What Do You Think?

[dorahuegens]

It is not much of a step but give them time and these women just might change the face of the Arab world.

one tiny step at a time.

I would like to believe that the islamic leadership is going to simply ignore them and let the changes take place unchallenged, but history shows that when they are quiet like this they tend to be planning something.

and that something is usually not very good for the health of people the leadership chooses to retaliate against.


I hope I am wrong or that these women have a counter plan in place to protect themselves so the positive changes can continue.



copied from:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article456609.ece


Women drive home a point

By RIMA AL-MUKHTAR | ARAB NEWS

Published: Jun 17, 2011

JEDDAH/RIYADH/ALKHOBAR: Dozens of Saudi women in various cities and at different times sat behind the wheel on Friday to press for their case to drive. Their initiative followed the "Women2Drive" Campaign on social media sites that chose June 17 as the day to drive home their point.

The women who drove on Friday recorded their driving and posted their updated status on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

“The only reason why I did this is because I highly believe that it’s time for a change, and I don’t think it would harm anyone if women are to drive,” said one of the women who drove but did not want her name to be published.

“Friday was like a test day, just to see how people would react to us driving. All I can say is that it was more than normal, no one spoke to us and no one even bothered to look at us, it was like its normal for women to be behind the wheel,” she said.

Encouragement poured in via the Internet. “Take the wheel. Foot on the gas,” said one Twitter message on the main site women2Drive. Another urged: “Saudi women, start your engines!”

Earlier, the Guardian newspaper reported that at 10 o'clock on Friday morning Maha Al-Qahtani swapped places with her husband, Mohammed, and took the wheel of the family car. For the next 50 minutes, she drove through the Saudi capital, along the six-lane King Fahd Road, through Cairo Square, down the upmarket Olaya Street with its shopping malls, Starbucks, Apple store and boutiques.

"No one tried to stop us. No one even looked," the 39-year-old civil servant said. "We drove past police cars but had no trouble." In fact, the biggest problem for Maha was her husband sitting next to her in the family Hummer. "He kept telling me to slow down or speed up. He was very fussy," she said.

The exact number of Saudi women who took to the wheel was unclear, but it was certainly not many. On Friday, a different mood prevailed. Police appeared to be under orders not to intervene. In Jeddah, one woman said she had been detained by soldiers and escorted home. Others reported being ignored.

Twitter witnessed more than a hundred tweets a minute under the “#women2drive” trend page. “I have never seen so much people tweeting about one issue, discussing the women driving matter and hoping nothing bad will happen for those women,” said Abdulrahman Shata, college student. “We men have nothing against those women who are willing to drive, we are supporting them and I am more than willing to teach my mother and sisters how to drive,” he added.

“As one who is a big supporter of women’s driving in Saudi, I think the time has come to give a chance to prove themselves. Women have grown out of their prospective shell and are taking more responsibilities whether it’s in the workforce or at home,” said Raw an Radwan, 26-year-old PHD student in Hungary.

“I have been following the news and twitter channels with fingers crossed that change will happen and my people would accept that change and allow our country to develop to a brighter future,” she added.

It was reported on twitter that traffic police did not arrest any woman driver. “I'm tweeting from Alkhobar police station where Manal Al Sharif was held. I asked them and there have not been any arrests of any women,” tweeted Zaki Safar, Saudi blogger and women's rights activist. “I have been roaming the streets of Alkhobar and I did not see anything abnormal, it’s obvious that the government gave the decision to the Saudi citizens,” he also tweeted.

The Facebook page for the campaign showed strict rules for women who are willing to take the wheel. Women are to be decently covered and wear their head cover all the time when driving, the woman has to have a valid international driving license, she should be accompanied by a male guardian and finally women should not gather around in one spot but they should be separated.

Jeddah police confirmed that they have not seen any women driving in Jeddah. All reports on social media were from Makkah, Riyadh and Alkhobar.

