Monday, 19 February 2007
By Sabria S Jawhar
The Saudi Gazette
Conservative politicians in the United States are apparently worrying that too many Saudi students are being admitted to colleges on student visas.
They seem to think that all or some of them may be potential terrorists because 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers were Saudis. Recent statistics show that nearly 10,000 Saudis are in the United States on student visas and more are expected.
Fear does funny things to people. Conservatives would say that it’s only logical that if Saudis were involved in 9/11 then it stands to reason that more are on their way.
Unfortunately, Saudis are being painted with a broad brush. And to condemn Saudi students as potential terrorists does nothing to foster understanding between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
For many of us Saudis, we have older brothers, fathers and uncles who have benefited from a Western education. Not only are they better for it, Saudi society benefits too. And if Saudi Arabia benefits from its citizens receiving a US education, then so does the United States. My editor-in-chief and several of my colleagues in the media were educated in the United States. My two brothers were educated at US universities as well. My younger brother, in fact, was in San Diego on Sept. 11, 2001. He is eager to return.
What’s troubling for me, though, is the hostile attitude in some conservative circles towards Saudis and Muslims. For all the talk of spreading democracy in the Middle East, there seems to be an attitude that perhaps it’s better to spread democracy at the point of a gun instead of using a technique more useful like education.
Neo-conservatives seem to want everything no matter how little sense it makes. They want to spread democracy but on their terms. They want to limit or even eliminate immigration of Muslims across their borders. The message is: Democracy, sure, but we will export it to your country. Please don’t come here.
That aside, the ramifications for young Saudi students can be serious. We’ve already seen young Saudis detained at airports on a variety of technical issues. The most recent case was of several Saudi men being detained in Philadelphia for bringing in pirated CDs (boy, if only the US government knew that just about every household has shelves full of pirated CDs and DVDs!).
In the West certainly, 18- to 21-year-old men can go just about anywhere in the world for an education and fit in relatively well. But young Saudi men generally live sheltered lives, rarely venturing outside their family circles and close friends. They are not often emotionally capable of handling culture shock in the West with its freedoms, its laws, and maybe the distrust and suspicions of Westerners who know little about Arabs and Muslims.
Just look at what happened to those Egyptian boys who decided to seek adventure and a little fun by roaming the streets in the US instead of going to the university they were supposed to attend. They were labeled terrorists and had the media in an uproar until all were found and sent home. Lack of communication and cultural misunderstandings can often blow things out of proportion. How would a young Saudi man with no life experiences outside the supervision of his family handle a stranger demanding answers to questions the boy doesn’t understand in the first place?
When King Abdullah, when he was the crown prince two years ago, made an agreement with President Bush to create better opportunities for Saudi students to study in the US, it was greeted with relief and joy by Saudis.
Yet we need to be mindful that certain elements in the United States are working against this program and foster hate and misinformation about the intention of Saudis. We must be mindful that our students need to be protected from these people. And we need to remind the US that they bear responsibility for their safety. If the US wants good relations with Saudi Arabia, and if it wants to spread goodwill and the ideals of democracy, as they did with my brothers who love what the US has to offer, then they have to do a better job of countering the stereotyping that all Muslims are terrorists or there is no such thing as a moderate Muslim.
Saudis loathe Al-Qaeda and what it stands for. We hate what the hijackers did to 3,000 innocent people, and also what they did to all Muslims who now must face the consequences.
Let’s make sure our students are protected when they are abroad.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
Ethnic-Based Discrimination
Monday, 12 February 2007
By Sabria S Jawhar
The Saudi Gazette
Recently I met a friend of mine who works as a nurse at a government hospital. She looked upset and unmotivated. She told me that she feels there is a sort of ethnic-based discrimination in the organization where she works.
She also said that she feels inferior when she compares her salary to that of her colleague who gets more than double because she is Westerner.
“We work in the same ward and do the same job,” she said.
I used to think that perhaps Saudis hunt for cheap foreign labor, which is reflected in the quality of the job when they come here.
