The Ukraine Crisis: A Terrorism of Thoughts and Ideas
Al-Arabiya, Saudi Arabia, March 14
When we look at the events unfolding in Ukraine, two immediate statements come to mind. The first is “truth is the first victim of war,” and the second is “if you are not with me, then you are against me.” I’m saying this because we have found ourselves in a delicate and fragile situation where anyone articulating a position or stance that even slightly differs from the Western, American position is immediately marked as a “traitor.” Indeed, what we’re witnessing is a new era of McCarthyism, or what I prefer to describe as the “terrorism of thoughts and ideas.” The West, through its private companies that claim to be fair and balanced, has been seeking to restrict and silence any voices that contradict its political stance. Russian citizens have been cut off from the rest of the world without being given a chance to express their views. In an effort to impose collective punishment on the Russian people, Russian businesses have been harassed regardless of their exact position on the crisis. Take, for example, Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea Football Club, who experienced an arbitrary asset freeze, travel ban, and even restrictions on the business his football club can conduct in the US. Even respected pundits like Thomas Friedman, who has long defended freedom of opinion and concepts of liberalism, demanded the expulsion of Russian children from their schools in Switzerland and elsewhere, under the pretext of putting pressure on their country’s government! The events of the past few weeks have taught us that the idea of free trade and its supposed detachment from politics is completely fake. Companies in the fields of oil, gas, entertainment, technology, finance, retail, automobiles and food, in addition to consulting companies and others, cannot simply withdraw from a certain market by chance. Giants such as Apple, Nokia, Airbus, Google, Nike, Netflix and McDonald’s have all left Russia because they were ordered to do so by Western governments. This entire approach of acting as a party to the crisis, and the attempt to demonize and paralyze all Russians, stands in clear contradiction to the values that many of these companies claim to espouse and promote. This demonstrates the importance of local platforms for a country’s national security, in order to avoid being blackmailed by technology companies. The events unfolding around us are forcing us to reconsider all the values and positions that Western countries are trying to promote, especially in the realm of human rights. Let’s not forget how quickly those promoting freedom of expression – those who preached to us about representation and political participation during the Arab Spring – have chosen to silence the voices of millions of people who simply disagreed with their political stance. When the dust of war settles, we will still remember the hypocrisy of these players. – Salman Al-Dossary (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)
