Saudi Arabia said Sunday it is ordering Canada’s ambassador to leave the country and freezing all new trade and investment transactions with Canada in a spat over human rights.
. . . .
And the ministry said Saudi Arabia is recalling its ambassador to Canada in a dispute that appears to be over a tweet on Friday from Global Affairs Canada.
“Canada is gravely concerned about additional arrests of civil society and women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia, including Samar Badawi. We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful human rights activists,” the Canadian tweet said.
The Saudi foreign ministry called the use of “immediately release” in Canada’s tweet “unfortunate, reprehensible, and unacceptable in relations between states.”
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/08/05/saudi-arabia-to-expel-can...
Saudis retaliate after Canada criticizes human rights violations
Some comments on the affair:
I should add that it's likely the Saudis would not have taken these steps without informing the Trump administration first.
Question is, will Canadians care? I don't think we should. They are too far away for a pipeline through Canada. I don't think we get any or maybe I think we don't get much of Saudi oil anyway. What are they going to sanction us with? Camels? Sand?
Eastern Canada does indeed import Saudi oil, but I think the bigger concern for Liberals is the prospect of them not buying weapons (er, "jeeps") anymore.
If you're going to say you have 'a feminist foreign policy', sooner or later you have to put up or shut up. We await a similar stand against Israel.
Eastern Canada does indeed import Saudi oil, but I think the bigger concern for Liberals is the prospect of them not buying weapons (er, "jeeps") anymore.
Yeah, notice, that's one thing they left out.
Eastern Canada does indeed import Saudi oil, but I think the bigger concern for Liberals is the prospect of them not buying weapons (er, "jeeps") anymore.
I have no idea what average Canadian could care any less about 'jeeps' The only thing I see is oil imports to Eastern Canada. We have own resources. Let's punish the Saudis with actions and not words. 'We don't need your oil' should have been the message.
Saudi Arabia is not Israel. If the same happened with Israel,the Liberals would pay a price. I personally don't understand why. Fuck Israel. But I think it would be easier for average shmoes to say Fuck Saudi Arabia. And I'll be the first to say it. These are the same people who cover up their women head to toe but have beauty pagents for camels. What's up with that?
“Canada is gravely concerned about additional arrests of civil society and women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia, including Samar Badawi. We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful human rights activists,” the Canadian tweet said.
I can't see a more harmless and somewhat generic tweet asking them to release political prisoners. I have no problem with that tweet,and it shouldn't be a problem with anyone else. Only a theocratic oligarchy would get offended. Oh,poor Saudis..My tears are creating oceans for you. pff Fuck the Saudis.
I don't think Freeland intended or anticipated this Saudi reaction. Now they'll either have to grovel or double down. I hope it's the latter not the former.
They could do neither.
They will grovel.
I believe it.
Maybe Trump is now doing tweets for them.
Just got word that indeed Saudis are telling their students (16,000+) in Canada to return home. Scholarships will be rescinded. This is awful for these students, many who are not likely to be in Canada over the summer but now scrambling with what to do with their lives. Unjust!
https://twitter.com/b_momani/status/1026460611713134594
If a government or kingdom whatever they call themselves,are that butt hurt over an innocuous tweet, I have to feel sorry for these Saudis that go back to that Monarchist-Theocracy. If they're going to blow things out of proportion why would we as a country want to associate with this Evolution mistake country? Do we really need anything from them that we can't supply ourselves?
Yes, but always remember, these Canadian allies were critical to funding NATO's jihadi allies, to slaughtering Syrians, the dismemberment of Syria and the now failed regime-change project.
A Bosnian Signs Off of Weapons He Says Are Going To Saudi Arabia - But How Did His Signature Turn Up in Aleppo? - by Robert Fisk
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-war-bosnia-saudi-arabia-alepp...
"The documents, some lying amid smashed guns and shrapnel, provided the most intriguing paper trail yet of just who is producing the weapons that have armed the Assad regime's most ferocious Islamist opponents. A Bosnian signs off weapons he says are going to Saudi Arabia, but how did his signature turn up in Aleppo?
Ifet Krnjic's account of the mortar shipment from BNT-TMIH in Bosnia is both precise and detailed. 'When the Saudis came to our factory to inspect at the beginning of 2016, there was a Saudi 'minister'...and some Saudi officers who also came to inspect the weapons before receiving them.
All our production after the Bosnian war is under the control of the Americans and NATO, who are always coming here...and they know each and every piece of our weapons which go outside our factory. Krnjic describes how he recognised NATO officers visiting the plant, one of them a Canadian officer, a black guy whose name is Stephen..."