I called a friend who works in the Saudi health sector. He told me that when they look for new staff they usually look for countries that offer the needed specialty. Then, they look for qualified people among the list based on cost. For instance, if they find the same specialty with the same qualifications in a south Asian country and in a Western one, they go to the Asian simply because it costs less. From an economic perspective, that sounded fair enough. Yet still the problem to me was what if the number of specialists from the Asian country does not match that in demand and we had to complete it with experts from a Western country? Are we going to employ the two nurses in the same department and ask them to carry out the same responsibilities while we pay one more than the other?
Indian and Filipina nurses, for instance, might accept it and feel excited at the beginning especially that most of them come to the Kingdom with heavy debts and need the monthly paycheck to send home to their families. But that won’t last long as they will start comparing their salaries to those of the Westerners and would feel inferior. This feeling of injustice would be reflected in their performance and attitude towards their employers. They would also consider that as a sort of ethnic-based discrimination.
I discussed the issue with a member of the Shoura Council. He told me that people have to differentiate between the minimum wages that are usually laid down by the government for its own citizens and the minimum contract value that is usually determined by the government of the target country.
That value, he said, is usually determined according to different factors, including rate of unemployment in that country, the availability of the specialty and the standard of living in both the native and host countries.
He said the cost of education in a Western country is different from that in Asia. In most of the cases employees from Western countries get trained in internationally certified establishments that are equipped with state-of-the-art technology. By the end of the day, he added, it is a matter of supply and demand and developing countries are keen to get their people employed in order to survive.
I still feel sad for my Indian friend as it is easy to explain that fact to her but how to explain the gap in the standard of living between her and her colleague inside Saudi Arabia taking into consideration the cost of living here? That difference might not be so apparent among those who work for government establishments as they work hard to create a homogeneous atmosphere for all nationalities.
But the fact that foreigners hold about 90 percent of the jobs in the private sector and that there is a huge potential for exploitation and bad living standard, there is a huge disincentive to make waves.
The overwhelming majority of those 90 percent come from Asia, not from the West. For example, the largest Indian expatriate community in the world is in Saudi Arabia. It stands at more than 1 million workers. Bangladesh has almost about the same number and so does Pakistan.
Low-income workers, in most of the cases, live a miserable life just to save as much as possible to send back home to their families. Sometimes they would rather die than to go to a private hospital for medication. They are not allowed to bring in their families. Their income in most of the cases doesn’t help them to go home annually to see them. I believe if there is minimum contract value for this class of workers fixed in their countries, this should be reviewed by their own governments. If not, then the Saudi government must make sure that they get a salary that allows them to lead a respectful life during their stay, like in some of the Western countries.
If their wages were raised to an acceptable level, those workers will be able to have their families with them. This means that they will spend part of their income on their families here and that a huge part of the Saudi money will stay here instead of being transferred. This will also make them feel stable and more productive as they have their near and dear ones around.
By Sabria S Jawhar
The Saudi Gazette
Recently I met a friend of mine who works as a nurse at a government hospital. She looked upset and unmotivated. She told me that she feels there is a sort of ethnic-based discrimination in the organization where she works.
She also said that she feels inferior when she compares her salary to that of her colleague who gets more than double because she is Westerner.
“We work in the same ward and do the same job,” she said.
I used to think that perhaps Saudis hunt for cheap foreign labor, which is reflected in the quality of the job when they come here.
I called a friend who works in the Saudi health sector. He told me that when they look for new staff they usually look for countries that offer the needed specialty. Then, they look for qualified people among the list based on cost. For instance, if they find the same specialty with the same qualifications in a south Asian country and in a Western one, they go to the Asian simply because it costs less. From an economic perspective, that sounded fair enough. Yet still the problem to me was what if the number of specialists from the Asian country does not match that in demand and we had to complete it with experts from a Western country? Are we going to employ the two nurses in the same department and ask them to carry out the same responsibilities while we pay one more than the other?
Indian and Filipina nurses, for instance, might accept it and feel excited at the beginning especially that most of them come to the Kingdom with heavy debts and need the monthly paycheck to send home to their families. But that won’t last long as they will start comparing their salaries to those of the Westerners and would feel inferior. This feeling of injustice would be reflected in their performance and attitude towards their employers. They would also consider that as a sort of ethnic-based discrimination.
