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Saudi activist held over solo protest

August 4th, 2006Mideast Youth

From Al Jazeera-

A Saudi rights activist said on Friday that she was detained for several hours by police after carrying out a one-woman protest for women’s rights on a causeway linking Saudi Arabia to Bahrain.

Wajiha al-Huweidar, 45, said she was arrested after walking across the causeway carrying a placard urging King Abdullah, ruler of Saudi Arabia, to grant more rights to women in the conservative kingdom.

“A year after his [King Abdullah's] enthronement and after promising us more rights, the picture on women’s rights remains very opaque,” Huweidar, an educational analyst and writer, told Reuters news agency.

“I’m not alone in this – a lot of women in the country aspire for more rights.”

The current state of Saudi Arabia remains laughable. It’s turning into an actual prison – with nothing to do and no reason to even think, for your thoughts will never be exposed the way they would be in any normal and successful country. And they wonder why their youth consider education useless? What’s the point of education if you can’t use it to further yourself or your country? Are they striving to be like Afghanistan, where 79% of women can’t read or write?

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7 Responses to “Saudi activist held over solo protest”

  1. #1 leah - August 5th, 2006 at 1:08 am

    Sheesh. And to think I used to envy the fact that I would have had a personal chauffer to drive me everywhere, had I lived there. I hope she gives strength to others in that region.

  2. #2 atef - August 5th, 2006 at 2:41 am

    a standing ovation, no less. Brave woman Wajiha, may your country see your worth

  3. #3 Esra'a - August 5th, 2006 at 5:54 am

    I hope she gives strength to others in that region.

    I think it’s our duty in Bahrain to help improve the status of women in Saudi. There are some great Saudi feminists who live and write from Europe and the States, but are given very little attention here in the Middle East, making people here less aware and more used to how much Saudi women lack.

  4. #4 Mideast Youth - Thinking ahead » The Rise of Women as Key Players in the Arab Gulf Communication Strategies - August 7th, 2006 at 3:57 pm

    [...] A huge and positive change indeed. I’m very proud to say that gender inequality is not something most women face in the Gulf – with the exception of Saudi, whose King shows no hope for progression. This entry is filed under Esra’a (Bahrain). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Leave a Reply [...]

  5. #5 Groom Speach - October 31st, 2009 at 12:56 pm

    I’m searching for sites related to making communications work and yours came up, this is helpful content, even though on a side track. TY.

  6. #6 Rubi Buff - January 24th, 2010 at 9:34 pm

    Good job, i need some time to think about this. I need some time to think about this

  7. #7 political satires - January 31st, 2010 at 1:48 am

    I by and large don’t leave comments!!! Believe me! Yet I enjoyed your web site…especially this post! I have a Political News Blog site

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