The sale of arms to Saudi Arabia:
approved.
Armoured vehicles bound for the
National Guard,
protecting a pattern of tyranny and
human rights abuse.
Also on the export list:
education.
A male-only campus
in the city of Jazan
– owned and operated by
Ottawa’s Algonquin College –
offering math, English, and
engineering programs.
Training the regime’s technocrats.
And even:
potatoes.
Rich in starch,
potassium,
magnesium.
Nourishing solders,
security forces,
possibly even members of the
royal family.
Perhaps that’s what friends do.
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)