The Global Coalition Against Daesh
http://theglobalcoalition.org/en/partners/
"77 Partners: Canada, Saudi Arabia..."
YOU are Saudi's 'partner' in these great crimes Canada.
I don't think Freeland intended or anticipated this Saudi reaction. Now they'll either have to grovel or double down. I hope it's the latter not the former.
I suspect you are wrong.
I believe that this is related to recent US sanctions on Iran and the increased Iranian military activity in the straight of Hormuz.
Canada sells oil! Canada wants pipelines to sell oil! Saudia Arabia Iran Venezuela Russia and the US are Canada's competition. Do you not see how Canada's relationship with all these countries have soured????
If Canada really cared about any kind of human rights outside of Canada, then why did they bomb Libya, support war/terror in Syria etc etc, killing innocent people? Do you really believe the Canadian government cares more about women's right in the ME than Canadian oil?
Tension has often flared between Saudi Arabia and its western allies over its foreign policy and human rights record.
In March 2015, Riyadh recalled its envoy to Sweden after the Swedish foreign minister criticised the treatment of Mr Badawi. The spat ended when the Swedish king sent a message to his Saudi counterpart.
More recently, German companies were excluded from bidding for major Saudi government contracts this year. Der Spiegel magazine said the ban was in response to criticism last year from Germany’s then foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel over the kingdom’s handling of Lebanon prime minister Saad Hariri’s resignation.
https://www.ft.com/content/44f94cde-9927-11e8-9702-5946bae86e6d
I don't think Freeland intended or anticipated this Saudi reaction. Now they'll either have to grovel or double down. I hope it's the latter not the former.
I suspect you are wrong.
[quote=NDPP]
We shall see...
Now deleted tweet:
After actually seeing the post,this person should be reported to CSIS immediately. It's not the kind of threat you should take lightly.
WWWTT wrote:
Canada sells oil! Canada wants pipelines to sell oil! Saudia Arabia Iran Venezuela Russia and the US are Canada's competition. Do you not see how Canada's relationship with all these countries have soured????
So, we should be against pipelines because they harm our relationships with countries that compete with us in the oil market? I guess we should just stop selling any product that other countries sell, so the whole world will like us?
Wow. Saudi Arabia is having a full anal prolapse over a tweet. Such babies!
Just got word that indeed Saudis are telling their students (16,000+) in Canada to return home. Scholarships will be rescinded. This is awful for these students, many who are not likely to be in Canada over the summer but now scrambling with what to do with their lives. Unjust!
https://twitter.com/b_momani/status/1026460611713134594
But, if we're being honest here, this is pretty much what would be happening were Canada to "boycott and sanction Saudi Arabia", as is advocated by many on this forum. Halting academic exchanges is pretty much part and parcel of any boycott, I'd say.
This surely cannot be the first time anyone's criticized SA's human rights record. Geez, how long have vagina-owners been allowed to drive a car there? Has it been a whole year?
What's the real reason for their meltdown?
Oh and notice what isn't being reported. That the existing multi-billion dollar contract for military vehicles will be honoured by both parties.
WWWTT wrote:
Canada sells oil! Canada wants pipelines to sell oil! Saudia Arabia Iran Venezuela Russia and the US are Canada's competition. Do you not see how Canada's relationship with all these countries have soured????
So, we should be against pipelines because they harm our relationships with countries that compete with us in the oil market? I guess we should just stop selling any product that other countries sell, so the whole world will like us?
I actually give a ratts ass what countries like us. Maybe you do? But probably not.
Point I'm making is that there seems to be a concentrated effort on Canada's part to start disputes with oil competing nations.
Justin's liberal colonial mentality approach to further gender equality in far away nations where Canada has zero jurisdiction is to further promote Canadian oil. And probably so Justin can make himself appear like a hero without really stepping on any toes here in Canada. After all really, if the liberals were more aggresive in promoting gender equality in Canada, they would probably piss of potential conservative close minded voters that vote liberal at times.
But don't argue with me, argue with the CBC
The silence when it comes to Canada's third-largest trading partner is telling. Rather than a sincere part of a principled stand against an authoritarian regime, calls to displace Saudi barrels instead use the Kingdom as a handy strawman.
"There's a clear kind of hierarchy, when you say Saudi oil is bad, but all the other oil we import is OK," said Dimitry Anastakis, a professor of Canadian economic history at Trent University. "There's a lot of rhetorical trickery and chicanery going on around this."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-pipelines-saudi-oil-imports-1.44...
Basically killing two birds with one stone.
Do you actually think Trudeau, Freeland, et al. are actually bright enough to engineer Quebec caving in to Energy East by sending a human rights tweet to Saudi Arabia? This seems far more Machiavellian than they would be capable of...
