Before we begin. Saudi Arabia is a terrible country. They have abysmal human rights. Their female population is persecuted. LGBTQ+ rights? Fuggedaboutit. And most recent of all, the heinous crime of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. There is no justification for any of this. It is completely and utterly terrible and indefensible.
That being said.
All the additional outrage that I hear regarding Saudi Arabia is complete and utter bullshit.
One of the major narratives of the Joshua Ruiz rematch has been the location, Saudi Arabia. And with good reason, many listed above. However, the cynic in me has a very hard time reading through the comments on Twitter, and feeling like all of this concern comes from a very sincere place.
Let’s start with the anti-Muslim racism in many posts. Yes. Saudi Arabia is a heavily Muslim country. Yes, women cover up there. And I am of the opinion that if a woman is forced to cover up, it is wrong. Straight up wrong. However………. There are many women in Western countries who wear the hijab out of choice. It is a sign of their faith. Many religions have similar clothing requirements. In Canada, one of candidates for Prime Minister wore a turban. Now, I am not saying that the women in Saudi Arabia compare to the man wearing the turban in Canada, BUT… Western women who chose to wear a hijab can be a similar comparison. Does anyone call out this man in a turban for being oppressed by refusing to show his hair in public? No. So when a western reporter, Michelle Phelps, receives thousands upon thousands of vitriolic and racist messages condemning her and her choice to respectfully dress in the traditional garb of the country she is visiting, yes, there is an anti-Muslim racist element to the hatred.
Oof. Bet you’re pissed now. Welp, I’m just heating up, so if you are a sadist, please continue.
Next. We need to appreciate the world is fucked. So fucked in fact, that when things improve, we really gotta respect that. And these massive sporting events in Saudi Arabia are moving things forward. Ever so god damn slightly. For example, when the WWE went to Saudi Arabia, they received massive backlash. However, they were also the first female wrestlers to perform in the history of Saudi Arabia. In 2018 the Saudis allowed women to drive, and in 2019 they relaxed guardianship rules on women. What changed? Did they suddenly realize they should respect women? Probably not. You know what makes the loudest sound in the world? DOLLAR DOLLAR BILLS Y’ALL. And that’s what these prestige events are, dollar fucking bills. And if Saudi wants to keep getting them, guess what they gotta do? Take a fucking couple steps into the god damn 21st century. So instead of shaming these boxers, who go to this country, for “selling out to the devil” as some idiotic twitter posters put it, should we not for one second appreciate that the star power of these individuals is what allows these high profile events to be hosted in a country that needs to improve if it wants to continue putting tourists in the seats? Is this not the economic power of sports driving the world on a glacial pace to being better? Female reporters will be at this event. If this had happened 20 years ago, I don’t think that would have been the case. And if Saudi had refused, I truly believe that Matchroom and DAZN would have said blow, and Saudi would have lost out on the opportunity to host the most anticipated fight of the year. You know why? Cuz progressive politics pays the bills baby. And they would have received so much backlash, the event wouldn’t have made economic sense. So let’s at least take Joshua and Ruiz out of the equation for going to this event. They didn’t choose it. And actually them being there gives Saudi Arabia incentive to modernize. So fuck you.
Now. One, if one knew me, might bring up the point of Israel here, and say “Wait a minute you fucker, you are pro BDS. What is your fucking deal you hypocritical shit?! Don’t those arguments equally support artists performing in Israel by raising awareness about the issues going on there” And I might say, and this is completely my own opinion, but I truly believe it is ideologically worse to persecute a group of people based on their race, or ehtnic origin than it is to persecute your own people through archaic laws and rules. The Israelis are participating in apartheid against the Palestinians. There is no incentive to modernize. Almost any westerner can go to Israel if you want. They don’t fucking need to impress you. They are living a priveleged life over there and you can go enjoy. They don’t have to change any laws to make you feel more comfortable. If you’re not a Palestinian, you’ll do fucking fine. This is not the case in Saudi Arabia. They need you. They know their oil is running out. They need to build the tourism industry. And if you feel threated by the way they treat women, you ain’t going and they are beginning to learn that, hence the recent legislative changes. Anyway. That’s why it’s not the same. If you do not agree, fine, probably stop reading.
FINAL POINT
Bob Arum this week announced that Top Rank would be promoting a show in the first quarter in China. WHERE WAS THE FUCKING OUTRAGE!? China is currently silencing millions of protestors in Hong Kong as they strive for freedom? Do you internet fucks not even care? How about this. CHINA HAS FUCKING CONCENTRATION CAMPS FOR UYGHUR MUSLIMS.
Does this not register on your rage-o-meter? The fact that China is compiling DNA from these people in order to come up with a facial recognition platform that can single them out in crowds. But throwing a major boxing event there is fine? Fuck, even the NBA got more heat than Arum did. If you give a single shit about Saudi you bet give an equal number of shits about China cuz I’m not sure how fucking different they would score on a human rights fuckery level.
Saudi Arabia does terrible things. They literally murdered a journalist. No one is denying that. But these sporting events are changing the rules literally as they go. Do you think the event in China is going to do any good in raising awareness about the Uyghur Muslims? I fucking don’t. We need to at least acknowledge that there is bullshit everywhere. Fuck. I watched The Report on the weekend and honestly the US seem pretty on par with everyone else in the “what in the absolute fuck” brutality scale and your president is a racist piece of shit.
In conclusion, Saudi Arabia is a terrible country but all this extra vitriol that is equally deserved by many other countries is probably fueled by anti-Muslim racism and the US literally had a Muslim ban so how hard is that to understand and go fuck yourself.