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Very unusual for TED talks, Manal Al Sharif gets multiple standing ovations during her beautiful and eloquent TED Talk.
Manal Al Sharif has inspired people, not only in Saudi Arabia, but over the entire world, projecting a positive image of Saudi women, and Saudi people.
Enjoy!
AA
Filed under: culture, Freedoms, politics, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture, Saudi customs, Uncategorized, women driving, Women Issues | 39 Comments »
Fawzia al-Ayuni and Wajiha al-Huwaider, the well known Saudi women activist, have been sentenced to 10 months in jail and banned from leaving the country for two years.
They have a month to appeal against the judgment.
The two women were convicted of the Islamic sharia law offence of takhbib*, or incitement of a wife to defy the authority of her husband. They had been briefly detained by police a year and a half ago in the company of the Canadian woman who at the time wanted to flee the kingdom with her children, although they were only taking the woman to go shopping for food because her husband had left her in the apartment without enough provisions.
When they left the apartment the women were taken into custody.
Regional rights group the Gulf Forum for Civil Societies expressed “deep concern” over the jail sentences handed down against two women, who had “defended a humanitarian right”.
Wajeha Al Huwaider
.
*) Takhbib: In Shari`ah, ”takhbib” means to estrange a wife from her husband in order to marry her. The Prophet disowned those committing such a sin saying, “He is not one of us who estranges a wife from her husband or the wife of his slave in order to marry her” (Reported by Abu Dawud).
AA
Filed under: culture, Freedoms, gender, islam, relationships, religion, safety, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture, Saudi customs, Uncategorized, Women Issues | 45 Comments »
You are the one who’s deficient, ”No Brains, No Religion”
According to the National Family Safety Program (NFSP), three out of 10 women in Saudi Arabia are subjected to domestic violence. Violence against women and children is a global epidemic. Studies suggest that at least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, forced into sex or abused in her lifetime, while up to 10 million children witness some form of domestic violence annually.
Usually, the abuser is a member of the family or someone known to the victim. In Saudi Arabia women are not allowed to meet/spend time/talk to any man outside their immediate family, which would make the odds that the abuse has been done by a close family member about 99%.
Columnist Samar Fatany wrote earlier this month that violence against women is on the rise in Saudi Arabia despite recent efforts to put a stop to this dangerous phenomenon. “Unfortunately, there are no specific criminal laws addressing violence against women and children,” she said. “Domestic violence cases can be the subject of a police investigation; however, they are not treated as serious criminal cases and they are not prosecuted in court.”
Lately a number of campaigns have started, to increase awareness and (hopefully) stop abuse of women.
A really impressive and original campaign was was launched last week. It is sponsored by Libra Productions, a sound studio and music management agency based in Jeddah. The Saudi participants have been posting photos and awareness messages on their Twitter account using the hashtag #اضربها. The company also partnered with a law firm to provide consultations for those who need it.
You are male, but not necessarily a Man
To speak your mind this publicly, with your photograph and website is incredibly courageous in Saudi Arabia. Especially for the women involved. These people are standing up for what they believe is right with courage and determination. Saudi Arabia must be proud of it’s younger generation.
Click here for the Libra productions facebook page and give them a ”like”!
Photo’s from: Riyad bureau
Read more:
AA
Filed under: Uncategorized | 188 Comments »
See Raha talk about her climb on this video from CNN:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76IRJRxjeKQ
An interview with Raha’s parents:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AgdBnrfuZg
Raha gave an interview when she arrived in Dubai
Her group of four, including a Qatari royal, a Palestinian and an Iranian, was greeted with cheers and garlands of flowers on arrival from Nepal late Sunday at Sharjah International Airport in the United Arab Emirates.
“It was unbelievable,” an emotional 25-year-old Moharrak, covered from head to toe in a black cloak or abaya, told AFP.
“I’m the first but I really hope I’m not the last,” she said. “I hope it awakens the intention in (Saudi) women to challenge themselves more.”
Moharrak reached the peak of Everest on May 19, in a first for Saudi Arabia, the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive and where their sporting activities are severely restricted.
She left her home in the Red Sea port of Jeddah on April 3 after a year and a half of rigorous training.
By reaching the highest point in the world, she said she has now achieved her ambition of climbing nine mountains, including in Europe, Tanzania, the South Pole and Argentina.
Speaking to AFP by telephone from Jeddah, her father Hassan said: “I’m very proud of her… It’s great what she managed to tell people here and everywhere.”
Raha, who had worked hard to convince her family to allow her to scale the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) mountain, is also the youngest Arab to reach the peak of Everest.
Her parents had “faced disagreements from family members and people in Saudi Arabia in general,” she told AFP.
“As a Saudi girl, it’s normal that I get negative feedback, but it was minimal and the good outweighed the bad,” she added.
Awaiting her arrival at Sharjah airport was the Saudi embassy’s cultural attache in the UAE, Abdul Mohsen al-Harthi.
“This is a message from a woman who wants to say ‘I have reserved a place for myself among you men’,” said Harthi.
“The message is for men in Saudi saying that ‘I, a daughter of this country, have achieved top positions and am capable of doing whatever men can do’,” he said.
