Tag Archives: Arab Spring

A Woman’s Place: Saudi Princes in Row Over Kingdom’s Image

Posted on January 23, 2012 | 6 Comments

Princess Ameera Al-Taweel's Speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. The Princess' High Media Profile is Leading to Rifts in the Royal Family. Image Credit: Flickr

Saudi women have taken the wheels in recent months literally by defying the country’s notorious driving ban, and figuratively in attempting to advance their rights in the wake of the Arab Spring in the famously “conservative” Kingdom which allows women virtually no rights without male guardianship or representation.

In addition to the battles Saudi women have been waging on the ground and behind the scenes for their rights, or lack there of, they have had a champion in Princess Ameera Al-Taweel, the wife of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, one of the more progressive of the thousands of Princes of the Saud family, and one of richest men in the world.

The Princess Frequently Travels With her Husband on Official Trips, Serving as his Vice-Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees and Head of the Executive Committee of the Al-Waleed bin Talal Foundations. Image Credit: Flickr

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Posted in Politics Not As Usual, Violence Against Women, Women's Rights=Human Rights

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Reclaiming the Revolution: Women in Cairo Refuse to be Sidelined

Posted on December 20, 2011 | 1 Comment

Women Are Shaping Revolutions and Refusing to be Sidelined. Image Credit: Time Magazine

A predawn raid today increased clashes between the military and civilian populations in Egypt, triggering women in Cairo to mobilize around the ongoing violence which in recent days has targeted women.

This week horrifying images of just how brutal the military can be towards women went viral. The video showing military police dragging a woman wearing a hijab through the street, beating her senseless, then stomping on her stomach, her bright blue bra exposed as she lay motionless on the street defines the struggle of the Egyptian people. Protesters held up signs with her images, chanting warnings such as, “This is the army that is protecting us!”

CNN reports that several hundred women kicked off a “Million Woman” march to expose the military’s sexual violence against female demonstrators. Protesters held up pictures of women, elderly people and teenagers who had been beaten up by the police, demanding a regime change.  Many men even formed a protective circle around female marchers so they would not be assaulted.

There is a reason why Time Magazine picked the protester as its Person of the Year. There is a reason why the image of the protester on its cover is that of a woman. Since the Arab Spring, it has been women, from Iran to Saudi Arabia to Egypt, who have not only been on the front-lines of the protests, demanding more rights, but also shaping their country’s revolutions.

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A Meaningless Vote? Saudi Women’s Rights Remain Stagnant

Posted on September 28, 2011 | 4 Comments

“What a difference a day makes, 24 little hours,” is how the song goes, and the line could not ring more true for Saudi women.

This week we saw Saudi King Abdullah grant women the vote in an effort to not only keep the “Arab Spring” away from his Kingdom, but also to quell the the momentum the women’s movement has gained there to remove the country’s notorious driving ban.

But the King is offering too little too late. He is missing the point by responding with the right to vote. Saudi women’s demand to be allowed to drive, a ban which only exists in Saudi Arabia, goes beyond the right to simply be permitted by law to start the engine of your car.

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Syria: An Open Letter to Angelina Jolie

Posted on June 8, 2011 | 4 Comments

Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt Visited Syria Earlier This Year. Image Credit: Flickr

Dear Angelina Jolie,

I am writing to you about Syria and the ongoing bloodshed we are watching across the country every day.

You may have seen the consistent coverage in the news recently about the latest country in the Middle East to join the “Arab Spring.”

Despite excitement over pro-democracy movements successfully removing dictators in Tunisia and Egypt, Western leaders have largely remained silent on Syria.

Jolie Met With Iraqi Refugees in Syria During Her Visit. Image Credit: UNHCR

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Virginity Tests: Time to Let Gender Out of Revolution’s Closet

Posted on June 6, 2011 | 3 Comments

A Thin Line Between Sex & Politics: Mona Eltahawy Asks What Revolution is Not About Gender? Image Credit: Flickr

There is no doubt that the recent revolution in Egypt got the wheels of the Arab Spring rolling. But just as quick as women were to flood the corners of Tahrir Square and the streets of Cairo in the hopes of a democratic Egypt, their voices were soon sidelined.

This is nothing uncommon. Even in conservative countries, we frequently see women come out in full force during political protests with little to no objection from the men. And this was not a first for Egyptian women who were heavily involved in Egypt’s 1919 revolution.

It is after the euphoria fades, after the dictator is placed under house-arrest when the political blueprint of a country is being determined that women are nowhere to be heard. We repeatedly see this. From Bangladesh’s ’71 War of Independence, to Iran in ’79, to Libya, Syria, and all over the Middle East today, where are the women at the decision-making table? Where are the women when it comes to forming the new government?

Bangladeshi Female "Freedom Fighters" Were Front & Center in the 1971 War of Independence. Image Credit: Flickr

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