Women's rights, oil and diplomacy
I am in receipt of an email from SaudiWomenforDriving@change.org. They express frustration with US Secretary of state Hilary Clinton for not answering their plea for her backing of their campaign to be allowed to drive a car in Saudi Arabia. (for update, see addition at the bottom of the page)
Mrs Clinton, they note, is a fearless campaigner for women’s rights. The Democratic leader in Congress, Nancy Pelosi, has responded positively but from Mrs Clinton, silence.
The largest number of Saudi woman ever to set forth in their cars occurred on 17th June. One was arrested, 28 others got away with it.
The Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud told me to my face several years ago that he supported the right of women to drive. But King Fahd announced last week that although he did too, Saudi society was too conservative to tolerate it. Even he stressed that there is absolutely no religious reason for the ban.
In other words the Saudi King is effectively admitting what the women protesters argue, that this is a repressive subjugation of women.
A Saudi woman describes to Channel 4 News how the driving ban affects women
The ban on car driving is only the tip of the sand dune in Saudi, women suffer much more besides, yet many of the key posts in areas like medicine are held by women. These same surgeons, doctors and teachers must depend often upon men to be present to enable them to move about in society.
Can oil dependence, defence contracts and the rest really be the only excuse for the rest of the world, the UK and the US in particular, turning a very deliberately blind eye to the oppression of women in a country described as “one of our closest allies”?
p.s. Since I wrote this, the great lady has declaimed: “What these women are doing is brave and what they are seeking is right, but the effort belongs to them. I am moved by it and I support them.” Feel the power of Snowblog!