West Goes Silent on Arab Press Crackdown

In a new article, Khaled Abu Toameh draws attention to the case of a Saudi journalist sentenced to 50 lashes. But why has this story been ignored in the West?

Palestinian journalist Khaled Abu Toameh asks:

Can anyone imagine the reaction if Israel had sentenced a journalist to 50 lashes for writing an 'instigating report'?

Well of course we can't, since Israel of course is a country of the rule of law and freedom of the press. But it happened in Saudi Arabia. According to Toameh,

a journalist was recently sentenced to 50 lashes for allegedly instigating protests against a government electricity company following a series of power cuts.

Toameh then comments:

The verdict has drawn little attention in the West and prominent organizations that claim to defend freedom of the media have yet to voice their opinion on this matter. ... Had the poor journalist been sentenced by an Israeli court, his case would have made it to the front pages of the mainstream media in Europe and North America.

Toameh concludes:

Such practices against the media have always been commonplace in the Arab world. But the feeling among Arab journalists is that the Arab dictators have decided to step up the campaign against the media. As long as the West continues to turn a blind eye to such practices, independent and brave journalists will become an endangered species in the Arab world.