I discussed the issue with a member of the Shoura Council. He told me that people have to differentiate between the minimum wages that are usually laid down by the government for its own citizens and the minimum contract value that is usually determined by the government of the target country.
That value, he said, is usually determined according to different factors, including rate of unemployment in that country, the availability of the specialty and the standard of living in both the native and host countries.
He said the cost of education in a Western country is different from that in Asia. In most of the cases employees from Western countries get trained in internationally certified establishments that are equipped with state-of-the-art technology. By the end of the day, he added, it is a matter of supply and demand and developing countries are keen to get their people employed in order to survive.
I still feel sad for my Indian friend as it is easy to explain that fact to her but how to explain the gap in the standard of living between her and her colleague inside Saudi Arabia taking into consideration the cost of living here? That difference might not be so apparent among those who work for government establishments as they work hard to create a homogeneous atmosphere for all nationalities.
But the fact that foreigners hold about 90 percent of the jobs in the private sector and that there is a huge potential for exploitation and bad living standard, there is a huge disincentive to make waves.
The overwhelming majority of those 90 percent come from Asia, not from the West. For example, the largest Indian expatriate community in the world is in Saudi Arabia. It stands at more than 1 million workers. Bangladesh has almost about the same number and so does Pakistan.
Low-income workers, in most of the cases, live a miserable life just to save as much as possible to send back home to their families. Sometimes they would rather die than to go to a private hospital for medication. They are not allowed to bring in their families. Their income in most of the cases doesn’t help them to go home annually to see them. I believe if there is minimum contract value for this class of workers fixed in their countries, this should be reviewed by their own governments. If not, then the Saudi government must make sure that they get a salary that allows them to lead a respectful life during their stay, like in some of the Western countries.
If their wages were raised to an acceptable level, those workers will be able to have their families with them. This means that they will spend part of their income on their families here and that a huge part of the Saudi money will stay here instead of being transferred. This will also make them feel stable and more productive as they have their near and dear ones around.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Waiting for a Glimpse of Hope
Monday, 05 February 2007
By Sabria S Jawhar
The Saudi Gazette
The call of King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosque, for the leaders of Palestinian parties, Fatah and Hamas, to meet at Makkah Tuesday has come at a very critical time.
It’s a sincere call from a country that has always proved its support to the Arab and Palestinian issues. At the same time, it’s directed at putting an end to the violence that has cost more than two dozen lives in Gaza, in the deadliest round of clashes since Hamas came to power a year ago.
The recent deadly violence in the occupied Strip has added more to the misery of the Palestinian people who have suffered the practices of the occupation and the international isolation that was led by the United States for no reason other than the Palestinians’ exercise of their democratic right to choose their own government.
King Abdullah’s awareness of the sensitivity of the situation in the Middle East has also led him to choose Makkah as a place for the meeting. The choice was based on the special statues that Makkah has in the hearts of Muslims around the glob.
Bringing together the different parties in a country that has no interest in exacerbating the disputes among Palestinian and away from the influence of those who work hard to inflame the situation among Muslims in the region, was also another wise step by the King that should be appreciated.
Also the fact that the ruling Hamas movement and Fatah both immediately welcomed the King’s offer reflected the good intention of both parties.
However, the agreement to come together and discuss the issue is not enough by itself. They must seriously consider the consequences of any new failure, as this could be their last chance for survival. The call was preceded by a tragic failure of a long-awaited meeting convened in Damascus between Khaled Meshaal and Mahmoud Abbas last month to achieve a final agreement.
That failure and the bloody consequences should be motivation for both leaders to go beyond their own interests.
They should also come to Makkah with open minds and a sincere desire to bridge the gap. They must demonstrate a willingness to compromise in order to lead their people to a safe destination.
Fighting over a powerless and near-bankrupt authority is not going to achieve the goals of any party.
