, but the problem is much broader.

Take, for example, Saudi Arabia’s most brutal ongoing interpretation of Sharia law, and with it the oppression of women and subjugation of the freedom of expression. Only recently, a Saudi court handed down a sentence of one thousand lashes and 10 years in jail to Raif Badawi, a blogger who dared to criticize the police.
How should the free world respond? The sentence did receive extensive coverage in the international media, but more interesting was the response from leaders of the free world.

Actually, only Sweden’s foreign minister, Margot Wallstrom, dared to voice criticism, and Sweden also abolished its military agreements with Saudi Arabia. This was definitely a far-reaching step.

Wallstrom had been invited to give a speech at a meeting of the Arab League and intended to speak primarily about the rights of women. But the speech was canceled; the leaders of the Arab world did not like her criticism of Saudi Arabia.

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