2007 Story - Saudi Princess Would Let Women Drive

Two years before this blog was started, a highly-regarded member of the Saudi royal family, Princess Loulwa bint Faisal, the daughter of the Kingdom's beloved King Faisal, was taking part in the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. There, she spoke about the women's driving issue. I'm posting this story now, since I didn't do it before, and I think it's important that this story be included in the blog. I hope that those in Saudi Arabia who are trying to change the law about women driving, know that they have her in their corner. Her older sister Sara is one of the thirty Saudi women serving on the Kingdom's Shura Consultative Council. This story appeared in the Washington Post on January 25, 2007. A link to the story is here, and the text is pasted in below.

By SALLY BUZBEE
DAVOS, Switzerland -- The most prominent princess in Saudi Arabia's royal family said Thursday that if she could change one thing about her country, she would let women drive _ a rare and direct challenge to the driving ban imposed by the kingdom's ruling male elite.

The remarks from Princess Lolwah Al-Faisal, daughter of a former Saudi king and sister of the current foreign minister, came at the World Economic Forum _ a gathering known for getting world leaders to engage in frank, often off-the-record dialogue without fear of criticism.

Al-Faisal, however, spoke at a public session on promoting religious tolerance. Other attendees included former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, the prime minister of Malaysia, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and peace activist from Israel and an American cleric.

The moderator, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, asked panelists at one point to "self-criticize" and say what they would change to promote greater interfaith understanding.

Turning to the princess, he quipped: "What would you do, princess, if you were 'queen' for a day? I won't tell anyone."

"First thing, I'd let women drive," Al-Faisal said dryly, as the audience erupted in applause and laughter. She added as the applause died down, "Or else have a great transportation system, which we don't have."

Women in Saudi Arabia now can work at many jobs that once were off-limits _ a point the princess made. But critics say their inability to drive holds them back from many jobs by forcing them to rely on hired drivers, or on male relatives, to get to work or to school.

Some critics say the driving ban particularly impacts poorer Saudi families who cannot afford to hire drivers. Because of that, some consider the driving ban not just as a women's rights issue, but also as a factor holding back the country's economic development.

Al-Faisal's comments are particularly interesting because they show that while Saudi Arabia often presents a united front to the outside world, different opinions and even vigorous debate exist in private.

The 59-year-old princess is the most publicly visible female member of the royal family and one of the highest-profile Saudi women. She led a delegation of Saudi women business leaders to Hong Kong last year, has appeared at U.S. forums on interfaith dialogue and heads a prominent Saudi women's college.
But it is rare for her to speak in public or in front of the media. And she has never before publicly pushed for an end to the driving ban.

Her comments also are intriguing because her father, King Faisal, who ruled from 1964-1975, had a reputation as more progressive on social issues than his successors.

King Faisal first instituted education for Saudi girls, for example, in the 1960s, and some have wondered if he might have pushed for more reform in the conservative, religious kingdom had he lived longer. He was assassinated in 1975 by a disgruntled royal family member.

When the current monarch, King Abdullah, assumed the throne in 2005, expectations were high that he would decisively and quickly lead the country toward more openness. Indeed, for a while, Saudi Arabia made small but striking steps toward reform, such as instances where Saudi female journalists were allowed to interview men.

But the reform pace has slowed, partly because of reported differences within the royal family over the pace and direction of change and partly because of resistance by religious conservatives who fear reform will dilute their strong influence.

The issue of women drivers has been mostly dormant from Saudi public debate in recent years. It flared after the Gulf War in 1991, when a group of prominent Saudi women staged a protest by driving through the capital of Riyadh. But the government cracked down hard, confiscating many of the women's passports and thus preventing them from leaving the country for months afterward.

The debate has occasionally flared in newspapers since but never to such an extent as in 1991. Yet many Saudi women privately view the ban as a main barrier to progress.

Conservatives, however, are vocal in pushing to retain the ban _ saying that allowing women to drive would inevitably lead to their moral corruption, by forcing them to interact with men who are not relatives in places such as gas stations.

Other Gulf countries, including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, and other Arab countries allow women to drive.

Al-Faisal is a sister of two prominent members of the current government, Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal and Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the outgoing Saudi ambassador to the United States.

Saudi women driving in the classroom

For the last five years, I have had the honor and pleasure of giving presentations on Saudi women at a private girls school in my town in the U.S. I speak to the top students in the junior class, known as the 'Junior Scholars'. During their junior year, they follow a special program to expand their international horizons. Each year I try to focus on something different. In 2010, I used video clips of Princess Loulwa giving her acceptance speech at Mount Holyoke for her honorary doctorate, and of her interview with Robin Roberts on the Today Show.

