A recent UN report found that all sides in the conflict may have committed war crimes, including the Houthis. The group has been accused of indiscriminate fire in urban areas and of recruiting child soldiers who are as young as eight years old.

Through her personal situation, Badawi became a symbol of anti-male guardianship’s advocacy in Saudi Arabia, and is considered to be one of the “first women to petition Saudi authorities to allow women to drive, vote and run in municipal elections.” However, Women’s rights activists are perceived as dissident voices that defy MBS’ authority and portrayed as “traitors” in high-profile campaigns in Saudi media outlets and on social media, although they bring no immediate danger to the authorities.

Rather than ignoring Freeland’s tweet, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (also known as MBS) hit back hard. He expelled the Canadian ambassador, recalled the Saudi ambassador to Canada, froze all new trade, cancelled direct flights to Toronto, and ordered Saudi students and medical patients in Canada to finish their education and treatment somewhere else.

Canada’s relationship with Saudi Arabia is actually advantageous on several fronts. There’s no doubt navigating the relationship was tricky at times, but the alternative will be seriously detrimental to Canada if Saudi Arabia intensifies its aggressive measures against us.

The government aims to welcome 30 million visitors by 2030, compared to 18 million in 2016. According to the Tourism Information and Research Center website, tourist numbers have been rising over the past year. More than 28 per cent of tourists are now Saudi and the sector supports over 999,000 jobs. It is hoped that Increasing the number of festivals will bring the kingdom closer to the goals set out in Vision 2030. However, there are concerns that the kingdom may be spreading itself too thinly.

The only space that has not been bought or seized by MBS is social media. After the crown prince announced his Vision 2030, which he is undertaking to reduce the kingdom’s dependency on oil, there was much debate on social media about whether the vision is achievable.

The arrest comes at the same time that Saudi Arabia has detained a number of prominent women’s rights activists, ironically just ahead of the date set to lift the ban on women driving in the kingdom. The arrests of both the activists and al-Rashid have provoked an outcry from rights groups and a statement of concern from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, but so far international action has been limited.

Following the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, he claimed that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad was responsible for creating the radical jihadist al-Nusra Front. However, he remains politically active, despite confirming Taymour as his political heir in March 2017. For example, he blamed Saudi Arabia for the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in November 2017.

Women’s rights activists are ironically being punished for pushing the same agenda that led Saudi Arabia to lift the driving ban in the first place – and been praised internationally for it. However, the arrests are looking increasingly like a way to silence the activists in order to avoid having to give more rights to women.

While Saudi Arabia is normalizing its ties with Israel, the US still provides Israel with more than $3 billion annually in military aid. The coniuous builiding of illegal settelements, the move of the US embassy to Jerusalem and the killing of non-violent protestors in Gaza by the Israeli army, all these have killed the Arab Peace Initiative.