With the wealth of information access in the Arab world, courtesy of the internet and satellite TVs, more and more people are rightly asking for their God-given rights, rather than just be happy with those “bestowed” on them by kings and presidents. Those times, have gone and will never come back.
Witness Wajiha al-Huweidar, she had the guts to demonstrate on a busy causeway leading to Bahrain IN Saudi Arabia, she carried a placard demanding more women’s rights, and she got briefly booked for it. She is released now, but only after her brother – who in Saudi is regarded as a legal guardian – had to attend the police station and sign a guarantee on behalf of his sister for never to demonstrate again, disregarding that this lady is mature enough to take care of her own self.
I hope Wajiha will just flush that paper and render it to whence it came. Saudi needs more brave souls like her, and we should all support her endeavors…
It is incidents like these that make me think that there is a future for my daughters in these countries.
Well done Wajiha!
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Well done ! What a brave woman she is !
and, so is her brother, she wouldnt have been able to do this if her family wasnt supportive …
Reminds me of the suffragettes a hundred years ago but even more so, a much greater battle.
So, Mahmood, how can we support her? What can we do to make a difference?
How can we support this brave sister?
My first thought is, I hope she did not get beaten up for it! Sure, her brother picked her up, what else can he do? If he’s ‘supportive’ well, that we’ll have to wait and see. I am sure she got at the very least a big lecture of the shame she brought on her family! I for one, worry about her. She is courageous indeed and it reminds me of that film Network. This was her moment of: “I’m as mad as hell and I can’t take it anymore!”
Hope you will be safe girlfriend!
Ingrid
Time to add a new name to the list. She follows a great tradition. Go girl!
Author
Don’t know how you would support her other than standing with her the next time she decides to protest.
Or by proxy, vote for women into parliament.
Or write the Saudi government specifically to respect human and women’s rights.
Or write to your local paper’s Letters to the Editor
Or a million other things I am sure more germane to your own situation.
Get creative.
Dang…that is one courageous woman. I can’t think of anything else to add, except: she had my deepest respect.
there was only a small blurb about this in the GDN today. personally, i think they should broadcast stuff like this on TV around the globe so that ppl can see that there are women fighting for rights in Saudi and elsewhere. it would bring national attention to the matter and the Saudi’s would hopefully be pushed into owning up to the way things are in that country. look at the attention that news anchor got when her husband tried to kill her. she even went on Oprah!!
altho this is on a different note, it reminds me of how ppl want to hide their heads in the sand when it comes to child abuse. i read today in the GDN about this guy who has sexually abused over 70 children. how children are being taken to SMC for abuse and as soon as the parents find out, they rush in and take the child home w/out giving any information. one child was brought in for severe abuse, released to the abusing family and a week later the child came back to the hospital dead!
these things will never change unless ppl start talking about it and doing something about it.