[dorahuegens]

This is interesting same web page I copied the info from above less than 24 hours later. it now reads very different.

although in this case the information is similar.

copied from:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article456609.ece


Saudi women drive home a point, again

By RIMA AL-MUKHTAR & SIRAJ WAHAB | ARAB NEWS

Published: Jun 17, 2011 21:21
Updated: Jun 18, 2011 00:19

JEDDAH/RIYADH/ALKHOBAR: A number of women across the Kingdom went behind the wheel on Friday, responding to a Facebook campaign urging women to start driving.

The campaign, Women2Drive, called on Saudi women to begin driving their cars on June 17. Although there is no law against women driving in Saudi Arabia, they cannot obtain driver's licenses. The arrest and release of Manal Al-Sharif a few weeks ago for driving in the streets of Alkhobar did not discourage women to press the issue. The campaign was about enabling women to carry out their regular errands just as their husbands and fathers and brothers do.

"The only reason why I did this is because I believe that it's high time for a change and I don't think it would harm anyone if women drive," said one of the women who drove in Jeddah but did not want her name to be made public. "Friday was like a test day, just to see how people would react to us driving. All I can say is that it was more than normal. No one spoke to us and no one even bothered to look at us, it was like its normal for women to be behind the wheel."

Local and international encouragement and support erupted on Twitter.

"Take the wheel. Foot on the gas," said one Twitter message. Another urged: "Saudi women, start your engines!"

There is no accurate estimate of how many women heeded the call, but incidents that were reported resulted in little or no repercussions by police. The Makkah provincial police authority issued a statement in the evening saying no arrests were made.

Maha Al-Qahtani swapped places with her husband, Mohammed, and took the wheel of the family car. For the next 45 minutes, she drove through the Saudi capital.

"No one tried to stop us. No one even looked," said the 39-year-old IT consultant for the government. "We drove past police cars but had no trouble." In fact, the biggest problem for Maha was her husband sitting next to her in the family Hummer.

"He kept telling me to slow down or speed up. He was very fussy," she said.

Al-Qahtani told Arab News by phone that she wanted to make a point: "I took it directly to the streets of the capital." On Twitter, Al-Qahtani described the route she had taken around the city with her husband, saying: "I decided that the car for today is mine."

American photographer Lynsey Addario reported on Twitter that the woman she was with was stopped by six police cars.

"You would think they caught (Ayman) Al-Zawahri," she joked on her Twitter post, referring to the new Al-Qaeda leader.

However, after about 15 minutes the police let the women go, the only punishment being a traffic citation for driving without a license. Addario claims the woman displayed two driver's licenses, though neither was issued in Saudi Arabia.

In Jeddah, one woman said she had been detained by soldiers and escorted home. Others reported being ignored.

Twitter witnessed more than a hundred tweets a minute under the "#women2drive" trend page.

"I have never seen so many people tweeting about one issue, discussing the women driving matter and hoping nothing bad will happen to those women," said Abdulrahman Shata, a Saudi college student. "We men have nothing against those women who are willing to drive. We support them, and I am more than willing to teach my mother and sisters how to drive."

It was reported on Twitter that traffic police did not make arrests.

"I'm tweeting from Alkhobar police station where Manal Al-Sharif was held. I asked them and there have not been any arrest of women," tweeted Zaki Safar, Saudi blogger and women's rights activist. "I have been roaming the streets of Alkhobar and I did not see anything abnormal, it's obvious that the government gave the decision to the Saudi citizens."

Some women posted pictures online. Some admitted taking to the wheel through their tweets and Facebook accounts. There was also no way of independently verifying the accounts of various women

The Facebook page for “Women2Drive” has been careful to point out that this is not a call for civil protest, but rather a call for women who need to drive to simply start driving. The campaign advised women to carry a valid international driver's license, to be modestly dressed, and to be preferably accompanied by a male guardian.

[dorahuegens]

the above article said