‘Thorny’→

/

Badriya al-Bisher on women driving in light of the recent statement by Saudi Justice Minister:

It is truly a thorny issue because it is similar to the mystery of whether the egg or the chicken came first. How can you issue a violation permit against a citizen for not having a driver’s license when your institution does not allow the said individual to attain one in the first place and when your institution does not open a driving school for the person? What if a woman carries a Gulf or Arab or international driver’s license as per international agreements worked upon in Saudi? It is truly “of course” a thorny issue.

Yet Another Saudi Official Blames Society for Women Driving Ban→

/

There is no constitutional or regulatory barriers to prevent women from driving in Saudi Arabia, Justice Minister Muhammad Al-Isa said. This matter is up to society, the minister said, according to al-Hayat daily. This is, of course, not the first time that a Saudi senior official blames society for the ban on women driving. Earlier this year, Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters in Riyadh that women driving is a social matter that has nothing to do with politics. As we said here before, such statements by officials do not really address the issue. If the ban is a social matter, why does the government arrest women who dare to drive?

Alwaleed Calls for Lifting Ban on Women Drivers→

/

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has indicated support of allowing women there to drive.

He says that would help the kingdom’s campaign to cut down on the number of foreign workers.

Saudi Arabia follows an ultraconservative interpretation of Islam and bans women from driving.

“The question of allowing women to drive in Saudi Arabia will save more than 500,000 jobs in addition to the social and economic benefits,” the prince wrote Sunday on his Twitter account.

This is not the first time that Alwaleed publicly expresses his support of women driving. Why is it news now?

Religious Police Chief Says Saudi Women Driving Bikes Never an Issue→

/

It turns out the story about allowing Saudi women to drive bikes is not a story after all. The daily al-Hayat today quotes the religious police chief as saying since driving bikes is not a common thing to do in Saudi Arabia, the matter was never actually under consideration to be banned or allowed. Abdul-Latif Al Alsheikh, head of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), told the newspaper that it is not their job to search or follow women who drive bikes when they go to the desert with their families.

Saudi Shoura Council to Discuss Lifting Ban on Women Driving

/

The Saudi Shoura Council has accepted a petition to look into lifting the ban on women driving, local news site Sabq reported Saturday. The Human Rights and Petitions Committee at the council have studied a petition signed by 3,000 citizens and decided that the issue should be opened for debate on the council floor.

“Merely opening the issue for debate would give credibility to the council,” Sulaiman al-Zaidi, former head of the committee was quoted as saying. “The council would win people’s trust as a body that represents them and takes up their issues.”

Abdulla Alami, one of the main bakers of the petition, told Sabq last December that the petition recommended lifting the ban on women driving and asked the council to set a date to discuss it. “More than 3,000 citizens signed the petition, including academics, columnists, intellectuals and students of both genders,” he said. Alami has recently published a book titled “When would Saudi women drive?” explaining how the petition came about and making the case for lifting the ban.

Earlier this year, King Abdullah appointed 30 women as members of the Shoura Council for the first time. The advisory body serves as a quasi-parliament in the conservative kingdom, and the step of appointing women on it angered some hardline clerics. Preacher Nasser al-Omar criticized female members of the council after they said they want to debate lifting driving ban last month.

Saudi Cleric Slams Shoura Women Push to Lift Driving Ban

/

A prominent Saudi cleric criticized female members of the Shoura Council who said they plan to debate lifting the ban on women driving as the advisory body begins its sessions for the new cycle next week.

“No wonder. Corrupt beginnings lead to corrupt results,” Sheikh Nasser al-Omar said on Twitter. “Wait for more Westernization.” Al-Omar described the women Shoura members enthusiasm to tackle the ban on driving as “suspicious” and accused them of ignoring “major women issues” that are more pressing.

This statement by al-Omar comes after two female members of the Shoura Council told the local al-Jazirah daily that they plan to form a united front at the council to push for allowing women to drive. “God willing, we would discuss women driving,” said councilwoman Dr. Salwa al-Hazzaa, “especially that we are 30 female members in the council and we will be one voice.”

The topic of women driving has been discussed under the dome of the Shoura Council in previous years, but the council has not taken a vote to lift the ban. Newly appointed councilwoman Thurayya Al-Urayed told the newspaper that the door is always open for the public to petition the council to look into different issues. “It is likely that there would be other petitions about [women driving] brought to the council,” she said.

King Abdullah on Tuesday swore in new members of the Shoura Council, including 30 women. “Your place in the Shura Council is not as those who have been honored, but as those who have been charged with a duty, as you represent part of society,” he reportedly told the 30 new women members who make up one fifth of the fully appointed body. The King’s decision has riled the country’s conservative clerics who staged a protest outside the royal court in Riyadh last month.

Women Driving Not Political, Saudi FM Says→

/

During a press conference with his Austrian counterpart held Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal was asked about the ban on women driving. His answer, according to local financial daily al-Eqtisadiah, was that women driving is a social matter that has nothing to do with politics. This answer is a typical one that has been repeated by top officials for years, and it does not really address the issue. The proper follow up question to that answer is: if this is a social matter, why does the government arrest women who dare to drive?

Women Driving is Boring, Prince Talal Says→

/

Saudi Arabia should establish a sovereign fund like other GCC countries, Prince Talal said today. This fund must be “fully independent from government management and under supervision of legislative bodies,” Prince Talal, half brother of King Abdullah, told the news agency AFP. The 82-year-old prince has been calling for reform in the Kingdom. Talking about women driving, Prince Talal said “the issue has become extremely boring,” adding that women in the countryside are already driving cars, so why can’t women do that in the city?

UPDATE: Below is a video of Prince Talal interview with AFP:

Just Let Us Drive Already→

/

Thurayya Al-Urayed writes:

Time has come to get rid of the millions of the foreign drivers in our country. Let the Saudi women drive and the problem will be solved forever. By driving our own cars we will save a lot of resources for the economy. We will be a lot safer as well and will sleep in peace and security.

 

Subscribe to the RSS feed 

Copyright © 2012--2013 Ahmed Al Omran