Pictures from Saudi Arabia

Monday, 12 March 2007
By Sabria S Jawhar
The Saudi Gazette

Picture 1: Hanadi is flying. She is enjoying the view of her beloved country from the sky. Flying is not new to Hanadi because she’s been doing it for so long. The only difference this time is that she’s sitting in the cockpit, flying the plane. Hanadi safely lands. She picks up her stuff and rushes to the airport gate. OOPS! She can’t drive home. Well, not a big issue. She calls her mother and asks for the driver. Another hour that she could have spent flying is wasted. Lucky her. At least she knows what freedom means.

• COMMENT: The women’s driving issue was closed in the Shoura Council even before it was discussed.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Picture 2: Rania is hiding in a dark corner in an unknown place. She is neither a criminal nor a prisoner. She is simply hiding from her family. Suddenly, she forgets her pain as a smile spreads across her face. Her unborn baby of seven months is moving inside her womb. Dad is in prison.

She imagines a conversation with her unborn child:

Baby: Why is dad in prison? Is dad a criminal? Was that because he left you alone?

Rania: No baby. Your dad is a noble man. Actually he did nothing but marry me against your grandma’s will.

Baby: Will he be there when I come to life?

Rania: God knows.

• COMMENT: Rania is divorced against her will due to unequal tribal backgrounds.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Picture 3: Eiman is a 36-year-old physician. She is packing her luggage in preparation for a work trip. She is invited to present a research paper at an international symposium. Her official papers are ready and, unlike others, she is guaranteed a visa. OOPS, she cannot go. Her father passed away last year and her 18-year-old brother is not will not let her travel simply because she dared make him drive the same car for a whole year.

• COMMENT: Saudi women need a male guardian’s permission to travel abroad no matter what she does for a living.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Picture 4:Fatima is celebrating her fifth wedding anniversary. She looks happy as she sees her beloved husband and children around her. There is a knock on the door. It’s her half brothers.

Fatima: Wow, welcome brothers! I have been dreaming of this visit since I got married. Mansour, come and see who is visiting us.

Brothers: We are here to take you home.

Fatima: What are you saying? Stop joking and come and see my husband.

Brothers: You stop and come with us. This inferior man is not your husband anymore. We’ve got you divorced!

•COMMENT: Fatima’s is not the only case. There are more than 30 Saudi couples that are divorced because distant relatives objected to the marriage.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Picture 5: Manal finishes her education with a degree in mathematics. Her professor tells her she has a great future ahead of her. Seven years pass and she is still waiting for that great future at the gates of the Civil Services bureau.

• COMMENT: Manal is one of thousands of unemployed Saudi women. The rate of unemployment among Saudi females is estimated at 16 percent. Welcome to the club, Manal, there is always space for newcomers.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Picture 6: The minister of Labor announces the opening of new employment offices throughout the Kingdom in order to count the number of unemployed and find them suitable jobs based on their qualifications. Women are the first to wake up like early birds. But the offices are open only for male candidates. Women’s opportunities will come as a second step. Go home and enjoy the luxury of being taken care of. Women are created to be wives and mothers not to demand jobs, a labor office employee says.

• COMMENT: Women comprise only 16 percent of the labor force




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Picture 7: Amal wakes up at 4 in the morning. Carrying her preparation book, she throws a last look at her room, home and face in the mirror. She travels 300 kilometers outside her city to her job as a teacher in a rural area. Looking at the road behind, she wonders whether she’ll see the same mountains and trees again.

The phone rings.

Amal’s father: Assalamu Alaikum. Who’s this?

The caller: The police. I am sorry to tell you that your daughter has died in a car accident on her way to school. Would you please come and receive the body.

• COMMENT: The Ministry of Education has no comment while dozens of female teachers die each year in road accidents in rural areas.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Picture 8: Amenah is happy to see her son Mohammad finally going to school. Twelve years pass. Now it’s time for university.

Employee: Today is allocated only for Saudi students.

Mohammad: I am Saudi.

Employee: You are not, your papers say so.

Mohammad: I am Saudi. I am no different than those around me. Look at me. I speak your dialect and wear your clothes.

Employee: Only your mother is Saudi. Stay away please and make way to those behind you.

• COMMENT: Children of Saudi women from a non-Saudi father do not get citizenship by birth.

NOTE: In October 2000, the Saudi government signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) with a reservation about clauses in conflict with Islamic law.