The leaders must be aware that losing dozens of lives in such a short period would not support their international stand. On the contrary, it would paint them as terrorists and killers who care about nothing but power even if over a weak and occupied piece of land. It will also create a deeper division among their supporters at a time when they are in a dire need to stand united against Israeli occupation.
More importantly, the leaders should remain on guard against the bad intentions of certain elements within both camps that are pushing for a conflict between Fatah and Hamas to serve their own selfish political and personal ends.
Palestinian leaders must know that unity is an attainable goal if strong will and good intentions were fully incorporated. An independent state that stands strong in front of danger cannot be realized by guns or over dead bodies.
Abbas and Meshaal must now solicit the hearts and minds of people in the Muslim and Western worlds who look towards Makkah for a glimpse of hope. Letting them down means the end to the Palestinian dream, which is the ultimate goal of their enemies.
By Sabria S Jawhar
The Saudi Gazette
The call of King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosque, for the leaders of Palestinian parties, Fatah and Hamas, to meet at Makkah Tuesday has come at a very critical time.
It’s a sincere call from a country that has always proved its support to the Arab and Palestinian issues. At the same time, it’s directed at putting an end to the violence that has cost more than two dozen lives in Gaza, in the deadliest round of clashes since Hamas came to power a year ago.
The recent deadly violence in the occupied Strip has added more to the misery of the Palestinian people who have suffered the practices of the occupation and the international isolation that was led by the United States for no reason other than the Palestinians’ exercise of their democratic right to choose their own government.
King Abdullah’s awareness of the sensitivity of the situation in the Middle East has also led him to choose Makkah as a place for the meeting. The choice was based on the special statues that Makkah has in the hearts of Muslims around the glob.
Bringing together the different parties in a country that has no interest in exacerbating the disputes among Palestinian and away from the influence of those who work hard to inflame the situation among Muslims in the region, was also another wise step by the King that should be appreciated.
Also the fact that the ruling Hamas movement and Fatah both immediately welcomed the King’s offer reflected the good intention of both parties.
However, the agreement to come together and discuss the issue is not enough by itself. They must seriously consider the consequences of any new failure, as this could be their last chance for survival. The call was preceded by a tragic failure of a long-awaited meeting convened in Damascus between Khaled Meshaal and Mahmoud Abbas last month to achieve a final agreement.
That failure and the bloody consequences should be motivation for both leaders to go beyond their own interests.
They should also come to Makkah with open minds and a sincere desire to bridge the gap. They must demonstrate a willingness to compromise in order to lead their people to a safe destination.
Fighting over a powerless and near-bankrupt authority is not going to achieve the goals of any party.
The leaders must be aware that losing dozens of lives in such a short period would not support their international stand. On the contrary, it would paint them as terrorists and killers who care about nothing but power even if over a weak and occupied piece of land. It will also create a deeper division among their supporters at a time when they are in a dire need to stand united against Israeli occupation.
More importantly, the leaders should remain on guard against the bad intentions of certain elements within both camps that are pushing for a conflict between Fatah and Hamas to serve their own selfish political and personal ends.
Palestinian leaders must know that unity is an attainable goal if strong will and good intentions were fully incorporated. An independent state that stands strong in front of danger cannot be realized by guns or over dead bodies.
Abbas and Meshaal must now solicit the hearts and minds of people in the Muslim and Western worlds who look towards Makkah for a glimpse of hope. Letting them down means the end to the Palestinian dream, which is the ultimate goal of their enemies.
Jobs for Women in Courts Soon
Tuesday, 06 February 2007
The Saudi Gazette
DAMMAM
FOLLOWING a request by the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Civil Services is planing to offer jobs to women in the women’s sections of the main Shariah Courts in all regions.
The Al-Watan Arabic-language daily learnt about the development from an informed source Sunday.
The source said the ministry would strive to count the required vacancies and open the way for women to apply for them through the Ministry of Civil Services branches during the next few months.
A time plan, priorities and conditions for these vacancies exist. Required specializations, most importantly business administration and the Shariah, are among the priorities.
The source said this measure will take place following the proposal submitted by the Employment Affairs Department to the Ministry of Justice to open women’s sections in the major Shariah Courts in every region. These sections will deal with women’s cases received by the courts.
