The Region: Arab women and the vote [View All]

[Gimel]

Thirteen years ago, in 1991, US soldiers arrived in Saudi Arabia to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi aggression and annexation. Among the American forces were women who drove vehicles. Perhaps inspired by this presence, several dozen Saudi women later held a demonstration in which they drove cars illegally.

Women cannot drive in Saudi Arabia. Despite a recent, highly-publicized statement by a Saudi prince saying this situation would change soon there is no sign whatsoever of the law being altered. Indeed, in July 2003 a powerful Saudi businessman and writer submitted his regular column to a leading Saudi newspaper, Ukaz, forseeing a future when women would have equal rights in his country.

After first being rejected the article was finally published. It stirred up a great deal of controversy and reaction ranging from death threats to support. Western media sources hailed it as an example of the increasingly open debate in the kingdom. A few days later the writer's column was dropped from the newspaper.

What makes this especially remarkable is the fact that the writer's father was the founder of the newspaper and the writer himself a major stockholder in it.

Within the last few days top state-appointed Saudi clerics have strongly criticized the presence of women at an international development conference being held in the country. Many observers conclude that this official decision is going to make it almost impossible to increase women's rights in the kingdom even if the regime there wanted to do that.

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