Women behind the wheel? Saudi king’s advisers call for end to driving ban

Women behind the wheel? Saudi king’s advisers call for end to driving ban Published time: October 10, 2013 12:23 Get short URL A Saudi woman poses in this picture to illustrate driving a car in Jeddah.(Reuters / Susan Baaghil) A Saudi woman poses in this picture to illustrate driving a car in Jeddah.(Reuters / Susan Baaghil) Share on tumblrTags Human rights, Religion, Saudi Arabia, Transport A proposal to end Saudi Arabia’s informal ban on female driving was voiced at the country’s advisory council. Rights activists have been calling for decades to give women more mobility, a notion resisted by the ultraconservative clergy. Saudi written law does not have an explicit prohibition on women driving. But in practice the country, which lives by a strict version of Sunni Islam, called Wahhabism, does not allow women to travel, apply for work or education, get admitted to a public hospital or do many other things without a permit from a male guardian, usually a husband, brother, father or uncle. Traffic police do not issue driving licenses to women in Saudi Arabia and do not recognize foreign driving licenses, effectively amounting to a ban. While a woman driver may be seen in rural areas, where the restriction is not heavily enforced, taking the wheel in a large city is likely to land her in a lot of trouble. Those defying the ban are publically shunned and sometimes imprisoned. In 2011 a Saudi woman was sentenced to 10 lashes for driving. But an increasing number of women are campaigning to abandoning the prohibition, and they have support in official circles. On Tuesday, a proposal to discard the ban was voiced at the Shura Council, a 150-stong body of advisors appointed by Saudi Arabia’s monarch. The council, which has no legislative power of its own, had 30 women appointed as its members for the first time in January. One of those female advisors, Latifa Shaalan, suggested that the Shura Council’s transport committee should recommend allowing women to drive. "Nobody raised their voice or opposed it. I think people were expecting it," said Hanan Ahmadi one of Shaalan’s female colleagues. "I believe she received many notes of support afterwards from other members." The proposition comes amid the latest online campaign to allow women to drive. A petition to scrap the ban launched last month has so far gathered some 15,000 signatures. More daring female activists are being called to take to the streets in cars on October 26, even though previously similar actions faced reprisals from the authorities. Opposition to female driving remains strong in the Gulf kingdom. Recently a prominent Saudi sheik claimed that medical studies show that driving has adverse effects on women's ovaries because it forces the pelvis upward. Proponents argue that the ban has no basis in Sharia law and puts an unnecessary burden on family budgets by forcing women to use taxis. It actually goes against the sex segregation goals of the conservative clerics, they say, since women travelling without male relatives have to stay alone with the male taxi drivers or subject themselves to potential harassment on public transport. "It is flawed that a woman cannot drive a car after reaching the position of deputy minister, becoming a member of the Shura Council, managing a university and representing the country on international bodies," Shaalan said. =============================================================================== / Saudi Sheikh blasted on Twitter for saying women drivers ‘risk damaging ovaries’ Published time: September 29, 2013 17:43 Get short URL Reuters / Fahad Shadeed Reuters / Fahad Shadeed Share on tumblrTags Human rights, Saudi Arabia, Scandal, Transport, Vehicles Comments by a Saudi psychologist that driving affects women’s ovaries and can lead to their children having health problems have outraged many women in the conservative Muslim country, who are protesting a de facto ban on women driving. In an interview Friday with the sabq.org website, Sheikh Saleh bin Saad al-Luhaydan said campaigners should put “the mind before the heart and emotion, and look at this issue with a realistic eye.”

“Physiological science and functional medicine [found that driving] automatically affects ovaries and rolls up the pelvis,” the judicial and psychological consultant to the Gulf Psychological Association said. “This is why we find [that] for women who continuously drive cars, their children are born with clinical disorders of varying degrees.”

