And That Is How History Is Made
Mody Al-Khalaf, mody.alkhalaf@gmail.comLast week, Raid Qusti wrote yet another article about women and elections. This was not the first time he tackled the issue, making it clear to all of us, again, that he agrees with the government’s decision to exclude women from participating in the first municipal elections ever to be held in Saudi Arabia. Despite the many letters I had received from female (and even some male) readers countering his arguments in several articles, I have thus far declined because I truly feel the topic has been exhausted. This time, however, I must agree that something must be said.
With all due respect to all those who argue that it is fine to exclude women because Saudi Arabia is “differentâ€, they are missing a crucial point. Of course, Saudi Arabia is different; of course, we are like no other country in the world; and of course, there are many obstacles in the face of women nominating themselves for political positions. That is our main problem. That is why we need to change. That is precisely why it was crucial to give women a chance to revolutionize all that is “different†about us in a perfectly acceptable way. With one bold decision, the government could have given the chance to seven courageous women to change history forever.
Wow!
Mody Al-Khalf, one of the best writters at Arab News takes great exception to an article earlier this month about women and the elections. She does an excellent job in dissecting Raid Qusti’s piece and pointing out the one–very big–thing he’s missing:
Change does not come without courage to make change.
Read this article!
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
February:19:2005 - 00:26
John, nice post and a very interesting article.
Women breaking through these barriers in Saudi Arabia is fascinating, especially given the distance they’ve had to come to get just this far. I was in Saudi Arabia for three months in 1990, in the lead up to the Gulf War. Foreign military forces were everywhere, especially American. Our women were not restricted because we don’t do that. They were seen driving vehicles, wearing uniforms with their faces visible, carrying weapons, walking alone in the streets or with men obviously not their relatives, and many were obviously in positions of authority. I think it would be hard to maintain that U.S. presence in the region is not pushing Arab Muslim societies toward greater freedom and democracy, which is that this article is all about. Our presence in Iraq today, and the recent successful election, continues the trend throughout the region.
February:19:2005 - 00:26
Tom: I agree that the presence of American female military was a real eye-opener for tens of thousands of Saudis. Those who had never left the country saw women in an entirely new light.
The deep penetration of satellite TV into the country has also provided good–and not so good–examples of women in different roles, roles that Saudi women didn’t always consider for themselves.
February:19:2005 - 00:26
SAUDI WOMAN COUNTERS NO-VOTE ARGUMENT
John Burgess at Crossroads Arabia posts an article from Arab News written by a woman that counters arguments against women’s suffrage.
Last week, Raid Qusti wrote yet another article about women and elections. This was not the first time he tackled t…
February:19:2005 - 00:26
[...] ast Saudi Arabia —
SAUDI WOMAN COUNTERS NO-VOTE ARGUMENT
John Burgess at Crossroads Arabia posts an article from Arab News written by a wom [...]
February:19:2005 - 00:26
Saudi Concerns
Mary notes, with much justification, that Saudi funding of hate literature continues unabated (really, go read her whole piece).
To be clear, it is not …
February:19:2005 - 00:26
well, I,left Islam years ago but never full admitted it publically