Rights are Not Given, They are Taken→

Saudi activist Manal al-Sharif speaks to Emirates 24/7:

“The question should not be whether women will be ‘allowed because the Saudi Monarchy will never give away rights just like that,” she said.

“The question should be: will women ‘take’ the right to drive... my answer is yes, that right and bigger.. if they understand what led to losing their rights and stopped accepting their rights to being used by the system to please certain group of people in Saudi Arabia and here I mean religious establishment.. it's up to women not them.. women don't realize that yet.. once they do, they will win the struggle and set their own rules that everyone shall respect..”

Tied to Irrationality→

Saudi activist Manal al-Sharif on the controversial text alerts received by men when their dependents cross the border:

The reaction of a number of men and women on the Twitter to this service ranged between condemnation or denial in addition to too much cynicism.

Reading these tweets carefully, you will notice that the cynicism is not against the text messages themselves but rather against the rules and regulations that have further consolidated the position of inferiority of women and how they are being treated with suspicion and looked down upon.

Women are being treated as irresponsible and immature people no matter how old they may be. These regulations tie women to irrationality in a most provocative manner. This is evident in the system of civil affairs, travel documents and others.

The Princess Won’t Protest In The Street→

Princess Ameerah al-Taweel says it is up to the government to allow women to drive and that it is a decision that Saudi leaders should take. Speaking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Prince Alwaleed’s wife said Saudi women lack the “amazing lobby” that conservatives have. Women, she said, are not organized enough to exert pressure on the government to change its policies.

She makes some good points about the pace of change in the country and how “rights are not given, they are taken,” but she totally dodged Amanpour’s question on how her situation as a princess gives her protection to pursue her women empowerment effort.

“We are not going to protest in the street,” she said.

Manal al-Sharif probably does not want to protest in the street, either, if she had other means to gain her rights. Princess Ameerah talked about the lack of civil society but failed to mention that it is the government who is stifling the development of such society by dragging their feet on passing the civil society law.

Does the princess truly believe that she would be able to do the work she does at her husband’s foundation if they were not members of the royal family? ♦