Having upset The Sauds (by exposing the truth about The Kingdom's subjugation of women and medieval laws), and hurt relations with Saudi Arabia, Swedish foreign minister Margot Wallstrom has now made an enemy of another Middle-East nation. Israel has barred Wallstrom from entering their nation after she called for investigations into "extrajudicial killings" during recent violence.
As Ynet News reports, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom called on Tuesday for an investigation to determine whether Israel was guilty of extrajudicial killings of Palestinians during recent violence there, local media reported.
The comments were the latest in a series of statements by Wallstrom that have irked Israeli authorities. Ties between Sweden and Israel nose-dived when Sweden recognized the Palestinian state shortly after Wallstrom's center-left Social Democrats won a parliamentary election in 2014.
The rift then deepened further when she described the Palestinians' plight as a factor leading to Islamist radicalization.
"It is vital that there is a thorough, credible investigation into these deaths in order to clarify and bring about possible accountability," Wallstrom said during a parliamentary debate, according to news agency TT.
In response, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement: "The Swedish Foreign Minister has, in her reckless and ludicrous comments, buoyed terrorism and by so doing is encouraging violence."
Wallstrom publicly accused Israeli of "extrajudicial killings" in December during a discussion at the Swedish parliament about the ongoing wave of violence and terror attacks raging in Israel.
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven caused controversy in December when he said stabbing attacks were not considered terrorism.
And that has led to this:
Swedish foreign minister Margot Wallstroem barred from official visits, Swedish news agency TT reports, citing Israeli ministry of foreign affairs.
So it appears, migrant-friendly Sweden is slowly working its way around the Middle-East upsetting everyone... by "allegedly" telling the truth and asking the hard questions.
Which is odd, as we previously noted, Sweden is the world’s 12th largest arms exporter — quite an achievement for a country of just nine million people. Its exports to Saudi Arabia total $1.3 billion. Business leaders and civil servants are also aware that other Muslim-majority countries may follow Saudi Arabia’s lead. During the ‘cartoon crisis’ — a phrase I still can’t write without snorting with incredulity — Danish companies faced global attacks and the French supermarket chain Carrefour took Danish goods off the shelves to appease Muslim customers. A co-ordinated campaign by Muslim nations against Sweden is not a fanciful notion. There is talk that Sweden may lose its chance to gain a seat on the UN Security Council in 2017 because of Wallström.
To put it as mildly as I can, the Swedish establishment has gone wild. Thirty chief executives signed a letter saying that breaking the arms trade agreement ‘would jeopardise Sweden’s reputation as a trade and co-operation partner’. No less a figure than His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf himself hauled Wallström in at the weekend to tell her that he wanted a compromise. Saudi Arabia has successfully turned criticism of its brutal version of Islam into an attack on all Muslims, regardless of whether they are Wahhabis or not, and Wallström and her colleagues are clearly unnerved by accusations of Islamophobia. The signs are that she will fold under the pressure, particularly when the rest of liberal Europe shows no interest in supporting her.
Sins of omission are as telling as sins of commission. The Wallström non-affair tells us three things.
It is easier to instruct small countries such as Sweden and Israel on what they can and cannot do than America, China or a Saudi Arabia that can call on global Muslim support when criticised.
Second, a Europe that is getting older and poorer is starting to find that moral stands in foreign policy are luxuries it can no longer afford. Saudi Arabia has been confident throughout that Sweden needs its money more than it needs Swedish imports.
Finally, and most revealingly in my opinion, the non-affair shows us that the rights of women always come last. To be sure, there are Twitter storms about sexist men and media feeding frenzies whenever a public figure uses ‘inappropriate language’. But when a politician tries to campaign for the rights of women suffering under a brutally misogynistic clerical culture she isn’t cheered on but met with an embarrassed and hugely revealing silence.