Saudi women driving: I’m caring less and less 22, June 2011
Posted by thegulfblog.com in Saudi Arabia.Tags: Indonesia to ban maids in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia, Saudi maid execution, Saudi women driving
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I get regular emails sent to my Gulfblog.com account from various sources. One of them, curiously, is AIPAC with its own unique brand of selective vision. More recently I keep getting press releases regarding Hilary Clinton and the current issue of women in Saudi driving.
While technically and wholly rationally I think that women driving in Saudi is probably important as another baby-step in the direction of reform, more generally, I am simply caring less and less about the issue. Not because I think that it is not an important issues, not because I think women should not be able to drive and not because I am some kind of misogynistic prat, but because it is so clearly pathetically unimportant right at this very minute. Of course I am referring to the execution of the Indonesian maid recently who, from what I can see, had no due process of any meaningful description, no consular assistance and was being abused by her employer.
So in this light I just can’t get ‘enthusiastic’ about reform for women driving. Moreover, I think it is really rather awful for the driving issue to have grabbed the world’s attention as ‘an issue’ when such acts of barbarity continue in Saudi. Clearly, a maid having her head cut off is not newsworthy enough and once again Saudi rights trump those of the lowly maid.
The Gulf blog 
To many Saudis, domestic servants are just slaves. Many are mistreated and abused. Until Saudis are properly held accountable for treating foreign workers as less than human, nothing will change unfortunately.
I understand your frustration about how much more relevant the maid’s execution is than the driving issue, but finally the driving issue has gained momentum at this point in time. It’s just unfortunate that more importance isn’t placed on the maid’s life.
The issue of women’s driving is just the symptom, not the desease itself.
The root of all the social and racial illness is that women (saudis and non saudis) have no rights.
they are treated as if they were children and are being oppressed.
Gee, I could never have guessed that this maid actually MURDERED her employer.
I also noticed the emphasis on beheading — nice little hyperbolic touch to drive the emotional point home. Presumably, a hanging or a toxic injection would have made it okay?
Do we think that there were any extenuating circumstances? What do you think?
It’s not me that’s beheading her you plonker: it’s your barbaric country. OF COURSE IT WOULD NOT HAVE MADE IT OK WERE SHE KILLED BY LETHAL INJECTION – what’s wrong with you?