Rachel Abrams has a powerful blog post that I wanted to reprint here.The Saudis are tackling Al-Qaeda and have made reforms to help combat terrorism, but terrorism isn’t Islamic extremism’s only manifestation.
To those that want to paint Saudi Arabia as the “moderate” example we’re looking for, read her words below:
When they condemn a woman who’s been gang-raped to 200 lashes for “having sex outside marriage,” or give a destitute 75-year-old widow 40 lashes for engaging in “prohibited mingling” by receiving charity from two young male relatives, or, in the most recent (known) instance, sentence a 13-year-old girl to 90 lashes—to be delivered in front of her classmates—for bringing a cell phone to school—what do they believe they are doing?
For this is as far from protection as you can get, I think. In fact, it’s the opposite: it’s a form of rape; it exposes women and little girls to shame for the accident of being female, and renders them powerless to shield themselves from the disgust, and the disgusting judgement, of the men who control their lives.
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