The minister of Social Affairs recently made a statement that there are 1.5 million Saudis under the poverty line. Everyone knows that there are poor in Saudi but to have it stated as such a matter of fact has gotten some to take notice. Two quite outspoken Saudis just won’t let it go. The first [...]
Entries from September 2008
September 27, 2008
Saudi Women’s Man-o-meter
When the issue of the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia comes up it sometimes leads outsiders to question the contradiction between gender segregation and a woman spending so much time alone in a car with an unrelated man. To completely understand how this came about you have to go back in history to [...]
September 20, 2008
Line 120 or 220 volts?
The Iraqi war really brought the spotlight on the Shia -Sunni struggle within the region, when before, outside of the Middle East, there was no distinction between Muslims. Little be known to the rest of the world there are other layers of discrimination in the region. Two of which affect a Saudi’s marriage and job [...]
September 13, 2008
Prominent Saudis: Sheikh Mohammed Al Arefe
Mohammed Al Arefe is the complete package. He is the Brad Pitt of Sheikhdom. Unfortunately he truly puts women in the toilet when it comes to their rights and humanity. His ideology is the typical close-minded outlook that Saudi society has grown accustomed to from its religious leaders, except when it comes to this particular [...]
September 12, 2008
Saudi Women and Their Drivers
In Saudi Arabia you can tell a lot about a woman by her relationship with her driver. Yes I call it a relationship. Because, unlike anywhere in the world, drivers are a necessity and not a luxury that is used on a whim. A driver here knows his employer’s (or charge, depending on how conservative [...]
September 11, 2008
Ramadan
Ramadan is month when everyone fasts from sun rise to sundown. We fast from food, water and sex. This deprivation is supposed to make Muslims stop and think about those less fortunate and life in general. Muslims are also supposed to focus on their religious and spiritual wellbeing throughout the month. I cannot deny that [...]
September 1, 2008
My Favourite Professor
As a tribute to a woman who has influenced so many Saudi women over the approximately two decades she has lived here, I have created a page to honour Prof Angele Tadros. I first got to know her as my head of department when I was a teaching assistant in 2003. And now although I [...]