This surely cannot be the first time anyone's criticized SA's human rights record. Geez, how long have vagina-owners been allowed to drive a car there? Has it been a whole year?
What's the real reason for their meltdown?
New snowflake in charge.
Arab World Condemns Canada's 'Diplomatic Failure'
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1351841/saudi-arabia
"...Also on Monday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reaffirmed that the Palestinian people and leadership support Saudi Arabia. In his statement published by Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, Abbas expressed his total condemnation of Canada's blatant interference in Saudi Arabia's internal affairs, saying that he considers it a serious impingement on the sovereignty of the Kingdom. He called on Arab states to support the Kingdom by rejecting and condemning Canada's interference..."
Abbas is paid to administer Israeli oppression upon his own people. Which is why they voted for Hamas and chased his corrupt ass out of Gaza. He's also on the payroll of Saudi Arabia as well as USA, and most Palestinians can't wait for him to go.
Abbas is paid to administer Israeli oppression upon his own people. Which is why they voted for Hamas and chased his corrupt ass out of Gaza. He's also on the payroll of Saudi Arabia as well as USA, and most Palestinians can't wait for him to go.
Exactly. Abbas, incapable and unwilling to fight for the liberation of his own people - and with his ass stuffed full of Saudi and U.S. currency - dares to criticize Canada for taking a mildly democratic stand against Saudi violation of international conventions. Abbas really needs to go. Palestinians deserve much better.
I'm waiting to see how Canada justifies making and selling to Saudi Arabia machines that kill humans and their rights in both Yemen and Saudi Arabia while purporting to defend the human rights of the Badawi family. Seems a grotesque and completely unsustainable contradiction.
Abbas is a pathetic, corrupt puppet.
The State Department made its first comments on the dispute between Saudi Arabia and Canada in a statement to HuffPost that signaled the U.S. will not take sides.
“We are aware of Government of Saudi Arabia’s statement recalling the Saudi ambassador to Canada and expelling Canada’s ambassador,” a State Department official wrote in an email Monday afternoon. “Canada and Saudi Arabia are both close allies of the United States. I refer you to the Canadian and Saudi Ministries of Foreign Affairs for further information.”
Any word yet from Israel?
Do you think maybe Canada could delay deporting "Omar" back to Saudi Arabia, scheduled for tomorrow - leaving his wife and two young children here - and perhaps examine his refugee claim? Or could that be interpreted as being rude to our armaments customer Saudi Arabia?
Saudi man fears being separated from family as deportation looms
Interesting, if it is true:
Canada-Saudi relations have often been portrayed in the media in the last two, three, four years as quite good because of the sale of LAVs, the light armoured vehicles, for $15 billion.
In practice, in the last two years, relations have grown increasingly tense because Saudi Arabia viewed the LAV deal really as an investment ... to deepen relations with each other — deepen trade, deepen academic exchanges, scientific exchanges, security and defence co-operation and so on.
But that didn't happen, mostly because the Liberals really didn't want to be seen as deepening co-operation with such a brutal dictatorship.
That really frustrated the Saudis a lot and we just saw that boil over over the weekend.
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/it-s-a-bit-rich-for-saudi-arabia-to-...
Interesting, if it is true:
Canada-Saudi relations have often been portrayed in the media in the last two, three, four years as quite good because of the sale of LAVs, the light armoured vehicles, for $15 billion.
In practice, in the last two years, relations have grown increasingly tense because Saudi Arabia viewed the LAV deal really as an investment ... to deepen relations with each other — deepen trade, deepen academic exchanges, scientific exchanges, security and defence co-operation and so on.
But that didn't happen, mostly because the Liberals really didn't want to be seen as deepening co-operation with such a brutal dictatorship.
That really frustrated the Saudis a lot and we just saw that boil over over the weekend.
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/it-s-a-bit-rich-for-saudi-arabia-to-...
Well kudos to the Liberals for taking a stand to dictatorship. And good for them for trying to get this so called (We're not ISIS we're just an Islamic State) to clean up their human rights record. The Conservatives are more likely to service them than take a stand. What if we stopped doing business with Saudi Arabia? Would that bankrupt us?
I may be wrong but I dont think a significant chunk of our economy relies with the Saudis. Maybe maybe not.
Let's remember,ISIS and radical Islamists all practice Wahhabism. The same is practiced in SA who open up mosques all over the world to spread this murderous form of Islam.
I think the infamous tweet was very light handed and innocuous. And it was nice to see Canada try to free Raif Badawi and encourage them to improve their human rights in SA. That was a fair request if we're doing business with any country. SA need not worry,their tears will dry quickly in the Sahara sand.
