4, November 2013
Saudi Arabia
Bravo to the courageous Saudi women who are
defying a government ban on driving. This oppressive ban is so unjust; it
relegates Saudi women to a suffocating role as subservient members of their own
society unable to venture outdoors independently. Predictably, Saudi clerics
heaped scorn and called women drivers ‘prostitutes’. Only male drivers are
issued driving licenses.
Sadly, Islam does denigrate women to a lesser
role than their male counterparts allowing men to continue to exert their
dominant roles. CNN broadcaster, Fareed Zakaria, described Saudi Arabia “as the
country with the most irresponsible foreign policy” – the epicenter of state
sponsored terrorism spouting the Wahhabi message of “intolerance and
hate.” Hilleary Clinton described Saudi
Arabia as a “critical financial base of terrorism.” Rivers of money continue to
flow to Wahhabi clerics, madrasahs (religious schools) and Sunni mosques in
many parts of the world. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have
documented extensive human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia systematically
targeting the minority Shi’ite population, political dissidents and Saudi
women. It is therore baffling to understand why we consider Saudi Arabia a key
ally and strategic partner rewarding the monarchy with billions of dollars of
military hardware which could easily be funneled to terrorist groups. It is
also baffling to understand why the Obama administration remained silent when
Saudi forces crushed pro-democracy demonstrators in neighboring Bahrain. By
propping up the Saudi monarchy we are complicit in their acts of violence.
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