He said the female employees’ functions will be restricted to administrative affairs only.
Organizing the judicial registers, receiving women visiting the courts for cases or other judicial matters and clarifying the concept of the judiciary to women will be part of their job description. They will also be involved in social cases involving divorce (Talaaq) or demand of a divorce (Khul’a).
The Saudi Gazette
DAMMAM
FOLLOWING a request by the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Civil Services is planing to offer jobs to women in the women’s sections of the main Shariah Courts in all regions.
The Al-Watan Arabic-language daily learnt about the development from an informed source Sunday.
The source said the ministry would strive to count the required vacancies and open the way for women to apply for them through the Ministry of Civil Services branches during the next few months.
A time plan, priorities and conditions for these vacancies exist. Required specializations, most importantly business administration and the Shariah, are among the priorities.
The source said this measure will take place following the proposal submitted by the Employment Affairs Department to the Ministry of Justice to open women’s sections in the major Shariah Courts in every region. These sections will deal with women’s cases received by the courts.
He said the female employees’ functions will be restricted to administrative affairs only.
Organizing the judicial registers, receiving women visiting the courts for cases or other judicial matters and clarifying the concept of the judiciary to women will be part of their job description. They will also be involved in social cases involving divorce (Talaaq) or demand of a divorce (Khul’a).
A Human Concept
Editorial from the Saudi Gazette
A Saudi not long ago was being driven by his brother along the Corniche in Jeddah while the brother had his 4-year-old son in his lap playing with the steering wheel.
The Saudi complained to his brother that the boy was not safe and should be restrained in the backseat. The driver snapped back that his brother shouldn’t be so concerned with modern Western concepts and continued to keep the boy in his lap as he sped along the roads weaving in and out of traffic.
Never mind the silly notion that the safety of our loved ones is a Western concept. Rather, it’s a human concept to protect the people we love. And if the driver was so concerned about Western influences, perhaps he shouldn’t be driving a Ford Crown Victoria.
Motorists in Saudi Arabia seemed to be blind to the fact that poor driving habits and unrestrained passengers result in serious injury or death.
The Kingdom has a seatbelt law and usually drivers and front passengers observe the law. The same can’t be said for passengers in the backseat and children. A daily scene on the Kingdom’s streets is kids flopping out of windows to wave at passing cars, playing games in the storage area of SUVs or popping out of sunroofs like a Jack-in-the-Box. Infants are cradled in mothers’ laps, making perfect projectiles through the windshield in the event of a collision or sudden stop. Saudi women, apparently our national treasure to be protected and pampered, routinely use taxis that have no seatbelts in the back seats.
It’s difficult to understand why drivers are so indifferent to safety. Few motorists in the Kingdom observe traffic laws. Red lights are ignored. Drivers turn right without stopping. Pedestrians are virtually invisible to drivers and are at peril. Motorists turn left from a far right-hand lane. Turn indicators are rarely used. Common courtesies like allowing another motorist the right-of-way is considered an assault on one’s masculinity. Travel and tourism experts often say the best way to judge a country’s airline safety record is to consider its traffic laws on the ground. If traffic laws are enforced and obeyed, a traveler can have confidence in the country’s national carrier.
Perhaps we should stop excusing our bad behavior with arguments that we are a developing country or that seatbelts and car seats for children are Western inventions and therefore evil. Maybe we should be thinking about that little guy or girl in the backseat and how we should make sure they grow up to see adulthood.
A Saudi not long ago was being driven by his brother along the Corniche in Jeddah while the brother had his 4-year-old son in his lap playing with the steering wheel.
The Saudi complained to his brother that the boy was not safe and should be restrained in the backseat. The driver snapped back that his brother shouldn’t be so concerned with modern Western concepts and continued to keep the boy in his lap as he sped along the roads weaving in and out of traffic.
Never mind the silly notion that the safety of our loved ones is a Western concept. Rather, it’s a human concept to protect the people we love. And if the driver was so concerned about Western influences, perhaps he shouldn’t be driving a Ford Crown Victoria.
