As the United States and its allies were mounting a global public awareness campaign pointing out the atrocities of the Assad regime in Syria (supported by Russia), as the mainstream Western press lambasted the repression of the incumbent Syrian army explosive efforts against various neighborhoods and towns around the country, the Russian press, particularly that Russian Television (RT) news channel that is carried by cable and satellite providers even in the U.S., was busy carrying stories about “brutal repression” inflicted on women and minorities by the Saudi monarchy (supported by the U.S.). They have been trying to convince the world that America and the West are hypocritical monsters that dare not antagonize a mega-wealthy nation with massive oil reserves… but have no problem lambasting a regime fighting for its life with little more than a couple of oil pipelines linking them to the petroleum industry.
Saudi Arabia is a deeply conservative nation. In addition to deep tribal roots where the role of women in society is severely defined, the fundamentalist Wahhabi interpretation of Sunni Islam and the strictest application of raw and violent Sharia law is embedded in both the culture and the legal system. Thieves face the public and unanesthetized chopping off of a hand, adulterers face public stonings, and public executions often draw large crowds. Women are seen as a combination of opposites: both temptresses and submissives in dire need of protection from a male dominated society.
Segregation of the sexes in Saudi Arabia is extreme. Women must be appropriately covered so as not to draw the lewd passions of passing me. When they attend schools, they are in all-girl classes taught by women. They need to be accompanied in public by a male member of their family, and they are simply not permitted, more by enforced religious and cultural mandate than statute (but equally strongly), to drive. There are no acceptable excuses to put a woman behind the wheel, none!
“When it comes to women’s rights, Saudi Arabia remains one of the most restrictive countries in the world. So-called guardianship laws mean that a woman cannot marry, work or travel abroad without the consent of a male relative…. The government does not issue [driver’s] licenses to women, and women have been detained or fired from their jobs for driving in the past. In an effort to at least respect traffic laws, the driving campaign restricted itself to women with licenses obtained abroad.” New York Times, October 26th.
On October 25th, a small group of traditionally garbed women defied government warnings and set out in the family automobile. “Many posted videos of themselves doing so to spread the word… ‘We are looking for a normal way of life,’ Madiha al-Ajroush, 60, a psychologist, said in an interview in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, ‘for me to get into my car and do something as small as get myself a cappuccino or something as grand as taking my child to the emergency room.’
“The public call for women nationwide to drive on [October 26th] was the latest push in a decades-old effort by a small group of activists to exercise what they see as a fundamental human right. Saudi Arabia, a hereditary monarchy, is the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive.
“The fact that the activists have been at it for so long without creating a mass movement or any change in government policy underlines the power of tradition in Saudi society and the tremendous political clout of social conservatives who fear that Westernization or anything that looks as if it will detract from the kingdom’s Islamic character, even though malls, high-end shops and fast-food outlets cover the Saudi landscape.” NY Times.
The thought of women driving by themselves drives Saudi conservatives crazy. “[Recently,] hackers broke into the campaign’s Web site, posting insults aimed at a prominent activist and a video in which a man identified as a Zionist calls for women to drive — implying that Saudi’s enemies see this as a way to weaken the kingdom… Religious figures have also weighed in… One prominent sheik, Nasser al-Omar, led a delegation of more than 100 sheiks to the royal court in Jeddah to appeal to the king against ‘the conspiracy of women driving,’ as he said in a video posted online.
“Another cleric, Sheik Mohammed al-Nujaimi, described the campaign as a ‘great danger,’ saying it would lead to ruined marriages, a low birthrate, the spread of adultery, more car accidents and ‘the spending of excessive amounts on beauty products… The learned have banned women from driving cars because of the political, religious, social and economic problems it entails,’ Sheik Nujaimi warned in a statement.” NY Times.
Saudi Arabia is trying to find its own path. As of 2011, less than 15% of the Saudi workforce were women. Look at their new “university,” for example. And yes, we do have colleges just for women in the West as well. But Saudi Arabia recently built the largest all-woman campus on earth. All-women! “Princess Nora Bint Abdulrahman University (PNU) is gigantic, especially considering that all of the buildings were constructed in just one year. Most campuses are built piecemeal over many years… The 32-million square foot campus contains sports facilities (where students can attend female-only sporting events in addition to participating in athletic activities), a medical center, a health sciences and research center, and a K-12 school. While it was designed for an initial enrollment of 25,000, the university has the capacity to take up to 60,000 students--more than the total number of female postsecondary students in the country, as of 2009.” FastCompany.com, October 29th.
Change comes slowly to this rich land, not fast enough for American sympathizers supporting women’s rights, too fast for the old line constituency that still rules. But change, however repressed, will eventually claim even this conservative nation. It is hard for those of us in the West to understand this harsh code, born of struggling to survive in an unyielding desert. How do you feel about this war between tradition and freedom, and how would you balance the factions if at all? Should the U.S. continue to back its long-standing Saudi ally?
I’m Peter Dekom, and the world needs to learn to live in peace and harmony even with such diametrically different belief systems.
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