Dear readers of American Bedu, Carol has been taken to the hospital over the weekend due to low white and red blood cell counts.
She has been very ill but remains optimistic and we hope she will be able to go home very soon now. We also hope she will be able to start her next chemo which is very important. Meanwhile Carol has no internet.
I am sure Carol would appreciate it if everybody keeps discussing and behaving well.
As per usual 😉
The European union has voiced their support for Saudi women’s wish to drive, by Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy. On Wednesday 22 June, a spokesperson for Ashton released a statement describing the women’s movement as “courageous.”
“The EU supports people who stand up for their right to equal treatment, wherever they are,” . “The Saudi women who are taking to the road are exercising their right to demand that equality. They are courageous and have the High Representative’s support.”
The message came after more than 7,000 people signed a Change.org petition asking Ashton for a public declaration of support, and just one day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced her support during a news conference.
More Saudi Arabian women drove their cars in the streets of capital Riyadh Wednesday, continuing a campaign to push the kingdom into overturning a ban on female drivers. At the same time, one of the European Union’s top diplomats sent a long-requested message of support for their campaign.
The drivers were Sara Al-Khalidi, who was accompanied by her mother, and Azza Al-Shamasi, who was accompanied and filmed by blogger Eman Al Nafjan (Saudi Woman). The group was also filmed by Saudi media group Rotana.
Rotana is owned by Prince Al-Waleed, a nephew of King Abdullah.
Eman Al Nafjan also filmed another drive on June 17, the original day the Women2Drive movement called for Saudi women with international licenses, or licenses issued by foreign countries, to drive their own cars. According to an email from Change.org, Human Rights Editor Benjamin Joffe-Walt, someone later broke the car’s glass and left a note in English that said, “Don’t drive again, Bitch.”
“This could have been a Saudi man or a hired driver worried about losing his job,” Joffe-Walt says.
MSNBC published a photo of a similar note attached to a smashed side mirror. The note appears to say “Plz Do Not Drive” on one side and “biatchhh” on the other. Al Nafjan’s family says it was placed as a warning after she was part of the June 22 drive through Riyadh, according to MSNBC. Al Nafjan could not be reached for comment.
The Saudi driving ban on women is not based on any written law, but religious rulings enforced by police have prevented women from driving, at least in the cities. Rural Bedouin women do drive cars and water trucks.
