Saudi Arabia: women drivers are terrorists!

Once again, Saudi Arabia makes the headlines for criminalizing virtually everything a woman does outside the home.

Attached is a direct excerpt from an AP article by Aya Batrawy that describes the latest arrest, and classification as terrorist, of women Saudi drivers.

 

 

Often, what I enjoy most about such articles is the comments.  Here are a few:

Reader Comments:

Our allies......worse than many of our enemies.

The United States needs to put their foot down and not do any business with these countries and to ban all their flights into the United States until they change their policy about women. Treating them like second class slaves is disgusting. Just because of the oil we allow these crimes to be accepted and their treatment of women would never be allowed in our country.

This Saudi terrorism court has plenty of wealthy Saudis to prosecute who have been funding terrorism for decades and haven't touched a single one of them. They funded the terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan and they funded ISIL. Yet here they are, prosecuting women for vile (non) crime of getting behind the wheel of a car.

It tells a lot about you by the friends you keep

"For example, this year it sentenced a revered Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a vocal critic of the government, to death for sedition and sentenced a prominent human rights lawyer, Waleed Abul-Khair, to 15 years in prison on charges of inciting public opinion."

The US supports one of the most repressive regimes in the world, yet Republicans are upset about normalizing relations with Cuba?

 

The United States needs to put their foot down and not do any business with these countries and to ban all their flights into the United States until they change their policy about women. Treating them like second class slaves is disgusting. Just because of the oil we allow these crimes to be accepted and their treatment of women would never be allowed in our country.

 

Saudi Women Drivers Referred To Terrorism Court

By AYA BATRAWY Associated Press12/25/2014

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two Saudi women detained for nearly a month in defiance of a ban on females driving were referred on Thursday to a court established to try terrorism cases, several people close to the defendants said.

 

The cases of the two, Loujain al-Hathloul and Maysa al-Amoudi, were sent to the anti-terrorism court in connection to opinions they expressed in tweets and in social media, four people close to the two women told The Associated Press.

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They did not elaborate on the specific charges or what the opinions were. Both women have spoken out online against the female driving ban. Activists say they fear the case is intended to send a warning to others pushing for greater rights. The four people spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of government reprisals.

The Specialized Criminal Court, to which their cases were referred, was established in the capital Riyadh to try terrorism cases but has also tried and handed long prison sentences to a number of human rights workers, peaceful dissidents, activists and critics of the government. For example, this year it sentenced a revered Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a vocal critic of the government, to death for sedition and sentenced a prominent human rights lawyer, Waleed Abul-Khair, to 15 years in prison on charges of inciting public opinion.

Human Rights Watch recently warned that "Saudi authorities are ramping up their crackdown on people who peacefully criticize the government on the Internet." It said that judges and prosecutors are using "vague provisions of a 2007 anti-cybercrime law to charge and try Saudi citizens for peaceful tweets and social media comments."

This was the first time women drivers have been referred to the court, activists said.

The detention of al-Hathloul, 25, and Maysa al-Amoudi, 33 — both arrested on Dec. 1 — has been the longest yet for any women who defied the driving ban. They were vocal supporters of a grassroots campaign launched last year to oppose the ban, and have a significant online following with a total 355,000 followers on Twitter for the two of them at the time of their arrest.

Though no formal law bans women from driving in Saudi Arabia, ultraconservative Saudi clerics have issued religious edicts forbidding women from taking the wheel, and authorities do not issue them driver's licenses. No such ban exists anywhere else in the world, even in other conservative Gulf countries.

The four people close to the women said their lawyers appealed the judge's decision to transfer their cases. An appeals court in Dammam, the capital of Eastern Province, is expected to decide on the referral in the coming days, they said.

Authorities have a history of clamping down on Saudi women who attempt to drive. In 1990, 50 women were arrested for driving. They had their passports confiscated and lost their jobs. More than 20 years later, a woman was sentenced in 2011 to 10 lashes for driving, though the king overturned the sentence.

Ultra-Orthodox Men Cause Flight Delay by Refusing To Sit by Women, Again

Here is an article by Antonia Blumberg about another case of patriarchal religions disrupting society and violating women’s civil rights.  Why are we allowing this to happen in 2014?  Shouldn’t religious people stay home if they cannot adapt to society’s norms or should women continue to suffer while accommodating them?

Ultra-Orthodox Men Cause Flight Delay by Refusing To Sit by Women, Again By Antonia Blumberg

 

An international Delta Airlines flight was reportedly delayed for roughly half an hour when several ultra-Orthodox Jewish men refused to sit next to female passengers.

