In The Blasphemy Brigade, TCF senior fellow Michael Wahid Hanna takes a look at the hypocrisy of Saudi and Egyptian officials walked arm in arm with the unity marchers in Paris:

On Sunday, as millions marched in France to honor those killed following last week’s terrorist atrocity on the satirical magazine,Charlie Hebdo, the Saudi state minister for foreign affairs, Nizar bin Obaid Madani, joined the more than 40 world leaders gathered in Paris. The timing was awkward: On Friday, Saudi Arabia proceeded with its scheduled lashing for liberal blogger Raif Badawi, who was previously convicted of insulting Islam and was sentenced, on appeal, to 10 years imprisonment, 1,000 lashes, and a 1 million Saudi riyal fine (roughly $266,000). The lashes are to be administered over a period of 20 weeks, with Friday’s public flogging of 50 lashes being the first.

Read the rest of the article here.