Many Saudis have expressed their anger in Twitter, mocking the Sheikh’s “great scientific discoveries.” A special hashtag “Women_driving_affects_ovaries_and_pelvises” appeared on the social network, and is widely used. The users posted links to the article in Al-Arabiya on the subject, expressing their concern over “how easily science can be abused.” A woman with the user name @Mshaal80 asked whether the Sheikh “studied Shariah, medicine or foolishness.” The Sheikh’s comments came in advance of a planned protest drive by women against the ban, scheduled for Oct. 26. A de facto ban on driving for women exists in Saudi Arabia and the country’s women are trying to challenge this by launching an online campaign that urges the women to take part in a protest drive on October 26. The declaration on the website oct26driving.com has been signed by over 11,000 women. “Since there are no clear justifications for the state to ban adult, capable women from driving, we call for enabling women to have driving tests and for issuing licenses for those who pass,” the declaration said. On Sunday, the campaign's website was blocked inside the kingdom. Share on tumblr

Israel may strike at ship allegedly carrying Iranian rockets to Gaza – report

Hezbollah says could hit all of Israel in future war Sun, Nov 25 08:37 AM EST 1 of 2 By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel on Sunday that thousands of rockets would rain down on Tel Aviv and cities across the Jewish state if it attacked Lebanon. Speaking four days after the ceasefire which ended a week of conflict between Israel and the Islamist Hamas rulers of Gaza, Nasrallah said Hezbollah's response to any attack would dwarf the rocket fire launched from Palestinian territories. "Israel, which was shaken by a handful of Fajr-5 rockets during eight days - how would it cope with thousands of rockets which would fall on Tel Aviv and other (cities) ... if it attacked Lebanon?" Nasrallah said. The Fajr-5s, with a range of 75 km (45 miles) - able to strike Tel Aviv or Jerusalem - and 175 kg (386 lb) warheads, are the most powerful and long-range rockets to have been fired from Gaza. But Hezbollah, which fought Israel to a standstill in a 34-day war six years ago, says it has been re-arming since then and has a far deadlier arsenal than Hamas. Nasrallah has said Hezbollah could kill tens of thousands of people and strike anywhere inside Israel if hostilities break out again. "If the confrontation with the Gaza Strip ... had a range of 40 to 70 km, the battle with us will range over the whole of occupied Palestine - from the Lebanese border to the Jordanian border, to the Red Sea," Nasrallah said. Hezbollah could hit targets "from Kiryat Shmona - and let the Israelis listen carefully - from Kiryat Shmona to Eilat", he said, referring to Israeli's northernmost town on the Lebanese border to the Red Sea port 290 miles further south. The movement has warned that any Israeli attack against the nuclear facilities of its patron Iran, which has armed and funded the Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim militant group, would inflame the Middle East - though it has not specified its own response. In a move it said showed it could penetrate deep inside Israeli defenses, it flew a drone over Israel last month. The drone was shot down after flying 25 miles into southern Israel. Israel says its Iron Dome missile defense system knocked out 90 percent of the rockets fired from Gaza which were on course to hit populated areas. TENS OF THOUSANDS MARK ASHURA Nasrallah, who has lived in hiding since 2006 to avoid assassination by Israel, was speaking by video-link to tens of thousands of Shi'ite faithful in southern Beirut commemorating Ashura, the day when the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Hussein was killed in battle 13 centuries ago. Wearing a black turban and robes in a sign of mourning, the 52-year-old cleric said his Shi'ite movement wanted to prevent sectarian tension in Lebanon - fuelled by the civil war in Syria - plunging his country into renewed conflict. "We want to avert strife and Israel is our only enemy. We have no enemies in Lebanon," Nasrallah said. Many Sunni Muslim political leaders blamed Hezbollah's ally Syria for last month's bomb attack which killed a top intelligence official and plunged Lebanon into political crisis. The opposition March 14 coalition blamed Syria for the