Where is the outcry over "The Line" ? (Human Rights violations by Saudi Governmentt

[onegrumpyoldwoman]

See this : -

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68945445

https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-line-the-170km-long-mirrored-metropolis-saudi-arabia-is-building-in-the-desert-188639

Saudi Arabia is an appalling country but actions against them have never gained much traction. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/saudi-arabia-human-rights-raif-badawi-king-salman

I wonder if that is to do with oil?

Israel is a "softer target" as it has no oil 🤔

Israel is attacking someone else though. General rule is you can do whatever the hell you like within your own borders, but it is poor form to do so elsewhere. And yes, I know Israel was attacked first, that is not ok either.

Definitely one of world’s worst abusers of human rights. This is about Loujain - an incredible woman rights activist.

https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/16/saudi-arabia-moderate-country-travel-ban-crime-womens-rights

No general rule is not that you do what you like in your own borders - that's why we have standards & about human rights and who we do business with.

Same old story. Money talks louder than anything. But No Jews, no news is pretty powerful too.

Saudi have done awful stuff in Yemen too.

Israel treats it own people better than Saudi does and that’s for sure. Saying that doesn’t take away from the fact that Israel is committing horrific human rights abuses in Gaza.

Maybe our own government aren’t actively encouraging Saudi Arabia to do this and helping to fund it?

I feel for the Palestinians and think they’ve suffered appallingly and I think the Israeli government’s response to the horror of October 7th is disproportionate but there are many, many examples of unjust governments across the world. I do believe the huge response to the Palestinian crisis is motivated by more than just humanitarian concerns. Some of the anti Israeli sentiment I have witnessed carries more than a whiff of anti semitism .

Well yes definitely oil. The UK and the US are allies of both Saudi and Israel though?

We UK aren't funding it but are involved -

https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/peter-cook-and-david-adjaye-working-on-saudi-neom-project-the-line

The diabolical human rights atrocities by SA are often overlooked because- oil and lots of money, where’s the outrage… 🤔

The Line has already been scaled back massively because it’s simply too big a project to complete in the over optimistic timescale it was meant to take.

Did you read the article? British companies are involved. BDS calls for breaking all ties with Israel, not just government ties. Can you see the double standard?
UK is one of the leading suppliers of arms to Saudi, despite repeated breaches on internationsl law in Yemen and appalling human rights at home.
A quick google will dig up loads of articles on British Saudi relations https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/may/17/art-washing-unease-as-british-cultural-institutions-lend-lustre-to-saudi-trade-push#:~:text=Britain's%20trading%20relationship%20with%20Saudi,to%20high%2Dprofile%20sporting%20events.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/may/15/uk-trade-summit-in-saudi-arabia-accused-of-promoting-firms-linked-to-senior-tories

You can do the rest

Yup, and we have sold arms to the Saudis to bomb Yemen with catastrophic results - but no-one's protesting outside the Saudi Embassy 🙄

BDS calls for breaking all ties with Israel, not just government ties. Can you see the double standard?

This is just one organization which specifically talks about Israel/Palestine. At the end of the day the UK is an ally of both countries.

Millions of UK arms were used in Yemen - I think that’s a disgrace (and Liz truss overturned a ban that had been brought in)

I don’t think the question should be - why doesn’t everyone turn away from talking about Israel and start talking about Saudi. Both these countries need to be called out. 54% of British arms sales went to authoritarian regimes. We should all be putting pressure on for this.

Gaza is splashed all over the news rights now. What is happening is loud - the rate of death is very high and the destruction has been huge in a short amount of time.

@mollyfolk Gaza is splashed all over the news rights now.

No argument about that.

What is happening is loud - the rate of death is very high and the destruction has been huge in a short amount of time.

I don't really like the way that some people measure how "bad" a conflict is by timescale or casualties.

However. The Yemeni Civil War, which began in 2014, has been one of the most heavy conflicts in history, and caused a severe humanitarian crisis. Yet it barely raised a blip in the minds of most of UK population.

One can only speculate that it's a case of "no Jews, no news ?

Im not talking about a particular organisation but the general 'BDS' movement calling for cutting ties. Prominent among student 'demands'. The lack of a similar movement targetting Saudi is striking.

People who care about human rights ought to be able to think about more than one issue. That is the point. Gaza has mobilised a lot of people who have never given a toss about any issue to this extent before. Some of us have been involved in international human rights & antiracist work for years and perhaps have a more balanced perspective.
Gaza is splashed all over the media precisely, partly, because of popular interest. Compare other crises such as Darfur etc

@SharonEllis Im not talking about a particular organisation but the general 'BDS' movement calling for cutting ties. Prominent among student 'demands'. The lack of a similar movement targetting Saudi is striking.

I wonder if students would be just as horrified if they knew how much ME funding was going into our Universities?

This is behind a paywall but you get my drift...

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/our-new-saudi-partnership-huge-opportunity-uk-science

Oh indeed, I wonder......They don't care!

China too.

However. The Yemeni Civil War, which began in 2014, has been one of the most heavy conflicts in history, and caused a severe humanitarian crisis. Yet it barely raised a blip in the minds of most of UK population.

One can only speculate that it's a case of "no Jews, no news ?

i completely agree about Yemen. It just never seemed the gain any traction in the UK . It is the worlds forgotten crisis.

I think lots of crisis that has been splashed all over the news and captured western attention; the Iraqi war, darfur, the refugee crisis in 2015 & related syrian war, the Rohingya in Myanmar, Ukraine. That’s literally off the top of my head.

People who care about human rights ought to be able to think about more than one issue. That is the point.

We are in agreement on that. Human rights organizations like human rights watch and Amnesty international do think about more than one issue at a time but often the eyes of the world are just on one place at a time. When these conflicts hum on they tend to look elsewhere.