Veiled Hopes

“Next week, Saudi Arabia is to hold its first elections of any kind for 40 years. Women - who are beginning to make their way in business, journalism and industry - had expected to have the vote: six even put their names forward as candidates. But, in one of the world's most repressive societies, they have been banned from the poll. Can the women who've been struggling for their rights regain lost ground? Natasha Walter finds them in determined mood.”

I encourage you to read the entire article. Contemplating the present state of affairs in the Arab world, Walter writes, “The anger created by the occupation of Palestine by Israel and of Iraq by America have made it impossible for Arabs to look to the west as a moral touchstone. But this does not mean an end to the pursuit of women's rights. Progressive women in Saudi Arabia continually refer to the Koran in order to argue that, in the deepest traditions of Islam, women could participate politically, could work freely, could travel, could have a voice in society.”