I think Canada is right and I think the Saudis are butt hurt that a Western country would dare encourage their human rights record improve.
Of course they are a free and democratic country. Hell,they recently gave women the privilege of driving a car. How dare Ottawa rock the boat.
If only Canada could make a similar request to Israel. LOL! yeah right.
People (Canada) who live in glass houses (the way we treat Indigenous Peoples and poor people) shouldn’t throw stones. Canada needs to MYOB.
This surely cannot be the first time anyone's criticized SA's human rights record. Geez, how long have vagina-owners been allowed to drive a car there? Has it been a whole year?
What's the real reason for their meltdown?
I reckon we're being made a (cheap) example of. After all, the world has to be taught not to trifle with the Kingdom. Given that disciplining Qatar and stamping all over Yemen haven't gone too well, the leadersip must be feeling a bit frustrated.
People (Canada) who live in glass houses (the way we treat Indigenous Peoples and poor people) shouldn’t throw stones. Canada needs to MYOB.
You know what? If the NDP were the government they'd (rightly) do the same. Should they MTOB? Wait..let me answer my own question. Does your partisanship know no bottom? Apparently not.
Don't forget, (or deliberately ignore), that they are our allies in the US-led Global Coalition for regime change and the dismemberment of Syria to which Canada and Saudi both belong. And don't forget either, that it was their deep pockets that largely paid for the West's jihadi cut-throat proxies' efforts to mass murder a million Syrians or so and force several millions more to flee their country. So never forget some of that blood on Saudi hands must be shared by their partner Canada.
Robert Fisk wrote a couple of very interesting columns recently in which he tracks arms from a Bosnian weapons factory to Saudi buyers which went to Al Nusra terrorists in 2016, - the same butchers the 'White Helmets' auxiliaries, organized by Western intelligence agencies, used to hang with - in Aleppo. The Bosnian mortars were used to kill Syrians in government held areas, while starving and preventing the escape of the ones in theirs. Until it was liberated by our enemies Russia and the legitimate government of Syria, whereupon Syrians danced in the streets, and began truth-telling about Al Nusra and White Helmets that Canadians may not wish to hear, since it clashes somewhat with the Guardian version or the Globe and Mail.
Of particular interest to me was mention by the plant owner, that every transaction made was supervised by NATO and that one of the NATO officers he recalled was 'a Canadian named Stephen...'
Another 'partner' of Saudi, Al Nusra and Canada in the whole bloody business is mentioned here...
'Is Saudi Arabia Using ISRAELI technology in Efforts To Spy on Human Rights Defenders?'
People (Canada) who live in glass houses (the way we treat Indigenous Peoples and poor people) shouldn’t throw stones. Canada needs to MYOB.
Following that logic, since every country has committed some sort of human rights violation at one time or the other, I guess no one should speak out against genocide.
Syill yet to read how the liberal governemnt's comments are to actually help improve the lives of the Saudi people.
From what I see, a bunch of SA students that where to come to Canada to get advanced education to bring back to SA now won't be coming to Canada. That's a BIG missed opportunity to help educate people!!! But I think some posters here think it's better to just DICTATE to foreign countries how we want them to run their society. The apple doesn't fall far from the colonists tree.
liberals dropped the ball, again! Chalk this one up with Justins failed trip to China and India. This government is probably the worst ever at foreign diplomacy!
People (Canada) who live in glass houses (the way we treat Indigenous Peoples and poor people) shouldn’t throw stones. Canada needs to MYOB.
Following that logic, since every country has committed some sort of human rights violation at one time or the other, I guess no one should speak out against genocide.
Or maybe other countries aren't speaking loud enough about the blood on Canada's hands?
https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi/status/1026784740278456321
Saudi owned @AlArabiya is calling out Canada's persecution of prisoners of conscience, pointing to the case of Holocaust denier and Nazi sympathizer Ernst Zundel (!), who hasn't been in Canada anyway since getting extradited to Germany in 2005. Also he died last year.
https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi/status/1026961006172549120
So according to Saudi-owned @AlArabiya, other Canadian prisoners of conscience include @jordanbpeterson and @denisrancourt, "arrested due to their political beliefs"
ya i listened to a huge rant today about "bad Canadians"
https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi/status/1026972141726691330
This "Canadian human rights violations" infographic by Saudi-owned @AlArabiya says "75% of all prisoners died before their trial between 2015 and 2017"
https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi/status/1026932365208236032
Guest "expert" on Saudi television: Canada had the world's highest rates of persecution of women
ya i listened to a huge rant today about "bad Canadians"
I'm curious where you heard that, Ranting against Canada is like ranting about a glass of water. If the ranter (s) wasn't Saudi then they can fuck right off.