IAP Political Forum

As many of you know, Saudi women are not allowed to drive.

It seems they have had enough of this, and are now petitioning to change the law:

Saudi women fight gov't over right to drive (http://www.arabianbusiness.com/500422-saudi-women-demand-right-to-drive?ln=en)


I hope they get what they want, although I find it strange to petition for something as trivial as being allowed to drive  ??? :o

Strange country

I think that they just put the law in place to impede the movement of woman's rights. Hopefully this petition will see success, its cruel that woman's right are taken way to such an extent of not being able to drive. With that said it might not be trivial in the long run.

By trivial I meant that there are so many problems in this land and so many human rights violations and so many life and death issues that this seems trivial in comparison. If I had been there, my first petition would be to get rid of these suffocating clothes that cover everything but the eyes ;D Do you have any idea how hot it gets in summer in KSA? We got a sample in Lebanon this summer, it was suffocating.

Anyway, I think they should have started with something big and then "settled" for driving  ;)

It certainly is trivial, but I suppose change has to start somewhere.  If you think about it, it could be more important than it first appears.  Giving women the right to drive (to be honest, I didn't realize they were prohibited in the first place) gives them a bump up when it comes to independence.  Who knows where this might lead as the years tick by.  Maybe, as it becomes accepted, other things like voting rights may be just around the corner.  I'm not suggesting it will happen in six months, but change like that does take time.

I've said from the day I joined IAP (the old one, back in 2005) that the single most important movement in American history was the Women's movement.  It was more important than any war, any piece of legislation, or any technological revolution.  In fact, I'll guarantee that without women being treated as partners (and not property), the US would have never become a superpower. 

If you want to really know how to kick-start an economy and improve a nation's status in the world, you need look no further than your mothers, sisters, and daughters. 

I'm a woman Crypto  :)

With regards to this issue, it started some 17 years ago:


Source (http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=101256&d=16&m=9&y=2007&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom)

Can you imagine how long it will take them? They are not what you call dedicated activists  ;D

My brother was there a few months ago and he wanted to buy something for his wife but couldn't enter some shops because he didn't have a woman with him  ???

Without a total change in regime, all this is useless. It will take centuries before they can shake hands with a guy

I knew that.  I was just making the point that women's rights were a sure-fire way for a country to increase their prosperity.


17 years?  Wow, I didn't know that.  Change is never fast, but KSA is certainly moving at a snail's pace. 

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Sniffing the air, I scent Wahabi sect influence on this and most matters in the area!   

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Even respecting this prehistoric law, women should drive because you are not exposing yourself in public while driving.

Camels will be able to drive cars before Saoudi women are.

More likely to prevent them from being away from their "keepers", male relatives.

I still find it hypocritical that folks talk about woman's rights, but women today even in the Western world don't have equality. We still make 40 cents less for every dollar than men for the same job; still expected to be caregivers and keepers of the home; and still regarded as too "fragile" to defend ourselves and our country.

Saudia Arabian women can fight for their own rights, but until women in the Western world do so for their own, it is hypocritical to criticize another country/culture that isn't equally respectful to women.

AMEN!


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The law is not about a woman exposing herself. It is about the woman needing to have a male legal guardian with her in public at all times. So what is the point of driving if she has to have a man with her when she is driving  ??? he might as well do something useful and drive her around  ;D

It's funny because in europe it was traditionaly men who drove cars because they like to do it more than women. In Eastern europe it was even more accentuated and the "male driver" tradition was maintained until, roughly, the fall of the soviet union. Women wouldn't even try to have a driving license because that was the job of the man.

In arab countries everything that is vaguely a traditional habit seems to turn into a "4000 years old quranic law" (:)) .

what a perfect chance for the Yanks to make whole lot of noise about human rights and freedom and mobcracy and all sweet stuff. Surely Bush will not miss a golden oportunity to extend a helping hand to the victims of discrimination, and impose sanctions on the Kingdom. Just ask David Frum who wrote "The Right Man".

Not as perfect chance for you to have your usual bla bla,,, jealousy ain't a good thing,,, it is not pork fat...

que es tu problema, Zhenya? Saudi women want to drive, and I want them to drive. WHo can help them? The Yanks. So I'm saying, do smth about Saudi women, since u spend so much time talking about freedoms. We all know KSA is a repressive dustbin (besides being sell-out coward donkeys). There is no point in asking the mf King to give some rights to women. The only relevant agent here is the US>

just give the driving rights to ex pats wives....JK

Are there any other middle eastern nation states that forbid women behind the wheel?

Neo, you should know that women in a SUV with a Cellphone, no matter where, are a menace to society and I think the ME knows that!   ;)


Kindest regards
Terry

it's common in Islamic world

WORD.  Driving is a really big step, how about they focus on letting women go to the mailbox on her own.  BABY steps people!!

NO! ..Don't lower the bar. Did you realize how chauvinistic you sound?

I think you misunderstood. I was trying to say that women should be able to walk to the mailbox without an escort, before they gain the ability to drive.