hehe!
Members of Khobar’s Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice were the victims of an attack by two Saudi females, Asharq Al-Awsat can reveal.
According to the head of the commission in Khobar, two girls pepper sprayed members of the commission after they had tried to offer them advice.
Head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in the Eastern province Dr. Mohamed bin Marshood al-Marshood, told Asharq Al Awsat that two of the Commission’s employees were verbally insulted and attacked by two inappropriately-dressed females, in the old market in Prince Bandar street, an area usually crowded with shoppers during the month of Ramadan.
According to Dr. Al-Marshood, the two commission members approached the girls in order to “politely” advise and guide them regarding their inappropriate clothing.
Consequently, the two girls started verbally abusing the commission members, which then lead to one of the girls pepper-spraying them in the face as the other girl filmed the incident on her mobile phone, while continuing to hurl insults at them.
The Eastern Province’s head of the commission also revealed that with the help of the police his two employees were able to control the situation.
The two females were then escorted to the police station where they apologized for the attack, were cautioned and then released.
Asharq Alawsat
This is outrageous! This is dispicable!
How can they run a story like this and not provide the video footage? It is extremely important! How else are we to witness for ourselves incontrovertibly if the religious policemen actually do have feelings! 😈
Now don’t go reading into this that this is a “revolution” and “things are changing in Arabia” even with that petition handed over to King Abdulla signed by a thousand people requesting that he allows women to drive.
Who cares about them driving? Just hand them more pepper-sprays and let’s video tape the result!
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Well not that this is a laughing matter 😆 , but after all there is only so much a girl can stand. Bad enough to have to put up with the religious police, but the fashion police has just gotta be the last straw in my book.
Good on them. What courage they displayed; let’s hope there is a run on pepper spray in the kingdom.
This is such a great story.
One day I hope to read “Saudi schoolgirls lock Religious Policemen in burning building because of inappropriate clothing” …. 👿
Wow, she filmed her friend pepper spraying the guy? Youtube culture the the max!
I hate articles like this because they are just bad and lazy journalism… Alawsat only offers us the perspective of Dr. Mahmood, and doesn’t delve into questions that were more pertinent.
What was innapropriate in dress? What does the good Doctor consider to be “polite” behavior on the part of the virtue police? What sort of background do these girls have, with one holding a can of pepper spray and the other with aspirations to be a Saudi Polanski, plus the fact that it seems they got off easily even though the situation could not be controlled apparently until police got there… I’d say they are probably upper/uppermiddle class with wasta to boot… so what would have been the result if it was anyone else?
That brings up a whole other set of questions! With Polanski and Stalone filming and pepper spraying the guards… why Did they feel the need to carry around the pepper spray in the first place… was it a premeditated incident? Did she purposefully instigate the conflict by wearing “inappropriate” clothes, and did her friend video tape the incident in full knowledge that that was what was going to go down?
I doubt they’d follow up on this incident, but they really should, because it is a demonstration of social disobediance, and it would be beneficial to get a real journalist to document what happened. While this incident itself is not a revolution on its own as you noted Mahmood, the problem I fear is that when more significant incidents start to occur, the media will still be sitting on its ass, doing half hearted and lazy reporting on the incident, as this journalist obviously did. And as you well know, one of the largest hinderences to any successful movement for social/cultural/legislative change, is a half assed or subdued media.
LOOL!!
I can’t wait to see the tape..
guys please let us know if u got a link..
I’ll be keeping an eye on Youtube for the video! 😯
Working in Riyadh for the longest time recently has actually allowed me to witness the Saudi culture and associate myself in various circles. A good Saudi friend tells me that his wife can actually drive, and he has taught her the essentials. I inquired? He said What if something happened to her (his wife) or the kids while he was at work? Emergencies? Then she could drive and do whatever is necessary. There has been sporadic incidents here and there with women driving on compounds, around the Olaya area of Riyadh in tinted jeeps. Imagine the crime rate if women where allowed to drive, we would be hearing stories of rape, assault, etc.. What can they do? Sooner or later they will drive. I believe a phasal implementation be tested in certain areas, rather than a full roll-out which would bring only chaos. These girls were most likely from rich, influential families and educated overseas, getting off with an apology and caution is evidence of that.
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lol
My god, Saudi men are bad enough behind the wheel . . . . .
10BD we will see the whole thing on youtube.
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Sorry, I don’t gamble in Ramadhan! 😈
Good for them! im glad that the women in saudiarabia are getting in to the mood and defending them selfs.. I have see alot of videos in you tube about how man follow them and touch them! .. LOL
Being pepper sprayed by two inappropriately dressed females?! There’s a few Saudis that would pay good money for such abuse.
They really should know better tho’, YSL skirts and Jimmy Choo shoes really don’t go well.
Good for these ladies! Now watch the Saudi authorities ban pepper spray 🙁
No such luck, I’m sure. The mobile will
have been confiscated and/or the video
deleted, don’t ya think?
Maybe these girls should put down their pepper spray and take up baseball. Hitting a home run on a muttawa with a baseball bat means never having to say you’re sorry. And there are certain advantages to being so abayaed up that you can’t be recognized.
Cricket bats would suffice, too.
Saudi doesnt allow Saudi women to hold pilot licences either – NOR do they allow women pilots with other airlines to fly into their airspace (so I’ve heard)! Any truth to that?
Author
Nope, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has a lady captain on one of his private fleet of aircraft! Not sure about Saudia, but in any case there are a number of Saudi ladies with full private and probably commercial licenses. I’ve heard a number have done their successful training in Jordan’s flight school.
When the Saudi king flew to Bush’s ranch a few years back, the arrogant and backward Saudis demanded that no female air traffic controls handle his aircraft. The local FAA controllers elected not to return to the Stone Age with the Saudi Neanderthals and put their female controllers on duty. It was their way of saying, FYKSA.
What happens in Arabia Stays in Arabia!
I think this for the best for all, who cares what happens there?
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in other countries, you know women are getting empowered when you see them hold high positions in politics, finance, and so on.
in saudi, you know they’re getting empowered when they attack a mulla with pepper spray.
I still think you’re being mean to a well meaning group of men. How I miss those heady days of being aggressively harassed outside the supermarkets in Riyadh at the call to prayer.
Some say it’s bullying, but I reckon having a stick waved in my face by some neanderthal that has such severe halitosis his shouting regularly caused my eyebrows to catch fire should be considered active encouragement.
Leave the boys alone, the quality of their facial hair is an example to us all.
Hahahayyyy they deserve it big time 😈 Those people are crazy, their job is mainly about chasing women and asking them to cover up and behave and that sort of thing. It sucks!! Go go secular governments!! 😉
I noticed that the report said that the women were carted of to the police station where they appologised ( probably under duress) and then were cautioned and released !!
but how about the bullies themselves ? were they cautioned or set straight about their wrong thinking ?? what a place S.A must be where thugs are allowed to think that its ok to push women around and intimidate them for showing a bit of their hair from under a shawl or allowing their ankle to be exposed to onlookers.. this should be an offence to mankind and a crime of humanity… when a women is not allowed to feel the brease in her hair while outdoors or the touch of the sun on her neck….what kind of world is that when it is considered ok to keep women in such slavish oppression… do they not have as much right to enjoy the world that God has put them into as much as men…. How many men are being harrassed on the streets of S:A for inappropriate dressing ??? I guess a lot less because these thugs know they risk .a clobbering if they dare approach a guy and ask him to button up his shirt in 100 degree heat… Women need to take up Karate and show these thugs what for and then set about speaking out against this inhuman treatment against their sisters , mothers , daughters etc…