Motorists in Saudi Arabia seemed to be blind to the fact that poor driving habits and unrestrained passengers result in serious injury or death.
The Kingdom has a seatbelt law and usually drivers and front passengers observe the law. The same can’t be said for passengers in the backseat and children. A daily scene on the Kingdom’s streets is kids flopping out of windows to wave at passing cars, playing games in the storage area of SUVs or popping out of sunroofs like a Jack-in-the-Box. Infants are cradled in mothers’ laps, making perfect projectiles through the windshield in the event of a collision or sudden stop. Saudi women, apparently our national treasure to be protected and pampered, routinely use taxis that have no seatbelts in the back seats.
It’s difficult to understand why drivers are so indifferent to safety. Few motorists in the Kingdom observe traffic laws. Red lights are ignored. Drivers turn right without stopping. Pedestrians are virtually invisible to drivers and are at peril. Motorists turn left from a far right-hand lane. Turn indicators are rarely used. Common courtesies like allowing another motorist the right-of-way is considered an assault on one’s masculinity. Travel and tourism experts often say the best way to judge a country’s airline safety record is to consider its traffic laws on the ground. If traffic laws are enforced and obeyed, a traveler can have confidence in the country’s national carrier.
Perhaps we should stop excusing our bad behavior with arguments that we are a developing country or that seatbelts and car seats for children are Western inventions and therefore evil. Maybe we should be thinking about that little guy or girl in the backseat and how we should make sure they grow up to see adulthood.
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Divorced Against her Will
Monday, 29 January 2007
By Sabria S. Jawhar
The Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH
Fatima Al-Timani, 34-year-old Saudi woman who has spent seven months in prison protesting against her forced divorce by her half-brothers, has lost her battle and her husband.
An appeals court in Riyadh endorsed a lower court ruling which granted divorce to Fatima from her husband Mansour Al-Timani, 37, in absentia and against her will.
Fatima’s lawyer Abdul-Rahman Al-Lahem said the court backed the divorce on the basis of the man’s family background.
“The appeals court in Riyadh has supported the divorce because of ‘inappropriate lineage,’” he said in a statement.
Fatima’s family began legal action in 2005, saying her husband was not of sufficiently prestigious tribal stock to marry her, and had lied about his tribal background.
Justice Ibrahim Al-Farraj divorced the couple in absentia in the northern city of Al-Jouf.
The couple, who married four years ago, fled to Jeddah to escape the implementation of the ruling, but they were arrested.
Fatima and her two children – 2-year-old Noha and 1-year-old Salman – were allowed to return to her blood-family. But she refused to leave the prison in protest, saying, “I will leave prison only to go back to my husband.”
Mansour, too, was imprisoned. But he was allowed to go. First he refused to leave the prison in protest. But thinking that he could mount a better legal battle from outside, he left the prison.
After two months, prison officials granted Mansour the custody of 2-year-old Noha. He was allowed to visit the prison every Saturday to meet his son, and let Noha play with her mother. His contact with Fatima was through phone. That too was later stopped by prison officisals, who said that since Mansour was no longer Fatima’s husband he cannot talk to her.
The issue was dramatized in a popular comedy show aired in October that ridiculed the idea of tribal superiority.
Now, with the final judgment Fatima’s fate seems to have been sealed.
Will she remain in prison in protest for the remainder of her life?
Sameera Bitar, a Saudi businesswoman who closely followed the case, said that she was shocked by the news.
“Saudi Arabia is a country that built its judicial system on the Islamic principles that oppose all kind of discriminations,” she said, demanding the right to information on the circumstances upon which the court built up the case in Al-Jouf and finalized it in Riyadh.
“A spokesman of the Ministry of Justice should explain to the public the religious aspect concerning this case otherwise it would be considered as a new form of discrimination in Saudi society,” Bitar said.
She noted the difference between what is practiced and what is preached as far as women’s rights are concerned.
Maysoon Dakhiel, associate professor of Education and Psychology at the Girls Collage in Jeddah, was in the team formed by Bitar to support Mansour.