assassination and called on the Lebanese government, dominated by allies of Hezbollah and Syria, to quit. Sporadic clashes have erupted since then, including a shootout in the southern city of Sidon two weeks ago when three people were killed after supporters of a Sunni cleric tried to tear down Shi'ite Ashura banners. On Saturday the army said it arrested five people and seized 450 grams (1lb) of explosives in Nabatiyeh on the eve of an Ashura march in the southern Lebanese town which was attended by thousands of Shi'ite mourners, many striking their heads with blades to draw blood to mark the tragedy of Hussein's death. Security sources said the arrested men were Syrians suspected of planning an attack on the Ashura processions but Nasrallah, speaking late on Saturday, suggested they were trying to send arms to the conflict in Syria. "We already know that many Syrians arrive in Lebanon to buy weapons," he said. "Neither weather nor rain can frighten us, nor can explosions or security threats stand between us and Imam Hussein". (Additional reporting by Laila Bassam in Beirut and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing by Louise Ireland) =========================== Published: 25 November, 2012, 14:38 TAGS: Arms, Conflict, Military, Politics, Iran, Israel, War, Vessels, Security, Transport, Violence TRENDS: Israel-Gaza strikes AFP Photo / ISNA / Amin Khoroshahi Israel has reportedly vowed to destroy rockets and other weapons being sent to Gaza by Iran. Tel Aviv issued this threat despite a recent ceasefire following eight days of bitter conflict between Gaza and Israel. Israeli spy satellites spotted a cargo vessel in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas that was allegedly Gaza-bound and carrying arms, the Sunday Times reported. “Regardless of the ceasefire agreement, we will attack and destroy any shipment of arms to Gaza once we have spotted it,” an Israeli defense official told the newspaper. The vessel reportedly began its voyage last week just as Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire ending eight days of violence in Gaza, in which over 150 Palestinians died. The cargo is believed to include Fajr-5 rockets, similar to those used by Hamas in the conflict, and Shahab-3 ballistic missiles. The ship is set to travel through the Red Sea, Sudan and Egypt, according to the Sunday Times report. The newspaper also cited Israeli officials speculating that Iran could be moving longer-range ballistic missiles into Sudan, which could be aimed at Israel from the African country. The Sunday Times’ report comes a day after the Hamas leadership announced they aren’t ready to stop arming themselves, despite the recently-agreed truce and ceasefire. "We have no choice but to continue to bring in weapons by all possible means," senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar told reporters, adding that he expected Tehran would "increase its military and financial support to Hamas." Earlier on Wednesday, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal thanked Shia-majority Iran for what he described as arms and funding. On Saturday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expressed support for Gaza in the bloody conflict, praising what he called Palestinian "resistance and perseverance" against Israel, which he said must now "bow" to Palestinian rights, IRNA news agency reported. The eight-day Israeli assault on Gaza killed 168 Palestinians, mostly civilians. It also led to $300 million in economic damage, a Palestinian Chamber of Commerce report said. Hamas fired Fajr-5 rockets against Israel, an unsettling revelation for the Israeli public. The country was last targeted by the 3-meter-long missiles during its 2006 war with Lebanon, and was expecting smaller-range rockets to be used in the recent conflict. Hamas' Farj-5 arsenal was able to strike Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, cities that were not attacked during the previous escalation of violence between Israel and Gaza in 2008. The IDF was forced to rapidly deploy an additional battery of its Iron Dome air defense system to counter the threat. =============== Saudi diplomat shot dead in Yemen - Al Arabiya TV Wed, Nov 28 06:22 AM EST SANAA, Nov 28 (Reuters) - A Saudi diplomat was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Wednesday, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported, citing diplomatic sources. The station give no further details. Yemen has been grappling with a number of security problems including the local offshoot of al Qaeda. SANAA, Yemen: A Saudi diplomat and his body guard have been shot dead in Yemen capital Sanaa, reports said on Wednesday. According to the report, Yemen security officials say gunmen have killed the diplomat, who was a member of Saudi military delegation. Another reports says, the diplomat and his Yemeni guard were killed on 50 Meter Road. Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television citing diplomatic sources also confirmed the incident, however, the station gave no further details. =========== Trotsky permanent revolution and Al-Zawahiri Perpetual Jihad Posted 27 June 2011 - 05:38 AM Bin Laden may be remembered as the Muslim warrior who was able to attack targets inside America and who had forced the Americans to launch very costly wars on Afghanistan and Iraq respectively, in 2001 and 2003. Many believe it was Dr Ayaman Al-Zawahiri who should be credited with expanding the limited agenda of Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda from freeing the holy Saudi Arabian lands, from the boots of the American infidels, to fighting continuous Islamic Jihadi wars throughout the world similar to Trotsky’s permanent socialist revolution. Because of the death of the 19 attackers and because of security reasons, the full details of what had happened on September 11, 2001 are still unknown. Nevertheless, the ability to launch damaging attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon despite the presence of 15 US intelligence agencies showed Al-Qaeda to having operators with quasi superhuman talents. While in Egypt, Medical Doctor Al-Zawahiri was credited with planning the assassination of President Anwar Al-Sadat on October 6, 1981, following his visit to Israel. Those close to Bin Laden know that their leader is not the person with the exceptional capabilities or with the high intelligence but they give credits to others, some still faceless, and to Dr Al-Zawahitri in carrying out spectacular attacks. It will take Al-Zawahiri some time before proving his worth in evading the US bullets and in launching the next attack which he promised to avenge the death of Bin Laden. Al-though Al-Qaeda hasn’t been in the news lately despite their daily attacks in Iraq, Pakistan and Yemen. However, Dr Al-Zawahiri’s job is being facilitated by the American unlimited support for the intransigence of the extreme right-wing government of Netanyahu-Liebrman in Israel and by the American desperate attempts to undermine the on-going Arab people uprisings against the USraeli Arab agents in government. The Americans have eliminated the enemies of the Islamic revolution in Afghanistan (2001) and in Iraq (2003), naturally to the cheers of the Iranians. The Arabs will also cheer the Americans if they eliminate their enemies in Israel. . Be reasonable and ask the impossible from the American Zombies whom I have given up on them. Mr Jesse Ventura believes that the shooting of four innocent students at the Kent University Campus by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970=27th Safar/1425 shocked America and lead to the end of the Vietnam war. At the time, the students were demonstrating against Nixon-Kissinger's attempt to extend the Vietnam war to Cambodia. Following the shooting, four million US students went on strike that opened the eyes of the rest of the nation. Mr Ventura advised the 'Occupy Movement', to make sacrifices in order for the nation to hear their warnings of the danger of the mafias controlling the US Banks and its Financial institutions. Despite 5000 universities and high teaching institutes, the Americans are unable to connect the dots and end up being ruled by imbeciles like Ronald Reagan and G.W. Bush. The stupid Americans went to invade and destroy Iraq while they should have invaded Saudi Arabia. They are currently trying to undermine Iran while they should concentrate on Pakistan where most of the terrorists are being bred and exported. The Americans can't name one single Iranian or Iraqi who have carried out terrorist attack anywhere on earth. Bin Laden was a Saudi so were 15 out of the 19 who carried out the attacks on 9/11. Al-Zawahiri is an Egyptian so was Mohammed Al-Atta. Al-Zarqawi was a Jordanian. Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times

