DC Trawler

Which Country Treats Muslim Women Worse: America Or Saudi Arabia?

deedra_abboud
Jim Treacher Blogger
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Deedra Abboud is a Democrat in Arizona who’s running against Senator Jeff Flake. She’s also a Muslim. Yesterday she put up a Facebook post praising America’s separation of church and state. And, because it’s the Internet, she got a lot of hateful comments.

Here are a few, courtesy of Laurie Roberts at the Arizona Republic:

Here’s S. Jason Parr: “Nice try but your first love is Satan (AKA Allah) and your second love is to a litter box your ‘people’ come from. You are as American as Chinese checkers*…”

Let’s hear from Tony Madden: “I bet you’ll be a BLAST with constituents.”

Here’s Brian Zappa: “How about go $#%# yourself. Towel headed piece of $#^%…”

And from Vik Odinson: “I say do whatever you have to do kickstart We people of the USA to finally rise against you and your ilk.”

Oh, just one more, from Chris Ruen: “BAN ISLAM IN THE USA…WE HATE YOUR FILTHY DEATH CULT.”

Well, that stinks. Those people shouldn’t be mean to that woman. She’s an American and she has the same rights as anybody else, regardless of race or religion or what she wears on her head.

But let’s keep this in perspective. It’s no fun to put up with mean comments on the Internet, but life for a Muslim woman could be a lot worse. Grace Carr reports:

A Saudi woman was arrested by Riyadh police after she sent out a video of herself wearing a crop top and mini skirt Tuesday.

The woman was arrested for wearing “suggestive clothing” while walking through the ancient fort “Ushayqir,” according to Saudi state television station Al Ekhbariya.

The woman violated Islamic dress that is strictly enforced in Saudi Arabia, dictating that women wear a full cloak and a hijab…

Yeah, but did they call her names on Facebook?

You shouldn’t be cruel to Deedra Abboud or any other Muslim. You can criticize her religion, but as long as you both live in America, you have to tolerate it. That’s part of the deal.

But the government isn’t locking Abboud up. She’s not being oppressed for trying to be free. I mean, she’s actually running for public office. She’s free to do that in America! And yet she’s a victim now, because of a few faceless jerks?

If Abboud decided to take off her hijab, which country would have a bigger problem with it?

America is not The Handmaid’s Tale. Saudi Arabia is.

*Chinese Checkers is actually a German game called Sternhalma, a variation on the American game Halma. And Sternhalma was renamed Chinese Checkers by an American company. So it’s pretty damn American. But forget it, S. Jason Parr is rolling.