Sweden's Feminist Foreign Minister Has Dared to Tell the Truth About Saudi Arabia. What Happens Now Concerns Us All
Margot Wallström’s principled stand deserves wide support. Betrayal seems more likely
If the cries of ‘Je suis Charlie’ were sincere, the western
world would be convulsed with worry and anger about the Wallström
affair. It has all the ingredients for a clash-of-civilisations
confrontation.
A few weeks ago Margot Wallström, the Swedish foreign minister,
denounced the subjugation of women in Saudi Arabia. As the theocratic
kingdom prevents women from travelling, conducting official business or
marrying without the permission of male guardians, and as girls can be
forced into child marriages where they are effectively raped by old men,
she was telling no more than the truth. Wallström went on to condemn
the Saudi courts for ordering that Raif Badawi receive ten years in
prison and 1,000 lashes for setting up a website that championed
secularism and free speech. These were ‘mediaeval methods’, she said,
and a ‘cruel attempt to silence modern forms of expression’. And once
again, who can argue with that?
The backlash followed the pattern set by Rushdie, the Danish cartoons and Hebdo.
Saudi Arabia withdrew its ambassador and stopped issuing visas to
Swedish businessmen. The United Arab Emirates joined it. The
Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, which represents 56
Muslim-majority states, accused Sweden of failing to respect the world’s
‘rich and varied ethical standards’ — standards so rich and varied,
apparently, they include the flogging of bloggers and encouragement of
paedophiles. Meanwhile, the Gulf Co-operation Council condemned her
‘unaccept-able interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia’, and I wouldn’t bet against anti-Swedish riots following
soon.
world would be convulsed with worry and anger about the Wallström
affair. It has all the ingredients for a clash-of-civilisations
confrontation.
A few weeks ago Margot Wallström, the Swedish foreign minister,
denounced the subjugation of women in Saudi Arabia. As the theocratic
kingdom prevents women from travelling, conducting official business or
marrying without the permission of male guardians, and as girls can be
forced into child marriages where they are effectively raped by old men,
she was telling no more than the truth. Wallström went on to condemn
the Saudi courts for ordering that Raif Badawi receive ten years in
prison and 1,000 lashes for setting up a website that championed
secularism and free speech. These were ‘mediaeval methods’, she said,
and a ‘cruel attempt to silence modern forms of expression’. And once
again, who can argue with that?
The backlash followed the pattern set by Rushdie, the Danish cartoons and Hebdo.
Saudi Arabia withdrew its ambassador and stopped issuing visas to
Swedish businessmen. The United Arab Emirates joined it. The
Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, which represents 56
Muslim-majority states, accused Sweden of failing to respect the world’s
‘rich and varied ethical standards’ — standards so rich and varied,
apparently, they include the flogging of bloggers and encouragement of
paedophiles. Meanwhile, the Gulf Co-operation Council condemned her
‘unaccept-able interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia’, and I wouldn’t bet against anti-Swedish riots following
soon.
