Book on women driving banned

Short item in the March 14, 2014 Saudi Gazette - link here - pasted in below.

RIYADH — Riyadh Book Fair organizing committee has banned Dubai-based Madark Publishing House from selling a book on women driving. “When will the Saudi woman drive a car?” by Abdullah Al-Alami has been banned for the second time since it was published. The writer received threats over the phone and on social media from opponents of women driving when he published the book the first time. The majority of women support him and the book, he said.

The author has a blog at: http://abdullahalami.blogspot.com/


Here is the book's cover (it's in Arabic).

 

Driving is an economic need: Saudi women

Front page story in the Oct 9, 2013 Saudi Gazette - including quotes from people in Saudi Arabia concerned with lifting the driving ban. A link to the story is here, and it's pasted in below too.

JEDDAH – Three female members of the Shoura Council reportedly filed a recommendation on Tuesday that a ban on women driving in the Kingdom be lifted.

Latifa Al-Shaalan, a Shoura member, was quoted as saying by AFP that she and two fellow members, Haya Al-Mani and Muna Al-Mashit, filed a recommendation urging the consultative body to “recognize the rights of women to drive a car in accordance with the principles of Shariah and traffic rules.”

They backed their recommendation with results of studies on the various justifications for women to drive. “There is no law that bans women from driving. It is only a matter of tradition,” Shaalan told AFP.

Saudi women have “made many achievements... and have acquired leading positions in the government and the United Nations, yet they are still banned from driving. This creates a negative image (for the Kingdom) abroad,” she said.

Welcoming the move, Abdullah Al-Alami, author of the book, “When Would Saudi Women Drive,” told Saudi Gazette that the sooner this recommendation and other recommendations that have to do with women rights the better for the women and the country.

Talking about the “Oct. 26th, driving for women” campaign, he said, “This is a major step forward toward women getting their legal right for freedom of transportation as well as a major step forward for women to gain access to their jobs, schools and other needs.

“This campaign will be successful because it is women who are demanding their rights. Saudi women are not any different from any other women in the world. Saudi Arabian population represents less than two percent of the total Muslim world population and as such Saudi women are entitled to all the rights as other Muslim women are entitled to. In addition, Saudi women are not any different from the remaining three billion women worldwide.”

In his opinion the real obstacles are “some traditional beliefs that are making it difficult for women to prosper, develop and gain their legitimate right.”

“Many government high officials have indicated over the last few years that there is no legal or judicial or Shariah reasons why women can’t drive,” Al-Alami said.

A Saudi woman artist in Jeddah said that “driving is not a luxury or fun, but an economic necessity.” Her sentiments were echoed by other women, one of whom said that she would be much more careful than a stranger driving her children to school.

The move by Shoura women members comes ahead of the Oct. 26 initiative by Saudi activists to defy a longstanding driving ban.

A petition signed in March by 3,000 Saudis had urged the Shoura to launch a debate on the driving ban. The online petition entitled “Oct. 26th, driving for women” has gathered several thousand signatories.

Saudi youth should be motivated to help others

This story is from the Saudi English language daily, the Saudi Gazette. It's an interview with entrepreneur/author/humanitarian Abdullah Al Alami. He is also a proponent of Saudi women driving, and discusses the issue. The article is posted below and a link to it is here.

Abdullah Al Alami

Story by Saman Ali

DHAHRAN — The name Abdullah Al Alami resonates human rights. An avid fan of the famous American writer E.E. Cummings, Al Alami believes in respecting everyone and sharing his knowledge with those around him and afar.

As Cummings once said, “Deeds cannot dream what dreams can do.” Al Alami dreams of a time when there will be no discrimination, no racism and prejudice, which is prevailing in many parts of the world.

Born and raised in Makkah and Jeddah, Al Alami later graduated with a GPA of 3.01 from the Chapman University of California. He was associated with Aramco for 21 years.

Now he writes a weekly column in a local Arabic newspaper. He was the president of Arabian Natural History Association, co-founder of Gulf Venture Capital Association, co-founder of Saudi Cancer Foundation and is the board member of Saudi Society for Promoting Organ Donation.

The list doesn’t end here — he is an advocate for the campaign of women driving. All the tension that this pressing issue has brought, he sheds it by listening to Luciano Pavarotti and reading poetry by Nizar Qabbani.

When asked about what motivated him to lay the foundation of the Saudi Cancer Foundation, Al Alami replied that after the Kuwait-Iraq war the number of cancer cases increased in the Eastern Province.

“People needed guidance and both mental and financial support. With the help of Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd, we assembled a team of doctors, educators, philanthropists and psychiatrists to create awareness about this disease and to help those who cannot afford the expensive treatment. We also provide assistance in pre- and post-treatment trauma. We even have two mobile mammogram vans,” he said.

Al Alami thinks that the younger generation needs to be motivated to help others. “The process should start at the grassroots level. Our youth is capable of doing wonders. During Jeddah floods, young people helped save lives. They even cleaned streets and provided food and shelter to those in need.”

The issue of women driving in Saudi Arabia has been enhanced by Al Alami as he feels that there are times when women are stuck in situations when they need to steer the wheel. For example there is a sick child at home and the family does not have a male member and unfortunately, they cannot afford a driver. There have been road accidents when the woman was unable to drive and save her husband or father. The guilt of not helping a family member when she could is unbearable.

Al Alami says he witnessed many incidents and being a "Good Samaritan," he decided to raise this issue. His book on women driving has received positive response.

“There are few women who are against it too; they have their own reasons for doing so,” he said.

Now with 3,000 signatures presented to the Shoura Council and 30 women in the Shoura, Al Alami feels that “there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

When asked about the problems arising if women are allowed to drive, Al Alami says that he traveled and observed all over GCC to see how they are handling this issue and gave his suggestions along with the petition. "There should be proper driving schools for women with female instructors. Traffic department already employs female staff and hiring more women will also show a decline in the graph of women unemployment. Our people have to be trained to let women on the roads."

He thinks road accidents would reduce as internationally women are safe drivers than men. “Hiring of drivers from foreign countries will decrease which costs families and government a fortune every year,” he added.

Another humanitarian work that has been associated with Al Alami is the Saudi Organ Donation Society, of which he is a board member. “It is not easy to convince people for organ donation. We have two Islamic scholars’ fatwas to make people understand that it is not against the religion to donate your organs to save some one’s life. We arrange annual conferences for our cancer and organ donation societies. He also proposed to the Secretary General of the Arab League the establishment of an ‘Arab Center for the Elimination of Violence against Women.’”

His weekly columns, his comments on television channels about different social issues and his humanitarian work have made Al Alami a household name in the Arab world. With a cap full of so many feathers, this polite and kind man is not deterred by challenges coming his way.