Left discovers jihad, blames Trump for emboldening “jihadist” Saudi Arabia
This war on jihad terror gets stranger by the day. Many leftist purveyors of “Islamophobia” propaganda are resistant to the very word “jihad” and the reality that normative Islam is jihadist at the core and is very much driven by Islamic texts. Yet now CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, of all people, has written about “jihadist terrorism” in claiming that Trump “was played” by Saudi Arabia:
But most important, it will do nothing to address the direct and ongoing threat to Americans — jihadist terrorism. I thought that Trump’s foreign policy was going to put America first, not Saudi Arabia.
So now CNN is actually supporting Trump’s “America first” and anti-“jihadist terrorism” initiatives? Hardly. The CNN alarm about Saudi Arabia has everything to do with being anti-Trump and little to do with authentic attempts to combat the global jihad.
The virulently anti-Trump Washington Post sang a similar tune:
President Trump’s journey to the Middle East illustrated yet again how the country central to the spread of this terrorism, Saudi Arabia, has managed to evade and deflect any responsibility for it.
The Daily Beast made fun of Trump “finally” getting treated “like a king” in a country where:
journalists are legally forbidden from writing anything “leading to disorder and division,” and witchcraft is punishable by death.
Many behaviors are punishable by death in Saudi Arabia: beheadings and stonings are still regularly taking place, in accordance with the Sharia.
The UK’s Independent also embarrassed Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who commended the “good mood surrounding President’s trip to Kingdom” before going on to praise the lack of any demonstrations in Saudi Arabia during Trump’s visit, highlighting his obliviousness to the fact that in Saudi Arabia, protests are punishable by death.
Far-left Senator Cory Booker joined in the Trump-bashing, attacking the President for “not talking about the real human rights concerns in Saudi Arabia.” He stated:
it’s almost like reducing America from the light and hope in the world to just a utilitarian kind of transactional relationship.
Now the Independent is pushing advocacy in the case of one human rights protester:
Munir’s case is utterly shocking – the White House should be appalled that our Saudi allies tortured a disabled protester until he lost his hearing then sentenced him to death on the basis of a forced ‘confession’,” said Maya Foa, the director of Reprieve, a legal justice charity.
The criticism of Trump for not confronting Saudi Arabia for its human rights abuses and export of the jihad ideology is not without merit. Indeed, advocacy for human rights is great, but this anti-Trump blitz over Saudi Arabia exposes the hypocrisy of the left. The one thing that leftist authorities and media have been consistent about is their profound detestation of President Trump. This hatred has now led them to declare precipitously that he was easy on Saudi Arabia (which is governed by and espouses normative Islam), a human rights violating country that exports the Wahhabi ideology and jihad while hiding behind a respectable facade. On this, the left and foes of jihad can agree. Counter-jihadists have been warning about the jihad ideology and Saudi Arabia for years, while being bashed by those same leftists for being racist and “Islamophobic.”
Saudi Arabia’s appearance and method of operation is quite different from that of the Islamic State, but both are Sharia “states”; both implement Islamic texts that call for human rights violations; both are spreading dawah globally and share the goal of global Islamic conquest.
There is an upside to this leftist attack on Trump over Saudi Arabia: while leftist politicians and media routinely dismiss the role of normative Islam in human rights abuses, they have now declared it in their frenzied opposition to Trump, even though these same voices of condemnation of “jihad” and Saudi Arabia will quickly be forgotten when events require a revival of the “Islamophobia” theme. In much the same way, leftists forget the victims of human rights abuses when those abuses are committed by Muslims in the name of their religion.
Perhaps if Trump ended his attempts to implement his so-called “Muslim ban” to try to keep out jihadist “evil losers,” the leftist media might attack Trump for reneging on his promises and start pushing for the ban.
Here is one case of Saudi human rights abuses over which the left is attacking Trump:
“Saudi Arabia to behead disabled man ‘for taking part in protests’ after ‘forced confession'”, by Will Worley, Independent, May 27, 2017:
A court in Saudi Arabia has upheld a death sentence for a disabled man who was arrested after he attended a protest, campaigners have said.Munir al-Adam, 23, was beaten so badly he lost hearing in one ear during demonstrations in the Shia dominated east of the country in 2012.Human rights campaigners have slammed the decision, calling it “shocking” and demanding the White House intervenes [sic]….“Munir’s case is utterly shocking – the White House should be appalled that our Saudi allies tortured a disabled protester until he lost his hearing then sentenced him to death on the basis of a forced ‘confession’,” said Maya Foa, the director of Reprieve, a legal justice charity….The decision comes after a recent visit by President Trump to the Gulf state, which is one of the world’s most prolific executioners and notorious for its human rights abuses. Previous administrations have raised the issue of rights with Saudi leaders, but campaigners believe Mr Trump’s failure to do so may have emboldened the state to proceed with controversial decisions.Ms Foa said: “Today’s judgment shows that, by failing to raise human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, President Trump has emboldened the Kingdom to continue the torture and execution of protesters.“The Trump administration must now urgently stand up for American values. They must call for the release of Munir, and all others who face execution for simply exercising freedom of expression.”After Mr Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia, Wilbur Ross, the US treasury secretary,said there was “not a single hint of a protester” in the country. The remark which was widely condemned because of Saudi Arabia’s severe restrictions on freedom of expression.