Israel Radio first reported that Delta Flight 468, bound for Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport from John F. Kennedy Airport, took off 30 minutes after its scheduled departure time due to commotion onboard. Several Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox men, refused to sit in their assigned seats, which placed them next to women. But other passengers also refused to swap seats with the men, causing the prolonged delay.

 

 

In Ultra-orthodox Judaism, physical contact between men and women is forbidden unless they are first-degree relatives or married to one another.

HuffPost reached out to Delta Airlines for comment but did not hear back.

A similar incident affected an El Al flight from New York to Tel Aviv in September when Haredi men began asking women seated next to them to move and even offered compensation for seat changes. Many called the flight an "11-hour long nightmare" and several women started a Change.org petition after the experience to pressure El Al to prevent future harassment of female passengers on its flights.

Posted: 12/29/2014 3:03 pm EST Updated: 12/29/2014 10:59 pm EST

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/29/orthodox-jewish-men-flight-delay_n_6391104.html

 

 

Should business always adapt marketing tactics to adhere to local cultural norms?

If a business aspires to succeed in other cultures, isn’t the rule unequivocal that “you must adhere to that culture’s rules and norms?!”.

Here is an article about IKEA producing different ads to conform to Saudi Arabian standards.  In the ad produced for the Saudi market, they remove women in order to comply with the law banning depictions of women who don’t comply with the Islamic dress code.

What do you think of IKEA’s move?

Swedish version of ad

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saudi (airbrushed) version of ad

 

 

 

 

 

 

See the article and reader comments here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/01/ikea-saudi-arabia-catalogue_n_1928635.html

Day of the Dead is celebrated around the world

Each year in the beginning of November, millions around the world honor and remember their deceased loved ones. From Latin America to the Philippines, people visit family members' and friends' graves, eat customary food or follow particular traditions. Also known in some countries as All Souls' Day, the Day of the Dead originated as a Roman Catholic holiday.

In Mexico and large parts of Latin America, the Day of the Dead is a national holiday and widely celebrated. People build small altars and bring the deceased's favorite food to the cemetery. In the Philippines, entire families spend the night at the graveyard, while in many countries in Europe people visit relatives' graves and gather with family and friends.

Facts About African Beliefs From New Pew Research Center Study

Ten things we have learnt about Africa

The Pew Research Center has just released one of the biggest ever studies on attitudes to religion and morality in Africa, which has revealed a host of interesting facts.

Here are 10 things we have learnt from the study, which surveyed 25,000 people in 19 countries.

1. 75% of South Africans think polygamy is "morally wrong" - bad news for their president, as Jacob Zuma took his third wife earlier this year and is engaged to a fourth. However, the survey also revealed some possible double-standards. While only 7% of Rwandans approved of polygamy (although this did include women), a rather higher number - 17% - of men said they had more than one wife.

2. An overwhelming majority of respondents disapproved of homosexual behavior. In three countries - Zambia, Kenya and Cameroon - this was a massive 98%. Interestingly, one of the countries with the highest numbers of people - 11% - accepting homosexuals is Uganda, where an MP is trying to get legislation passed which would punish homosexual acts with life in prison and even death in some cases. The former Portuguese colonies of Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique were also relatively tolerant of homosexuality.

3. Africa is probably the world's most religious continent, with more than 80% saying they believed in God in most countries. At least half of the Christians questioned expect Jesus Christ to return to earth during their lifetimes. In Ethiopia, 74% of Christians say they have experienced or witnessed the devil or evil spirits being driven out of a person and in Ghana, 40% of Christians say they have had a direct revelation from God. About half of all Muslims expect to see the reunification of the Islamic world under a single ruler, or caliph, in their lifetimes.

4. Zimbabwe, where the Lemba people say they are the lost tribe of Israel, was not one of the countries surveyed. But 26% of Nigerian Christians said they traced their origins back to Israel or Palestine.

5. Belief in witchcraft is also common - about 40%; a similar percentage also visits traditional healers to cure sickness. Belief in witchcraft is highest in Tanzania with 93% - this is the country where witchdoctors say that magic potions are more effective if they contain body parts of people with albinism. Ethiopia had the lowest levels of belief in witchcraft - at just 17%. Belief that juju or sacred objects can prevent bad things happening was generally lower - between 20 and 30%. In Senegal, however, 75% thought such things worked - far higher than in Tanzania (49%). It may come as a surprise to learn that South Africa had the highest number of people - 52% - saying they took part in ceremonies of traditional religions, or honored or celebrated their ancestors.