Q&A-What does subsidy bill mean for Iran?

09 Nov 2009 15:38:32 GMT
Source: Reuters




TEHRAN, Nov 9 (Reuters) - The political stakes are high for the plan of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to cut food and energy subsidies.

Locked in dispute with Western powers over Iran's nuclear programme, the populist president has faced an unprecedented wave of protests by supporters of moderate defeated candidates claiming June's presidential election was forged.

The liberal reforms could stoke popular dissent, coming at a time of spending cutbacks because of the fall in world oil prices over the past year. Or they could put the economy and government in better shape to withstand more sanctions in the nuclear dispute. Iran is one of the world's top five oil producers.

Here are key facts in the subsidy debate:

WHAT IS THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO THE PLAN?

Overhauling Iran's generous subsidy system has been under discussion for years, but stiff popular and political resistance has repeatedly stalled attempts at reform.

Gasoline rationing was introduced in 2007 as the first step towards reforming the system. Though it provoked riots in Tehran, the plan went ahead.

The current bill, which takes the plan forward, was presented to parliament in early 2009, before the presidential elections in June that provoked protests by supporters of defeated opposition candidates who claimed vote fraud won Ahmadinejad the poll.

The bill was approved in October but Ahmadinejad fought off an attempt to impose close scrutiny over what his government does with the money. Parliament obliged the government to count the subsidy savings as part of the official budget that requires the assembly's approval but on Saturday pulled back from a threat to demand special accounts are set up directing the money into specific areas of the economy approved by parliament.

Now the reforms must win the approval of hardline watchdog body the Guardian Council before coming into effect.

HOW BIG ARE SUBSIDIES?

Subsidies covering gasoline and other refined products, natural gas, electricity, water and basic foodstuffs cost Iran at least $90 billion a year and equal around 30 percent of GDP. But state help in energy products accounts for the majority of the state subsidy system. Subsidies cover oil, petrol, natural gas, electricity, water, flour, transport, and telephone services.

WHAT WILL THE BILL DO?

The idea is to move towards free market prices in the five-year period to 2015. According to Business & Economy Digest, published by Access Consultancy Group:

* Gasoline and refined products will be priced at 90 percent of Middle East benchmark prices on a free-on-board (FOB) basis. Prices will be revised if there is a fluctuation of more than 25 percent.

* Natural gas for households will be priced a minimum 75 percent of the average export price.

* Price of gas for industries, refining and petrochemicals will be a maximum 65 percent of the average gas export basket.

* Electricity and water will be at free market prices in 2014.

* The government could earn $10-20 billion in 2010/11 through price increases it will be able to introduce.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE SAVINGS?

Analysts say around 50 percent is for redistribution among the people, 30 percent will be made available to industries in the form of loans, and 20 percent to create a social safety net.

Media have said the government intends to open bank accounts for 36 million people, about half its population, to give them cash to compensate for higher food and energy prices.

WHAT OTHER AIMS BEHIND IT?

By removing the heavy budget burden, Iran could be less vulnerable to any new U.N. sanctions on imports over Tehran's disputed nuclear energy programme, which Washington says is a front for building weapons. Tehran denies this.

Iran could be vulnerable to sanctions on energy imports since it imports around a third of its gasoline consumption needs due to lack of refining capacity. Iran imports around 100,000 to 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) of gasoline. Demand is growing at 6 percent per year as 700,000 new cars hit the roads each year. Reducing consumption will lighten any blow.

Iran also imports rice, with annual consumption of about 3 million tonnes exceeding domestic production by about 750,000 tonnes. The country imported 5.9 million tonnes of wheat in the 2008-09 year after it was hit by a severe drought, but an agriculture official suggested in May it may produce enough of the grain this year to meet domestic needs.

With oil prices down to about $80 a barrel, many development and infrastructure projects have been delayed in the past year. The subsidy reform could help the government in this regard.

U.N. sanctions have stopped Western companies investing in Iran and even slowed the flow of cash from Asian firms less concerned by Western opprobrium.(Disgrace arising from exceedingly shameful conduct; ignominy.)

Critics say the need for savings is ironic, arguing that Iran's total debts balance around $40 billion was mainly incurred through overzealous spending during Ahmadinejad's first term.

WHAT OTHER EFFECTS COULD THE CUTS HAVE?

It could be inflationary and lead to a repeat of the street disturbances of 2007. Some analysts say inflation could rise by as much as 40 percent, with prices already high. Ahmadinejad says redirection of the subsidies to the poor will help close the gap between the rich and the poor segments of the country. But many fear it will make the poor poorer.

Hardline lawmaker Ahmad Tavakkoli said on Saturday: "The bill will have a negative impact on inflation. It will eliminate the middle class and will increase the number of poor people in the country."

Opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said the plan could be beneficial if implemented well, hinting at corruption and incompetence in bloated state structures -- something his campaign dwelt on in the disputed election.

"If this does not happen then people, if pressured further, will confront the government," he said, according to website Kaleme on Monday.

(Compiled by Parisa Hafezi, Reza Derakhshi, Andrew Hammond; editing by Samia Nakhoul)