Manal al-Sharif has been released on Tuesday. After her release, she released a statement in which announced that she will no longer be involved with the women’s driving campaign that is scheduled for June 17. The campaign, however, is still on track according a statement published on Facebook. Meanwhile, the Shoura Council said the they [...]
Category Archives: Politics
More on Manal al-Sharif and women’s driving
Saturday, May 28, 2011 – 13:49
Eman al-Nafjan has a good roundup on the latest in Manal al-Sharif’s case. Al-Nafjan was on also on CNN to talk about the issues yesterday. Wikileaks documents reveal that the US government been quietly putting pressure on Saudi Arabia to allow women to drive, the Guardian reports. Sabria Jawhar says “There was a time when [...]
#SaudiGirlsUnite, Bandar is back, Gulf monarchies challenge
Saturday, April 23, 2011 – 6:11
Saudi women activists are planning to show up in polling centers in the country’s major cities to demand their right to participate in the upcoming municipal elections when the registration starts today. The campaign is mainly organized via Facebook and Twitter. Prince Bandar bin Sultan, aka Bandar Bush, is back and John Hannah argues that [...]
Guest Post: What will happen in April 23? And why?
Thursday, April 14, 2011 – 1:38
By Eman al-Guwaifli What will happen? The elections process to choose municipal elections will start on April 23 with voters registration, and it will end by casting ballots on September 23. Starting from this moment, the scenario of this upcoming summer seems very clear. On April 23, the voters registration will begin, and the numbers [...]
Saudi Municipal elections, weekend change, walk in the DQ
Wednesday, March 30, 2011 – 23:09
After several postponements, the Saudi government finally decided to move ahead with the long-delayed municipal elections. Surprisingly, they now seem in a rush to get it over with: voter registration opens on April 23rd, and the elections will be held on September 22nd. Women, however, will not be allowed to participate. “We are not ready [...]
The King’s Speech (that wasn’t)
Sunday, March 20, 2011 – 16:52
Fellow citizens, I speak to you today amidst extraordinary circumstances surrounding our country. With revolutions and unrest spreading in the region, and the winds of change sweeping across the Arab world, we face a situation in which we muse make critical decisions. Today, we have to ensure a choice between starting to reform ourselves now, [...]
Ready to be disappointed?
Wednesday, March 16, 2011 – 1:50
I had an interesting, albeit infuriating, conversation with a conservative friend of mine last week (yes, I do have conservative friends, can you believe that?). My friend said Saudis should not respond to the calls to protest posted on Facebook because if they do they would be ungrateful to their country. I was gobsmacked. “Huh?! [...]
