Shalma El-Shebab arrived in Saudi Arabia in December 2020 to spend the holidays from the UK, where the dental hygienist and mother of two was studying for her PhD in Leeds. As soon as she landed, she was arrested for retweeting dissidents and activists who criticized the Saudi regime from her X account. He spent a year in prison awaiting trial. She was sentenced to six years in prison in this trial. There was a second trial without a lawyer before the appeal court: there she was sentenced to 34 years in prison. If he leaves the country, he will be banned from leaving the country for another 34 years. He was convicted of “destabilizing civil and national security” on the social network; Shalma El-Shebab had 2,600 followers there.
No, Rafa Nadal cannot be the first pure guardian of Western freedoms, examining, case by case, the shortcomings of every country that refuses to establish relations with him. But Shalma El-Shebab is not an anecdote, but the constant. This is data from Amnesty International: Women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to have a partner or marry without the permission of a man (father or guardian), nor can they divorce without their husband's consent (the husband can do this, and a more recent one Measure). allows you to communicate this via SMS as you could get divorced without warning); Without the permission of a man (usually the husband or father), they are not allowed to learn a profession, receive medical treatment or live alone without this permission. Since 2015, they have been able to vote and even start a business without a man's permission; They have been able to drive since 2018. And women over 21 can now travel abroad without their guardian's permission. Of course, be careful about what you tweet from abroad. As for homosexuality, homosexuality is punishable by death. Therefore, anyone who is homosexual must hide it at the risk of being tortured with a whip in a public place, imprisoned or executed by the state. As of 2019, feminism, atheism and homosexuality are officially “extremist ideas”.
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Rafa Nadal, an informed man, knows these things. In 2017, the Icon supplement of EL PAÍS published a report entitled “How is it possible that all Spaniards like Nadal?” 30 sentences that could explain it. The 30 sentences were not easy. Nadal spoke about the Catalan independence movement, about an investigation that the Treasury Department opened in 2012 against some of his companies, about the behavior of politicians in Congress, about the conflict that arose with Gala León, captain of the Davis women's team in 2015. But in the end it works out – on the whole – well. Seven years later, he is already a legend in life, considered one of the greatest athletes in history and someone who extraordinarily protects what he cannot win with a racket or with money: the affection of millions of fans, his extraordinary reputation as a role model tennis player , with impeccable behavior, supportive, generous, attentive; These are not baseless adjectives: ask any worker at the track, tennis player or not.
What makes a personality like him announce an agreement with Saudi Arabia? At what point do you not think that he or Rahm or Cristiano or Benzema are not happy instruments for legitimizing the aspirations of the third dictatorship in the world, where the death penalty is imposed most often, one of the countries where freedom of expression is most restricted? ? , sexual freedom, human rights? If it's not about money (insert unique emoji) then why choose this country and not another where there are so many children, probably fewer resources and your face and name don't serve as propaganda for an ultra-religious dictatorship in which is it like that? Is it unbearable to live when you don't look like Rafa Nadal?
The Spanish tennis player, probably sunk in his final year on the circuit, an epic assault, didn't need that; not exactly him, who is already a symbol, for whom this connection puts him in the delicate position of a person who can only defend himself by telling the truth (it's about money, it's about business), and he can do that not even. Just on the weekend that Toni Kroos was booed by a competition that was sold to the dictatorship, Rubiales and Piqué willingly because they did not lend themselves to the farce that everyone knows is a farce, and that through The wrapping of banknotes is silent: that Saudi Arabia has so much money that you can buy almost anything, including the things we want most. A country (a regime) that landed a tennis player who always flaunted his aversion to extremes and ended up promoting the worst of them all.
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