6. Predictably, there was also a religious split concerning alcohol, banned by Islam. Surprisingly, however, more Muslims in Chad (23%) approved of booze, than Ethiopian Christians (5%). This comes as a huge surprise to Ethiopia experts, however, who point out that it is traditional to welcome Orthodox Christian clergy with traditional honey beer when they visit your house. Maybe "alcohol" was only taken to mean spirits by some of the respondents?

7. Attitudes to divorce showed a strong divide along religious lines in Nigeria. A massive 79% of Christians thought it was "morally wrong", while among Muslims, a narrow majority (46-41%) accepted divorce.

8. In recent years, Islamist hardliners in Somalia and Nigeria have introduced strict punishment based on Sharia law, such as amputating the hands of thieves and even stoning to death for adultery. The majority of people disapproved of such Sharia punishments. In Nigeria, they were backed by about 40% of Muslims and less than 10% of Christians. However, a majority did approve of whippings and amputations in Senegal and Mali. In nearby Guinea-Bissau, even 50% of Christians backed them. This was double the rate among Muslims in Ethiopia (25%) - maybe it feels like a more realistic prospect to them, as they share a border with Somalia and most Muslim Ethiopians are ethnic Somalis.
The blending of religions like Islam and Christianity with African religions is one way of ensuring survival of traditional religions

9. The survey also asked about material well-being in the world's poorest continent. Not so long ago, Cameroon regularly topped surveys of champagne consumption per head. However, a shocking 71% of Cameroonians surveyed said there were times in the past year when they did not have enough money to buy food. In Ethiopia, which is commonly seen as a country struggling to feed itself, the rate was far lower - at 30% - the lowest of all countries surveyed.

10. Ethiopia did, however, have the lowest numbers of people - 7% - who said they regularly used the internet. Rwanda's President Paul Kagame is striving to turn his country into Africa's answer to Silicon Valley and is being helped by the arrival of several new fiber optic cables off the east coast of Africa. He will be encouraged by the finding that 30% of his countrymen - the highest number - regularly browsed the web. Mobile phones were far more common - with 81% of respondents in Botswana owning one. Many countries reported more than 50% having phones but here, Rwanda lagged behind at just 35%.

Sikh Temple in Delhi

On a cloudy Sunday, I have watched several episodes of Andrew Zimmerman Bizarre Foods. Andrew is a chef and writer who travels the world sampling foods indigenous to different cultures. He exposes us to varied ingredients, preparations, dining customs and foods we'd (sometimes) never think of consuming. Today, I have watched him explore cities I know such as Hani and Delhi and countries I have yet to explore such as Malaysia (Durian fruit) and Iceland (putrified shark).

He visited the famous Sikh Temple in Delhi to show us the large communal kitchen staffed by volunteers, that feeds 4000 people, twice a day. Importantly, everyone is welcome to dine inside this Sikh temple.

Here is my journal entry from a visit to that temple in Delhi in September 2007.

Our first stop was to a Sikh temple. Before entering the temple, we were required to remove both shoes and socks and to cover our heads. They gave us all orange bandannas to cover our heads.

As usual, we encountered a beautiful mosaic of colorful people at this phenomenal temple. We were there on Sunday, one of the most popular days for a visit, and it is also a popular family gathering. People from all faiths are welcome to enter the Sikh temple and worship the Sikh Holy Scripture. Every person, irrespective of caste, creed, gender, culture or nationality is welcome here. Sikhism is also known for its community kitchen. It is designed to provide food to all devotees, pilgrims, and visitors and is a symbol of equality, fraternity, and brotherhood. People of all walks of life share the same food sitting together in one row. The community kitchen is staffed entirely by volunteers, who prepare and serve the food. It was so beautiful to witness this bustling activity.

So what is Sikhism?

It is a branch of Hinduism, and one of the world's newer religions. that was founded in 1469 in northern India. It is strictly monotheistic believing in one supreme God. The religion consists of practical living, in rendering service to humanity and engendering tolerance and brotherly love toward all. They believe in are earning an honest living in leading a normal life Sikhism does not accept the idea of pessimism. It advocates optimism and hope.

The five symbols of Sikhism are as follows:

1. uncut hair and an untrimmed beard hair covered by a turban

2.a sword

3. a comb,

4. a steel bracelet

5. and undergarment.
All Sikhs (men) can be identified by these five symbols with them at all times.

The temple was spectacular, with gold domes and a large iridescent blue wading pool surrounded by worshipers.

Again, we formed a prayer circle and Father Leo led us in prayer, amidst a river of onlookers. It was a beautiful experience.