What is Canada Trying to Accomplish in Standing Against Saudi Arabia?

BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS, JIHAD WATCH,  AUG 7, 2018

Following Saudi Arabia’s arrest of two more women’s rights activists, as part of the government’s crackdown on dissidents, Canada responded by demanding the release of the women and accusing Saudi Arabia of human rights violations. Well-known activists Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sada were among those arrested. Samar is the sister of Raif Badawi, a humanitarian writer and dissident who was “flogged in public 50 times in January. He has 950 lashes and nearly a decade in prison left to serve – simply for blogging about free speech.”

Canada’s rebuke and demands drew the ire of the Saudis, followed by a swift, wrathful response: the Saudis expelled Canadian ambassador, Dennis Horak,  froze all trade, announced the withdrawal of all Saudi-sponsored students at Canadian universities, colleges and other schools, and suspended all flights by Saudi Arabian Airlines. Yet Canada stood strong in the face of Saudi accusations. Its display of strength is admirable, as women are being thrown in jail in Saudi Arabia for standing up for their rights. Women are also forced to live under the degrading guardianship system, under which they must seek permission from a male, be it husband, father, brother, son, uncle, to make basic decisions in their lives.

But have the full implications of its actions occurred to the Liberal government of Canada: that it has in fact interfered in the internal business of an Islamic state, run under Islamic law? Could this possibly mean that the government of Canada now intends to stand unabashedly and impartially against the broad range of human rights abuses committed in the name of Islam, such as blasphemy laws, restrictions on free speech, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, black slavery and the like? Hardly, but Trudeau’s government has stuck its neck out, sending the message that it intends to hold to its commitment to defend human rights in Saudi Arabia.

While the world praises the government of Canada for standing against Saudi Arabia’s Sharia practices, there is an inconvenient truth about the Liberal Trudeau administration: it has inescapable internal problems within its own government, including Islamic supremacist influence.

A few examples of why it is perplexing and contradictory that the Trudeau government would suddenly confront Saudi Arabia’s breaches of human rights; breaches that are rooted in Islamic law, which is immutable in its decrees and oppressive and abusive to women:

• In September 2016, Prime Minister Trudeau visited a gender-segregated mosque whose imam is a member of a group with jihad terror connections abroad. After release of the story in the media,  journalist Anthony Furey was contacted at his home by the Prime Minister’s Office and pressured to withdraw the story.
• To qualify for summer jobs funding, the Trudeau government forced applicants to check an attestation that they supported abortion, prompting Canada’s former Ambassador to the Office of Religious Freedom, Andrew Bennett, to refer to the Liberal government as having a “totalitarian” bent.
• “When former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper prioritized Christian and religious minorities for refugee status because they were targeted for extermination by ISIS, Trudeau called this policy disgusting.” Trudeau also reportedly stated that “evangelical Christians were the worst part of Canadian society.”
• As part of Canada’s “action” (crackdown) against “Islamophobia” in its follow-up to anti-Islamophobia Motion M103, Canadian citizens will be monitored for compliance: the Public Service Commission of Canada “offers standardized assessment instruments through its Personnel Psychology Center for use by public service organizations.” These tests are developed with “diverse groups and are monitored and maintained with diversity in mind.” In case anyone wonders which diverse groups will have input, the NCCM and International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy Canada (IRFAN) — a terrorist organization banned by the Conservative Stephen Harper government in 2014 — are among the groups to receive funding by the Trudeau government for its “Islamophobia” crackdown. 23 million dollars of Canadian taxpayer money was thrown out to combat anti-racism initiatives; “Islamophobia” was one of them. Motion M-103 is an expensive government crackdown on free speech.
• Canada also oddly sent a delegation to the 44th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in 2017.
• After President Trump’s Executive Order to temporarily ban travelers from seven countries of concern, mostly Muslim, Trudeau immediately tweeted out a welcome to refugees: “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.” Trudeau has also defended returning ISIS fighters with a personal passion, while under tough questioning by Conservative opposition leader Andrew Scheer in Parliament. Trudeau also refused to acknowledge Christian genocide, as he was pressed to do in the House of Commons by Scheer and Member of Parliament Garnet Genuis.
• At a time when dozens of Islamic State fighters have returned to Canada, the Trudeau government voted to weaken Canada’s anti-terrorism laws.
• I was fired as a Director from the Canadian Race Relations Foundation by the government of Canada on the advice of its then-Heritage Minister Melanie Joly for writing for Jihad Watch and criticizing extensive abuses against religious minorities and women in Islamic nations. Joly has since been demoted to a tourism portfolio. Her decision was made with input from the Muslim Brotherhood-connected National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM). I have also expressed on Jihad Watch my belief in the need to monitor messages being preached in mosques — many of which are spreading Salafist ideology. Ironically, these mosques are largely funded by Saudi Arabia. Joly referred, in her letter to me, to my suggestion to monitor mosques as one example of why I was being scrutinized in my role.
• In 2017, Vancouver, British Columbia imam Aasim Rashid spoke at Thompson Rivers University, where he stated: “I’ll tell you who wants to bring Sharia Law….The Canadian government wants to bring Sharia Law and this is not a joke. Why? Because Sharia Law is simply the way Muslims are doing things…. The government told us – we would like you to have this system, and we would like to work on these initiatives with you.” Justin Trudeau also told CBC in January 2016 that “Islam is not incompatible with Western secular democracy.”
• Finally, who could (or should) forget the fantastical multi-million dollar payouts and apologies to infamous jihadist murderer Omar Khadr, and also to Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou-Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin.
• Trudeau took no position on Bill S-219, which was a bill to “deter Iran-sponsored terrorism, incitement to hatred and human rights violations.” At the height of Iranian protests for freedom, when women were being rounded up and arrested and threatened with acid, rape and abuse over violations of Iran’s compulsory hijab law, there was nothing but silence from the Trudeau government, despite Trudeau’s proclivity to offer a “tweet or pair of socks for almost anything.”

Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland responded to Saudi Arabia’s retaliation against Canada that Canada is not backing down from its fight for human rights. She stated:

I will say Canada is very comfortable with our position. We are always going to speak up for human rights; we’re always going to speak up for women’s rights; and that is not going to change….Canadians expect our foreign policy to be driven by Canadian values

Wait a minute. Did she use the term “Canadian values” in promising “always” to speak up for human rights? When Conservatives have used the term “Canadian values” in the past, it was regarded with scorn, deemed to be discriminatory and unfriendly to immigrants, and was treated as the four-letter-word. So it ultimately became a no-go zone, at least until Chrystia Freeland raised it again.

Why the sudden, dramatic change from the Canadian government? Given Canada’s record, it is difficult to entertain the notion that the Liberal government of Canada’s uncharacteristic U-turn is genuine. A genuine move of that sort would require that the government of Canada recognize the broad range of abuses in Islamic states (not just Saudi Arabia) and show sincerity by first cleaning up the dirt in its own back yard. For starters, it needs to end its crackdown against proponents of free speech, human rights, equality and democracy. This can be done by immediately withdrawing its absurd efforts to promote tacit Islamic blasphemy laws via its Motion M-103, which is a blatant affront to free speech, puts Islam above other religions and was crafted by Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups and individuals.

The Trudeau government also needs to change its wide-open, unvetted immigration policy in its quest to protect “Canadian values,” and ban the niqab, which does not align with equality for women; nor is it in the interests for homeland security and Canadian values. Westerners are accustomed to seeing who they are talking to, and to illustrate through a basic example: parents have a right see the face of who may be driving their children to school in a school bus. In the full meaning of “Canadian values” and human rights, is Canada also ready to stand against the Quranic verse that forces full covering upon a woman, otherwise she may be abused? (Quran 24:31, Quran 33:49).

By challenging the human rights abuses against Saudi Arabia, Canada has unwittingly declared war against Saudi Arabia’s Islamic rule and sovereignty.

The government of Canada has traditionally rejected, explicitly, the idea that violence, and abuses against women and minorities have anything to do with Islam, and has claimed that such abuses were committed by an unrepresentative few, such as jihadists of the Islamic State and al-Qaeda.

Canada now finds itself face-to-face with a truth it has denied: that normative Islam sanctions supremacy and abuse. While the Liberal government has been busy making friends of Islamic supremacists and actually believing in the authenticity of such friendships, it now finds itself in the role of the House of War fighting against the House of Islam.

A host of other abuses against women and minorities under the Sharia are practiced in Iran, Pakistan, and in the Sharia-compliant countries of Africa etc.

One wonders what really motivated the Canadian government suddenly to stand for female human rights against Saudi Arabia. Perhaps it has something to do with political posturing during an emotion-generating news cycle. Raif Badawi’s case tugs at the heartstrings of most caring people, and now his sister is in jail, while his wife lives in Canada. Other possible factors might be that the Trudeau’s government just needed to make a pitch to improve its image in the face of embarrassing gaffes, which include his catastrophic visit to India, his “peoplekind” reference, his battles with Trump over the Free Trade Agreement, and widespread criticism of his immigration laxity and his stance on Islamic State jihadists. Election time is also creeping up in 2019. Whatever the reasons, the sudden caring about women in Islamic states just doesn’t jibe with the facts about the Trudeau government.

If (as is unlikely) Canada is being genuine, its government would do freedom-supporters proud if it indeed stands against the global jihad, with the latter’s full range of human rights abuses committed under Islamic law, and sets an example for other Western nations to do the same.

Instead, blowhards will likely deliver what Trudeau needs most: accolades and commendations for intervening on behalf of the women recently jailed in Saudi Arabia, while the other countless victims still suffering under Islamic law will be overlooked.

As expected, Arab states are backing Saudi Arabia.

In the meantime, putting all politics aside, whatever the reason, let’s hope for the best outcome for the women being rounded up and jailed in Saudi Arabia.