Friday, December 26, 2014

Muslim Women Drivers Referred to Terrorist Court

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Women's rights are most supported in nations that are dominantly Christian.  Islamic societies are exactly the opposite.  In a Muslim community women are often considered to be lower than animals, and are deprived of basic opportunities taken for granted in free countries such as the United States like voting, education, and even driving.

Two Saudi women have been detained for nearly a month in defiance of a ban on females driving.  Their case has been referred to a court established to try terrorism cases.

Details are blurred because of fear of retaliation by the government.  Observers say the women's defense lawyers appealed the judge's decision to transfer their cases to the court, which was established to try terrorism cases.

Human Rights Watch recently warned that "Saudi authorities are ramping up their crackdown on people who peacefully criticize the government on the Internet." It said that judges and prosecutors are using "vague provisions of a 2007 anti-cybercrime law to charge and try Saudi citizens for peaceful tweets and social media comments."

At the time of their arrest, al-Hathloul and al-Amoudi had a combined Twitter following of more than 355,000. They were vocal supporters of a grassroots campaign launched last year to oppose the ban on women driving.

The attempt by women to challenge Saudi Arabia's laws that support giving men powerful sway over women's lives challenges wider effort to quash any chances of raising the ceiling on civil liberties in Saudi Arabia.  The treatment of women as no more than property by men is deeply rooted in Islam, and the teachings of Muhammad.

Technically, the laws in Saudi Arabia do not ban women from driving.  The ban is religiously enforced.
The first woman was detained by border guards when she attempted to cross the border with a United Arab Emirates driver's license.  The second woman, a UAE-based Saudi journalist, was stopped when she went to deliver food and a blanket to the first woman at the border.  They were formally arrested on December 1.

The women are being held separately, one at a correctional facility for juveniles, and the other in a prison.

The alliance between American liberals and Muslims in the United States continues, despite Islam showing once again that its stances are in direct opposition to liberal left progressive stances. . . but the alliance has nothing to do about facts, and everything to do with the fact that the two groups have common enemies, like Christians, and American political conservatives.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

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