2011 was a year to look at social issues square in the face, so we focused on Saudi women driving. I had the students read this blog for a week. We opened with a discussion about their reactions to the news stories here. Then we talked about how they would feel if they were suddenly forbidden to drive. These girls are just at the age when they are getting their licenses, around 16-17 years old. Of course, they would not be happy, and we concluded that independent mobility is a core element of their lifestyle.

Then we took it a step further. The group broke up into groups of six girls each, and each girl played the role of a different member of Saudi society who has a view and a serious interest in this issue. These were, a female college graduate who studied in the states, a worried mother, the ruler, a conservative religious scholar, a western-educated car dealer, and a traffic cop. After I described each person's position on the issue to the group, and they had a chance to study their own roles, we gave them ten minutes to discuss the issue among themselves, and to come up with a solution to the problem. I enjoyed listening to the girls playing their various roles, and was delighted to find how respectful they were of each others' opinions.

The results? Of the four groups, two came up with an agreement to allow women to drive. One of these did it with the stipulation that a female driver would have to get permission from a guardian to get a license. (This is the same in the U.S. for drivers under 18 years old). The other two groups could not agree on women driving at the moment. One of those groups would instead enact better public transportation. The other one would also do that, but would set up much improved driving schools and raise the awareness of better behavior on the roads so that eventually it would be suitable for women to drive.

Lessons learned? That this issue is really tough. I was surprised that the girls playing the 'ruler' didn't all step in and force the issue. When I asked them about it, they said that the ruler was deeply concerned about maintaining society's unity and tradition. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

After our role playing exercise, the girls were clearly more engaged in the issue, and asked a lot of excellent questions, providing good discussion for the end of the class. We all learned from this experience, and I think the girls can now see how social issues like this can't be solved just with a snap of western judgement.

Princess Loulwa Speaks Out on Women Driving

Princess Loulwa Al Faisal spoke out recently about women driving in Saudi Arabia.

Loulwa is the sensible, smart, and hard-working daughter of Saudi Arabia's beloved King Faisal, who was tragically assassinated in 1975, and Queen Effat, a great pioneer in women's education. Her brothers and sisters are all, in their own way, working hard to bring Saudi Arabia forward. One brother is the Foreign Minister. Another used to be head of Royal Intelligence. Others head up a family foundation, are regional governors, or run charitable organizations. Loulwa helps run Effat University, an all-women liberal arts university whose curriculum is entirely in English. Princess Loulwa is one of my favorite people.

She recently took part in a symposium on women's education in the developing world at Bryn Mawr College and expressed her opinion quite clearly on the issue of women's driving. She also did this some years ago at the World Economic Forum, but this time she extended her remarks to be absolutely clear where she stands.

The story appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The quote begins below. You can read the whole story by clicking on the title of this post.

Princess Lolowah al-Faisal, vice chancellor of Saudi Arabia's first private women's university, described educational opportunities for women in her country in ways that defied Western stereotypes.

"We must promote cultural understanding," she said.

In Saudi Arabia, women's legal rights exceed the public's willingness to embrace them, Faisal said. "By law, salaries are equal," she said. "In every family, daughters have to finish high school."

And although women don't drive, that is by choice, she said. "I think women should drive. It is time now. Women are giving just as much to society as men. The king is not against it. The crown prince is not against it. There is no law against it. It just needs to get through society."

The princess, whose mother founded Effat University, holds an honorary doctor of humane letters from Mount Holyoke College. She embraced the idea of online universities. "I hope we arrive to a certain network where everybody shares this knowledge," she said.

But in developing nations, where so many people still have no electricity, she said, computers are not yet practical.

At Effat, she said, students receive a solid liberal arts education, but with cultural and religious accommodations. "There are things our society wouldn't accept, such as painting nudes," she said. "What we want of our graduates is to become good Muslims, to go out and live excellent lives. A society with uneducated women is dead."

Contrary to what many believe both in the United States and in her own country, the Quran does not place women in an inferior role, she said.

"Someone asked the prophet, 'Whom shall I be grateful for?' And he said, 'Your mother. Your mother. Your mother. Then your father.' People have forgotten this," she said. "This is what we're trying to bring back to our young people. The mother is the nation-builder. If she doesn't have the knowledge or the tools, then she won't help the nation."