She said the court’s decision would leave women in Saudi Arabia with an increased sense of insecurity. “We are simply embracing the ruling of traditions and customs over that of religion,” she said.
Dakhiel was afraid that the news of the verdict would fly abroad and would be misused by the foreign media and human rights organization against the Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia, she said, has been among the countries that signed most of the human rights charters, especially the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. By such a judgment and separating a married couple against their will, the court is violating basic human rights, she added.
Omar Al-Babtain, owner of Dar Al-Mashoorah consulting company and a member of the supporting team, said that by upholding the verdict Riyadh court has confirmed its denial of the basic human rights.
“The verdict also confirmed the extreme discrimination among citizens based on ethnic background,” he said.
He, however, hoped that this story would be a trigger for real actions toward codifying Saudi judicial law on Islamic Shariah.
By Sabria S. Jawhar
The Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH
Fatima Al-Timani, 34-year-old Saudi woman who has spent seven months in prison protesting against her forced divorce by her half-brothers, has lost her battle and her husband.
An appeals court in Riyadh endorsed a lower court ruling which granted divorce to Fatima from her husband Mansour Al-Timani, 37, in absentia and against her will.
Fatima’s lawyer Abdul-Rahman Al-Lahem said the court backed the divorce on the basis of the man’s family background.
“The appeals court in Riyadh has supported the divorce because of ‘inappropriate lineage,’” he said in a statement.
Fatima’s family began legal action in 2005, saying her husband was not of sufficiently prestigious tribal stock to marry her, and had lied about his tribal background.
Justice Ibrahim Al-Farraj divorced the couple in absentia in the northern city of Al-Jouf.
The couple, who married four years ago, fled to Jeddah to escape the implementation of the ruling, but they were arrested.
Fatima and her two children – 2-year-old Noha and 1-year-old Salman – were allowed to return to her blood-family. But she refused to leave the prison in protest, saying, “I will leave prison only to go back to my husband.”
Mansour, too, was imprisoned. But he was allowed to go. First he refused to leave the prison in protest. But thinking that he could mount a better legal battle from outside, he left the prison.
After two months, prison officials granted Mansour the custody of 2-year-old Noha. He was allowed to visit the prison every Saturday to meet his son, and let Noha play with her mother. His contact with Fatima was through phone. That too was later stopped by prison officisals, who said that since Mansour was no longer Fatima’s husband he cannot talk to her.
The issue was dramatized in a popular comedy show aired in October that ridiculed the idea of tribal superiority.
Now, with the final judgment Fatima’s fate seems to have been sealed.
Will she remain in prison in protest for the remainder of her life?
Sameera Bitar, a Saudi businesswoman who closely followed the case, said that she was shocked by the news.
“Saudi Arabia is a country that built its judicial system on the Islamic principles that oppose all kind of discriminations,” she said, demanding the right to information on the circumstances upon which the court built up the case in Al-Jouf and finalized it in Riyadh.
“A spokesman of the Ministry of Justice should explain to the public the religious aspect concerning this case otherwise it would be considered as a new form of discrimination in Saudi society,” Bitar said.
She noted the difference between what is practiced and what is preached as far as women’s rights are concerned.
Maysoon Dakhiel, associate professor of Education and Psychology at the Girls Collage in Jeddah, was in the team formed by Bitar to support Mansour.
She said the court’s decision would leave women in Saudi Arabia with an increased sense of insecurity. “We are simply embracing the ruling of traditions and customs over that of religion,” she said.
Dakhiel was afraid that the news of the verdict would fly abroad and would be misused by the foreign media and human rights organization against the Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia, she said, has been among the countries that signed most of the human rights charters, especially the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. By such a judgment and separating a married couple against their will, the court is violating basic human rights, she added.
Omar Al-Babtain, owner of Dar Al-Mashoorah consulting company and a member of the supporting team, said that by upholding the verdict Riyadh court has confirmed its denial of the basic human rights.
“The verdict also confirmed the extreme discrimination among citizens based on ethnic background,” he said.
He, however, hoped that this story would be a trigger for real actions toward codifying Saudi judicial law on Islamic Shariah.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)