Kingdom That's Closed to Women: The Saudi Arabian Princesses Tethered by the Patriarchy

Saudi's strict modesty laws even apply to women shoppers

DAILY EXPRESS: ONCE upon a time there were four beautiful princesses called Sahar, Jawaher, Maha and Hala.

They lived in a fabulous palace and every year would go on two long holidays with their friends.

In winter they would ski at an exclusive resort in the French Alps. In summer they went to parties in Italy and Greece. Then, abruptly, the fairytale ended.

For the four sisters were part of the Saudi Arabian royal family and they had made the mistake of crossing the patriarchy that rules one of the most oppressive states in the world.

Now, instead of the carefree existence they once enjoyed as children of King Abdullah, they are trapped in a gilded cage.

The heavy metal gate that serves as the main entrance to the beachfront villa they occupy in the grounds of the royal palace in the Saudi capital Riyadh is padlocked at all times.

Guards in a watchtower keep them under observation 24 hours a day helped by the glare of spotlights after dark. And escape by sea is made impossible by underwater nets and concrete obstacles.

When the women do leave the compound to shop for food it is only with the permission of a half-brother who ensures their every move is monitored by a squad of plain-clothes security men.

There appears to be no respite from this house arrest as their London- based mother Alanoud Alfayez, distrustful of promises to grant her daughters’ freedom in exchange for her return, refuses to submit to the clutches of her ex-husband.

The plight of the Riyadh Four has come to light after a decade following publication of a plaintive email from two of the victims, Sahar, 42 and Jawaher, 38, and a plea by their mother to a UN agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. » | Dominic Midgley | Monday, March 10, 2014

Critiqué, Tariq Ramadan continue son travail à Rotterdam
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: ISLAM | La mairie soutient l'intellectuel genevois, après que des médias néerlandais lui aient prêté des propos homophobes. «Sortis de leur contexte», précise l'intéressé.

Photo: Google Images
La ville de Rotterdam a annoncé mercredi qu'elle poursuivait sa collaboration avec l'intellectuel genevois controversé Tariq Ramadan, conseiller de la mairie depuis 2007. Son poste était remis en question après des propos homophobes qui lui avaient été attribués par les médias néerlandais.

M. Ramadan "a, au sujet de l'homosexualité, un point de vue relativement conservateur", a reconnu Rik Grasshof, conseiller municipal à la Culture, lors d'une conférence de presse à Rotterdam. "Mais il a toujours été dans la même logique", a-t-il ajouté en présence de M. Ramadan, à savoir que "l'homosexualité est difficile à accepter en islam, mais le respect pour la personne prime" sur la religion. 
Voulant étouffer dans l'oeuf toute controverse, le conseil municipal a demandé une traduction assermentée de certains discours de M. Ramadan, reproduits fin mars dans De Gay Krant, un magazine pour homosexuels. >>> ATS/AFP | Mercredi 15 Avril 2009

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Dutch City Rules 'Euro Islam' Proponent Is not Homophobic

Rotterdam has exonerated Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan in an investigation over alleged homophobic and misogynistic statements he made in tapes aimed at immigrants. Holland's second largest city says it will retain him as an adviser to build bridges between its immigrant communities.

Last month, the Gay Krant, a newspaper for the homosexual community in the Netherlands, accused Tariq Ramadan of making homophobic and mysogenistic statements on tapes in Arabic destined for immigrant communities in Europe.

Ramadan, 46, a Swiss philosopher and theologist of Egyptian descent, was hired by the city of Rotterdam two years ago to "help lift the multicultural dialogue to a higher level". He dismissed the Gay Krant's accusations as slander.

The city of Rotterdam has since carried out its own investigation, the results of which were presented on Wednesday. The city had 54 Arabic-language cassette tapes translated and examined. According to council executive Rik Grasshof of the Green party GroenLinks, the Gay Krant's reporting was incomplete en [sic] inaccurate.

As a result, Ramadan's contract with the city will be extended for another two years, during which time he will lead public debates in an effort to bring the various communities in Rotterdam closer together. >>> By Mark Hoogstad | Thursday, April 16, 2009

Yes, They Can … Impose Sharia Law
FRONTPAGEMAG.COM: Sen. Barack Obama became president-elect on the uplifting, if inexact, slogan, "Yes, we can."

This week, there is growing evidence that people who have in mind doing away with the presidency of the United States - and all other aspects of our secular, democratic and constitutional form of government - are similarly convinced of their inevitable success. Judging by the sheer audacity of their agenda, "Yes, they can" would appear an apt description of the prospects for the Saudis and other champions of the totalitarian program they call Shariah.

In the run-up to an emergency summit outgoing President Bush has called to address the now-global financial crisis, the oil-rich Islamists of the Persian Gulf led by Saudi Arabia have not only established that their petrodollars are indispensable to any solution. They also seem to have secured the Bush administration's acquiescence to the sinister strings attached to any bailout of the West in which they might participate.

Specifically, the Saudis and their friends want the United States to join those, particularly in Europe, who have accommodated themselves to Shariah. No, we are assured, they aren't taking about the brutal theo-political-legal code that features such barbaric practices as beheadings, floggings, stonings, amputations, female genital mutilation and mysogeny more generally.

All they want, those in the know insist, is for Washington to encourage Wall Street - more and more of which is owned by the U.S. government - to embrace Shariah-Compliant Finance (SCF). A Treasury Department seminar convened last week depicted SCF as nothing more than a kind of socially responsible investing vehicle that respects Muslim religious beliefs by eschewing interest-bearing transactions and those involving pork and "sin" stocks. So, what's the big deal? The Catholics, Methodists and Jews have their funds, why not the Muslims?

What makes the Shariah-Compliant Finance gambit both a big and troublesome "deal" is that, unlike these other religious traditions, Shariah's adherents are pursuing a global theocracy. They believe they must impose their agenda on everybody else, religious and secular alike, using violence if necessary. And SCF is explicitly described by leading practitioners as a complement to violent holy war: "financial jihad" and "jihad with money."

In other words, there is no such thing as free-standing Shariah-Compliant Finance. According to all of the recognized authorities and institutions of Islam, Shariah is a unified, indivisible program to which all faithful Muslims must adhere comprehensively.

Not surprisingly, therefore, the Saudis & Co. are not simply seeking to insinuate Shariah-Compliant Finance into our capital markets. They are also advancing creation of a parallel Shariah-governed society through various other means. >>> By Frank J Gaffney Jr | November 12, 2008

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