Ah, those wacky Wahabbis! You just can’t beat the misogynistic regime of Saudi Arabia. Every time someone tries to tell me how free and liberated Muslim women are, compared to Western women, I have to laugh. Because Iranian women aren’t allowed to go to soccer games. And here’s what happens in Wahabbi World:
Two Saudi women called members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice “terrorists†and one sprayed the men with pepper spray after the men stopped them for not conforming to the Kingdom’s public dress code, the commission said yesterday in a statement.
One of the women filmed the incident, which took place in Alkhobar on Thursday, said Muhammad ibn Marshoud Al-Marshoud, head of the Eastern Province branch of the commission.
The commission’s teams patrol public places to ensure women are not harassed, sexes don’t mingle and shops close for prayers. “Two members of the commission were attacked, cursed and sworn at by two women, who were blatantly dolled up,†Al-Marshoud said, meaning the women were wearing makeup.
What? Women actually fought back against the repressive Vice Squads? What happened to them?
He said the commission’s officials stopped the women to give them advice and guidance after they noticed they were wearing makeup. “One of the women took out a black container and sprayed a substance at them while the other filmed what happened with her phone camera while making improper comments,†Al-Marshoud said.
He said commission members took control of the situation with help from security patrols.
“During questioning, the women apologized for attacking the two commission members, signed a statement and were released,†he added.
I wonder how many bruises it took to get those apologies.
And if that isn’t sickening enough, there’s this:
In a related development, commission members banned female shoppers from sitting in a makeshift outdoor restaurant to have their iftar meals in a low-income neighborhood in Jeddah because men were already seated at special tables set up for the fasting month, according to the daily Al-Watan. The paper quoted Muhammed Mehdawi as saying commission members forced his wife and children to eat their food while standing next to him. Other women stood by the stands that run the modest eatery.
Ali Al-Hayyan, head of the commission’s Jeddah branch, said the agents’ actions were meant as a deterrent, “especially since some of the women were dolled up, and also to prevent the mixing of the sexes that could happen at such events and which our religion rejects,†the paper said.
Siddeequa, a 52-year-old woman, said she had to eat her food standing after the commission’s members asked her to leave her seat at the restaurant. Owners of makeshift restaurants in downtown Jeddah feared the action of commission members would affect their businesses, as families would hesitate to visit them.
These are the same Saudis who blew a gasket during the first Gulf War when they saw American women soldiers driving Humvees. You’ve come a long way, baby.
Now just so I’m clear, these are the GOOD muslims right?
Somehow I’m not comforted with that fact.
Ah yes that reminds me of my favorite You Tube video on Saudi Arabian women eating sphagetti:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG_xHi7E5OQ
Long Rifle,
No.
I suppose you are being sarcastic but I think I’ll comment anyway. Lots of people like to make snarky comments about the Wahhabist Entity and its relationship to the US, but that does not take into account the true complexity of the issue.
Dubya, Foggy Bottom, and all those universities getting gobs of Saudi money for their Middle Eastern Studies departments to spew antisemitism and anti-Americanism in the faces of their students may think the Wahhabists are wonderful, but it is not true. On some issues the Wahhabist Entity is in an alliance of convenience with the US, while in others many Wahhabist Entity princes are funding both the terrorists and the madrassas that act as their farm teams. Indeed the government funds the latter all over the world, including in the USA.
The problem of what to do about the Wahhabist Entity in the context of fighting the jihadi terrorists is a perplexing one, to which I don’t have an answer. More sensible policies about drilling for oil and nuclear power would help considerably, but not be more than a necessary rather than a sufficient answer to the problem. Leaning hard on them might feed the fantasy that the US is at war with Islam itself, since the Wahhabist Entity is where the holy cities of Islam are. On the other hand the flow of petrodollars enables the Wahhabist Entity to act contrary to US efforts to stem the tide of Islamofascist radicalism.
“blatantly dolled up”
Does that mean they were wearing brown burqas instead of black ones?
“Give them advice and guidance.” Yeah, right. I’d love to know the exact text of that “advice and guidance.” Probably some code phrase such as: “Esteemed ladies, our Holy Quran forbids…” which is actually intended, and understood, to mean: “Take that makeup off right now and cover more of your heads, you shameless hussies, or we’ll do it for you in the lockup.”