Where are the feminists?

Before I get into the critique of Islamic culture, a little history. Contrary to Some Made Up Name's allegations in the comments of this post, our "close" relations with Saudi Arabia did not start with George W. Bush and Halliburton. Au contrare, mon frere....they started with a Democratic President - Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Our close relationship is not "just" for oil either. The Washington Post addressed some of the Myths of the US/Saudi Relationship in a May 2006 article., including SMUN's favorite BDS classic.

"The Bush family and the House of Saud are too close for comfort. An overstatement. Filmmaker Michael Moore and others are fond of pointing to the personal and business ties between the Bush family and the reigning Saud family. Unquestionably, the two families are close, in no small part because Saudi Arabia contributed to Operation Desert Storm in 1991, one of the highlights of President George H.W. Bush's tenure. The late King Fahd provided extensive financial and political assistance to the operation, and allowed U.S. troops on Saudi soil.But there is little evidence to suggest that such support has led the Bush family to make decisions at odds with U.S. interests. All previous presidents have sought close relations with the kingdom, recognizing its value to the United States. Even presidents such as Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy, who were initially skeptical of the Saudis, found themselves drawn to this relationship for strategic reasons." (emphasis mine)

Gee Michael Moore exhaggerating or engaging in propoganda and all out falsehoods? Who'da thunk it?

So now that we have that little cannard out of the way, we can get on to Islam and it's eternal oppression of women. (HT Captain Ed)

"Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — THE hem of my heavy Islamic cloak trailed over floors that glistened like ice. I walked faster, my eyes fixed on a familiar, green icon. I hadn't seen a Starbucks in months, but there it was, tucked into a corner of a fancy shopping mall in the Saudi capital. After all those bitter little cups of sludgy Arabic coffee, here at last was an improbable snippet of home — caffeinated, comforting, American.I wandered into the shop, filling my lungs with the rich wafts of coffee. The man behind the counter gave me a bemused look; his eyes flickered. I asked for a latte. He shrugged, the milk steamer whined, and he handed over the brimming paper cup. I turned my back on his uneasy face.Crossing the cafe, I felt the hard stares of Saudi men. A few of them stopped talking as I walked by and watched me pass. Them, too, I ignored. Finally, coffee in hand, I sank into the sumptuous lap of an overstuffed armchair."Excuse me," hissed the voice in my ear. "You can't sit here." The man from the counter had appeared at my elbow. He was glaring."Excuse me?" I blinked a few times."Emmm," he drew his discomfort into a long syllable, his brows knitted. "You cannot stay here." "What? Uh … why?" Then he said it: "Men only." He didn't tell me what I would learn later: Starbucks had another, unmarked door around back that led to a smaller espresso bar, and a handful of tables smothered by curtains. That was the "family" section. As a woman, that's where I belonged. I had no right to mix with male customers or sit in plain view of passing shoppers. Like the segregated South of a bygone United States, today's Saudi Arabia shunts half the population into separate, inferior and usually invisible spaces." (emphasis mine)

Imagine, if you will, for one moment that instead of "Men only" the barista had said "Whites only". Do you think the silence from the left would be as deafening as it is in this case? Do you think that for one moment there would be any calls for "understanding a different culture"? To the author's credit, she asks that question of herself.

"I spent my days in Saudi Arabia struggling unhappily between a lifetime of being taught to respect foreign cultures and the realization that this culture judged me a lesser being. I tried to draw parallels: If I went to South Africa during apartheid, would I feel compelled to be polite?"

The abaya was more than a garment, it was nothing more than soft shackles....designed to keep the woman bound to her "superiors".

"The sleeves, the length of it, always felt foreign, at first. But it never took long to work its alchemy, to plant the insecurity. After a day or two, the notion of appearing without the robe felt shocking. Stripped of the layers of curve-smothering cloth, my ordinary clothes suddenly felt revealing, even garish. To me, the abaya implied that a woman's body is a distraction and an interruption, a thing that must be hidden from view lest it haul the society into vice and disarray. The simple act of wearing the robe implanted that self-consciousness by osmosis."

To be fair, not all Saudi men want to keep their wives and daughters enslaved.

"Over coffee one afternoon, an economist told me wistfully of the days when he and his wife had studied overseas, how she'd hopped behind the wheel and did her own thing. She's an independent, outspoken woman, he said. Coming back home to Riyadh had depressed both of them."Here, I got another dependent: my wife," he said. He found himself driving her around, chaperoning her as if she were a child. "When they see a woman walking alone here, it's like a wolf watching a sheep. 'Let me take what's unattended.' " He told me that both he and his wife hoped, desperately, that social and political reform would finally dawn in the kingdom. He thought foreign academics were too easy on Saudi Arabia, that they urged only minor changes instead of all-out democracy because they secretly regarded Saudis as "savages" incapable of handling too much freedom."I call them propaganda papers," he said of the foreign analysis. "They come up with all these lame excuses." He and his wife had already lost hope for themselves, he said."For ourselves, the train has left the station. We are trapped," he said. "I think about my kids. At least when I look at myself in the mirror I'll say: 'At least I said this. At least I wrote this.' " (emphasis mine)

He's right - these propoganda papers do nothing but continue to promote the kind of "soft racism" that the liberals tend to pedal. They talk about civil rights all the while keeping minorities tied to dependence on the government (welfare) to take care of them. He's right and we are just too blind to see it!

Finally the author tells a story that should make a cold shudder run down the backs of ALL western women.

"WHEN Saudi officials chat with an American reporter, they go to great lengths to depict a moderate, misunderstood kingdom. They complain about stereotypes in the Western press: Women banned from driving? Well, they don't want to drive anyway. They all have drivers, and why would a lady want to mess with parking?The religious police who stalk the streets and shopping centers, forcing "Islamic values" onto the populace? Oh, Saudi officials say, they really aren't important, or strict, or powerful. You hear stories to the contrary? Mere exaggerations, perpetuated by people who don't understand Saudi Arabia.I had an interview one afternoon with a relatively high-ranking Saudi official. Since I can't drive anywhere or meet a man in a cafe, I usually end up inviting sources for coffee in the lobby of my hotel, where the staff turns a blind eye to whether those in the "family section" are really family.As the elevator touched down and the shiny doors swung open onto the lobby, the official rushed toward me."Do you think we could talk in your room?" he blurted out.I stepped back. What was this, some crazy come-on? "No, why?" I stammered, stepping wide around him. "We can sit right over here." I wanted to get to the coffee shop — no dice. He swung himself around, blocking my path and my view."It's not a good idea," he said. "Let's just go to your room." "I really don't think … I mean," I said, stuttering in embarrassment.Then, peering over his shoulder, I saw them: two beefy men in robes. Great bushes of beards sprang from their chins, they swung canes in their hands and scanned the hotel lobby through squinted eyes."Is that the religious police?" I said. "It is!" I was a little mesmerized. I'd always wanted to see them in action.The ministry official seemed to shrink a little, his shoulders slumped in defeat."They're not supposed to be here," he muttered despondently. "What are they doing here?" "Well, why don't we go to the mall next door?" I said, eyes fixed on the menacing men. "There's a coffee shop there, we could try that." "No, they will go there next." While he wrung his hands nervously, I stepped back a little and considered the irony of our predicament. To avoid running afoul of what may be the world's most stringent public moral code, I was being asked to entertain a strange, older man in my hotel room, something I would never agree to back home."

This is a very long, very important article. Anyone who is a woman or knows a woman needs to read it and understand that Osama bin Ladin and his Wahhibist teachers come from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Oh sure, the House of Saud says they are modern and understanding, but after this article, we all now know better!