(from 1,000 Lashes; Because I Say What I Think by Raif Badawi [Edited by Constantin Schreiber and Translated by Ahmed Danny Ramadan)
". . . Many of those who judge liberalism are ignorant about what it really means. They try to advertise liberalism as a line of thinking that rejects religion, somehow suggesting liberalism is a religion of its own. This cannot be further from the truth. . . Many of these people are reluctant to accept anything modern. They loather anything that gives humans their right to freedom. They fear this will pull the carpet from underneath the clerics, whose sole trade is in buying people's minds. They continue to promote liberalism as moral decay and degeneration. . . "
. . . Not unlike our Hannities, Coultors and Limbaughs. . .
. . . the facade . . . a 'friend' of the USA? . . .
(from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/09/17/for-wife-of-imprisoned-saudi-blogger-raif-badawi-its-a-life-of-waiting/)
". . . “It’s a life of waiting,” said Ensaf Haidar, whose husband, Raif Badawi, a blogger who has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for almost four years. . . lives in exile in Canada with their three young children . . . is in Washington this week, meeting with members of Congress and officials at the State Department trying to persuade the U.S. government to put more effort into seeking her husband’s release. . . Badawi . . . was sentenced in 2014 to ten years in prison and 1,000 lashes, along with a fine of more than $250,000, for criticizing Saudi Arabia’s powerful religious and political leaders on his Saudi Liberal Network Web site. “He is just a blogger,” said Haidar . . . a tiny woman whose speech is careful and contained, and without any trace of anger. “He has been away from his kids and his family for four years, and there is no valid reason for that. He’s just a very peaceful writer.” Badawi received the first 50 of his lashes in January in a public square outside a mosque in the port city of Jiddah. A video posted on YouTube showed him standing silently as a police officer struck his back and legs with a wooden cane and onlookers cheered “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great.” Saudi officials said the lashings would continue, 50 every Friday for the following 19 weeks. . . Saudi officials have told rights groups to back off. Some, including Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, the former longtime Saudi ambassador to the United States, have criticized “outside interference” by rights groups and the media in the Badawi case. . . "
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(from http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/saudi-arabia-could-resume-flogging-raif-badawi-human-rights-watch-n373541)“. . . Saudi Arabia could resume flogging an activist as early as Friday after the country's Supreme Court upheld its sentence of 1,000 lashings and 10 years in prison, according to a human-rights group. Raif Badawi, 31, was convicted in 2013 of setting up a liberal website that Saudi officials said insulted religious authorities in the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom. The blogger's sentence was condemned by the United States, the United Nations and others. The State Department called it a "brutal punishment" and said Badawi had merely been "exercising his rights to freedom of expression and religion.". . . ”
The State Department seems to have overlooked the fact that in Saudi Arabia, no one has rights to freedom of expression and religion. Couldn't they (we) have said (done) MORE!!????
OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak. Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com
My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak
(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)
(from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33039815) ". . . Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court has upheld the sentence of 1,000 lashes and 10 years of imprisonment on blogger Raif Badawi, despite a foreign outcry. Speaking from Canada, his wife Ensaf Haidar told the BBC she feared his punishment would start again on Friday. Badawi was arrested in 2012 for "insulting Islam through electronic channels". Saudi authorities sent his case for review amidst global protests, after the first round of lashes in January. For four years Badawi ran the Liberal Saudi Network, which encouraged online debate on religious and political issues. Ms Haidar said she had held high hopes that her husband was about to be released, but he remained less optimistic. When they last spoke three days ago he told her not to expect him home in the near future. She called on the countries and rights groups that had campaigned for her husband's release to mobilise once more. Amnesty International activists held a protest demanding the release of blogger Raif Badawi in front of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Berlin on 22 May 2015 Protests were held following Badawi's first flogging by the kingdom Badawi received his first 50 lashes in January, but subsequent floggings have been postponed. A shaky video taken on a mobile phone showed Badawi being lashed by a member of the security forces. The footage prompted international protests which were repeated every Friday, the scheduled day for the beatings. In March, the kingdom expressed "surprise and dismay" at international criticism over the punishment. At the time, the foreign ministry issued a statement saying it rejected interference in its internal affairs. It is not clear why Badawi has not yet endured a second round though a medical report found he was not fit for the punishment. Saudi Arabia enforces a strict version of Islamic law and does not tolerate political dissent. It has some of the highest social media usage rates in the region, and has cracked down on domestic online criticism. . . "
OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak. Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com
My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak
(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)
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