Following the suspected assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashouggi, several debaters are demanding an end to Swedish arms exports to Saudi Arabia. Other debaters wonder where Sweden's commitment and responsibility for Antarctica has gone.
Both Dagens ETC and Expressen write about how Sweden has been surprisingly silent regarding the protection of Antarctica, despite the fact that Sweden has a long tradition of being a sea-protecting nation. The debaters, who are all from Greenpeace, mention how Antarctica is one of the places where climate change risks catastrophic consequences, but how it is once again about protecting fishing rights and the economy instead of the state of the oceans for future generations.
In another debate article, also in Dagens ETC, Linda Andersson from Vi-skogen focuses on the importance of planting trees - through the agricultural method agroforestry - as part of a functioning climate policy. Tree planting for small-scale agriculture and farmers not only provides safer harvests and more fertile soil but also leads to more sustainable food production and should be seen as part of eradicating hunger according to Agenda 2030. Furthermore, it is pointed out how little Swedish aid treats agroforesty despite the proven good effect it has on our climate.
Another case that has received a great deal of media attention is the suspected murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
In the Gothenburg Post, Agnes Hellström from Svenska Freds writes about how Sweden must see the assassination of Khashoggi as a turning point for Swedish arms exports to dictatorships. The debater believes that we must not forget which major exporter Sweden is to Saudi Arabia and addresses the issue of the business community's demands for good trade relations, despite reports that repeatedly point to human rights violations and repeated murders of journalists. The assassination of Khashoggi should be the last straw to sell weapons to dictatorships such as Saudi Arabia, says Agnes Hellström.
Svenska Dagbladet's editorial pages also draw attention to the murder of Khashouggi, but the writer believes that it is now time to focus the spotlight on what Saudi Arabia is doing in Yemen. Saudi Arabia is carrying out recurring airstrikes which, according to the UN, risk leading to a new famine catastrophe and there is talk of a new humanitarian catastrophe. The outside world should therefore continue with exactly what Khashoggi did in the Washington Post: to criticize Saudi Arabia's behavior in Yemen even after the front-page news of the assassination cools down.
Sweden's relationship with Saudi Arabia
Let the assassination of Khashoggi be the end of shameful arms exports
Agnes Hellström, Gothenburg Post
Child murder in Yemen
Janerik Larsson, Svenska Dagbladet
The outside world must stop petting Saudi Arabia
Dagens Nyheter
The naked truth about Saudi Arabia
Per Gudmundson, Svenska Dagbladet
The climate
Sweden does not take its environmental role seriously
Lena Endre and Frode Plym, Expressen
It's time for Antarctica to be on the map again
Frida Bengtsson, Dagens ETC
Demand trees from your employer and politicians
Linda Andersson, Dagens ETC
The war in Afghanistan
The war in Afghanistan is not about rebuilding the country
Anders Ferm, Lars-Gunnar Liljestrand, Thage G Peterson and Maj Britt Theorin, Göteborgs-Posten
Sweden's efforts in Afghanistan are important
Maria Nilsson, Gothenburg Post
It is a shame that Sweden is participating in the Afghanistan war
Anders Ferm, Lars-Gunnar Liljestrand, Thage G Peterson and Maj Britt Theorin, Göteborgs-Posten
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