“I did nothing against my culture and religion,” said Raha. “You don’t have to go against society to achieve amazing things.”
Like many other Saudi women, she hopes that “we do drive one day,” but if this is difficult to bring about, “there are so many other more important things you can be great at.”
All four, graduates of the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, climbed Everest to raise funds to help educate Nepalese children.
Thani said they have succeeded in raising “one million dollars”.
AA
Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Mohammed Al Dawood (image from Twitter)
A prominent Saudi ‘self-help’ writer has triggered a fierce debate by urging his Twitter followers to sexually molest women working as cashiers in big grocery stores, local daily Gulf News reported on Wednesday.
Abdullah Mohammad Al Dawood, who has more than 97,000 Twitter followers, used the hashtag #harass female cashiers and made the comments in an attempt to “encourage” Saudi Arabian women to stay at home and protect their chastity.
By the way, this is the same man who called for (girl) babies being veiled to protect them from sexual harassment.
The literal translation of the tweet is: Fruitful reaction in hashtag # female cashier # harass_female_cashiers. This is a master’s thesis that considers a female receptionist and cashier as (human trafficking).
Al Dawood justified his tweet by citing a story from the early days of Islam about a famous warrior, Al Zubair, who did not want his wife to go out of home and pray in the mosque.
According to Al Dawood, Al Zubair hid in the dark one night and molested his wife in the street. The wife rushed home and decided against ever going out of her house again, saying that the “there is no safer place than home and the world out there is corrupt”, the report said.
Khalid Ebrahim Al Saqabi, a conservative cleric, supported Al Dawood’s calls and said a law proposed by the Saudi government against sexual harassment in newly mixed workplaces was “only meant to encourage consensual debauchery”.
Saudi female casier (image via Al Arabiya)
This tweet has started a Twitter war in Saudi, Dawood has many supporters who defend him, but there are also hundreds of Saudi and Arab tweeters who have attacked his tweet, some asking him what right he had to stop women working, others accusing him of inciting sexual attacks.
Other newspaper reports also claimed that Khalid Ebrahim Al-Saqabi, a conservative cleric, supported Al-Dawood’s calls and said a law proposed by the Saudi government against sexual harassment at workplace was “only meant to encourage consensual debauchery.”
Al Dawood now claims the tweet meant something else and called it “a sheer distortion of facts and the actual meaning of the tweet on Twitter.”
The literal translation of the tweet is: Fruitful reaction in hashtag # female cashier # harass_female_cashiers. This is a master’s thesis that considers a female receptionist and cashier as (human trafficking).
Al Dawood claims the translation of his tweet was erroneous. That however does not explain the outrage from native Arabic speaking readers, many of which condemn his tweet.
The hash tag #harassfemalecashiers raised ire with some who took it as a command to ‘harass female cashiers.’ But in Arabic the wording can be understood two ways. Al-Dawood was using the phase to say: “They would harass female cashiers,” he has said.
Al Dawood believes that if women are allowed to work at certain jobs, some men will treat with them with as much disrespect as they would trafficked women.
Al Dawood is experiencing first hand the new reality in the age of social media: one need not even leave home to get a hard time in public.
Is his tweet misunderstood or is Al Dawood trying to escape the criticism aimed at him?
AA
read more:
AA
Filed under: Uncategorized | 33 Comments »
Dear readers,
As you all know the Americanbedu site has been more than an average Blog. It created a sense of community where people from different backgrounds joined on a daily basis to read Carol’s thoughts and interact with each other. Carol had worked diligently to provide materials that spurred interesting discussions, debates and better understanding.
One of Carol’s wishes is for the blog to continue providing this benefit to her readers after her passing. As her friends we would like to honor her wishes and continue her legacy. We cannot promise the same diligence of writing a daily post, but we will do our best to write an interesting article on a weekly basis. We would also like to solicit help from the readers in ghost writing.
Here are some thoughts on helping us achieve the goal:
There are no expectations of commitment to any specific number of posts or schedule from volunteers. Just send us an email to the admin email-box indicating your interest. We may send requests every now and then for help, but we will not require action.
Please, let us know your thoughts in the comment section on how to keep the blog active and a place for this community of readers to visit and enjoy.
Filed under: Saudi blogs | Tagged: breast cancer, choice articles | 11 Comments »
Dear Family and Friends,
This has been a tough time for us and we couldn’t have done it without
the generosity, support, prayers, and comfort from our friends and
family members. The outpour of love has been nothing short of amazing
and has helped us all through this difficult time. My heart is
hurting, but I’m finding comfort just knowing she’s in a better place
now and we’ll all see her again when it’s our turn. I will never
forget her infectious smile. Please join us to celebrate and pay
tribute to her wonderful, full, inspiring life.
Carol’s funeral will be held Tuesday (5/28), at James Funeral Home.
The viewing will be at 11:00am followed by the service at 12:00pm.
In lieu of flowers, you may send a donation to my mother’s favorite
charity, The American Cancer Society, to continue the fight against
breast cancer.
James Funeral Home
10520 Arahova Dr, Huntersville, North Carolina 28078
http://www.jamesfuneralhomeLKN.com
(704) 584-9004
Filed under: Uncategorized | 17 Comments »
Saudi News
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