Can you expand on land back, in the context of the contiguous united states? I placed the quotations becausethese countries used to be settler colonies, yes. They are now, however, racially/ethnically/socioeconomically diverse sovereign nations with democratic republic systems of government, not colonies. Every single country in the history of earth has a track record with human rights abuses and horrific social practices. I'd argue that CURRENTLY Saudia Arabia is a particularly clear example of practiced modern day slavery, radical abuses of women/lgbtq+ people, state sponsored murder of journalists, state sponsored murder based on speech and operates under a completely antiquated form of government in the form of a monarchy. Said monarchy is the body that paid for this show to happen. Track records are one thing, CURRENT conditions are another entirely.
If a cabal of random billionaires hosted the festival, yes people would still be upset. I think people are significantly more upset that its being hosted by the leadership.
It has nothing to do with religion for me personally. Its about the reported slave labor, journalist killings, lack of rights for women and the countries connection to 9/11. Saying the US is killing people doesn't help or clarify anything. It's disingenuous and attempts to dismiss a legitimate criticism. Also, like I said, I'm genuinely not "above" consuming media from a country I think is bad. I haven't missed a UFC event in more than a decade. That company does shitty things but they don't really lie about them. The comedians I'm concerned with have made their careers (in some cases) talking about completely antithetical ideas/topics to Saudia Arabian media, culture and journalism.