CONVERSATION WITH NEO-TRIBALIST WOMEN'S ACTIVIST

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIYADH 006980

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/04/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PCUL PHUM KISL KWMN SA
SUBJECT: CONVERSATION WITH NEO-TRIBALIST WOMEN'S ACTIVIST


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Michael Gfoeller
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Recent media reporting about the rise in the
number of official and unofficial female proselytizers in the
Kingdom has generated much debate. The number of
"unsanctioned" female preachers is increasing, and their lack
of supervision by authorities breeds uncertainty about the
messages that they are sending. PolOff met with a
self-proclaimed, unsanctioned female preacher who uses a
magazine targeting Saudi girls, as well as lectures in
universities, to help spread her message. She expressed her
conservative, tribally-based views on the roles and
challenges facing young women in Saudi society and shared her
work experiences in influencing these young women in their
development. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) PolOff met with Saudi businesswoman Eman Abdullah
Al-Akeel (strictly protect) on August 27 at a "ladies only"
coffeeshop. Al-Akeel owns a widely-distributed magazine
called Hayat that is published in Riyadh by and for young
women throughout the Gulf. The magazine focuses on Islamic
issues concerning young women and their social
development. Al-Akeel is also a self-proclaimed female
"proselytizer," who lectures voluntarily in her free time at
prominent women's colleges and universities in the Kingdom on
the rights and roles of Saudi women. Al-Akeel candidly
shared her remarkably regressive views on Saudi society as
they pertain to girls and women, specifically regarding
career opportunities, domestic violence, and marriage.
According to Al-Akeel, Islam affords girls many "rights and
protections," but the Saudi girls' lack of knowledge of their
rights allows for many abuses to occur.


3. (C) Al-Akeel said that, to date, her focus has been the
promotion of career development. By inviting other
businesswomen to share their experiences, Al-Akeel educates
young women on the "plentiful" opportunities that they have.
She said that in Saudi Arabia, girls are raised to go to
school, attend university, get married, and have children.
She said that they do not have the time to develop themselves
properly and understand what they really want out of life.
She also stated that many girls do not think that they have
any choices, and so their fathers choose everything for them.
Al-Akeel's goal is to bring as much information to the girls
as possible, most importantly regarding their rights under
Shari'a law.


4. (C) During her discussion on career development, Al-Akeel
said that the West's perception of "limitations"
on the job market for Saudi women is only an illusion. She
said that women can do whatever they want so long as they
act in accordance with the current law. She felt that if
women knew their rights and the rules, such as how to
properly apply for a business license, then there would be no
problems. She said that women are not prohibited from
working in general, so perceived "limitations" do not really
exist. In her view, Saudi women simply do not want to work
in some professions.


5. (C) Al-Akeel continued that there are three types of
women, implicitly stated in order of descending importance:
Saudi women, Muslim women, and all other women. According to
her, Saudi women will only perform very specific jobs, and
they currently are allowed to hold these jobs. The many
sectors in which Saudi women cannot be fully employed, such
as retail, nursing, law, and government, are meant for
"other" women. Al-Akeel said that since women are to be
financially provided for by their fathers until they are
married, after which their husbands provide for them in
accordance with Islam, there is no real reason for women to
work other than personal fulfillment. She added that poor
Saudi women, including divorced women whose families turn
them away in shame, are to be taken care of by the shelters
and soup kitchens operated by the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Remarkably, Al-Akeel did not feel that affording divorced
Saudi woman a chance for independence and dignity through
work was either a good or necessary option.


6. (C) On the issue of marriage, Al-Akeel stated that the
Quran only honors marriages to which the woman has expressly
agreed. Therefore, even if the father and brothers agree,
but the woman says no, the marriage is void. She felt that
if women knew this information, many abusive, incestuous, and
cross-generational marriages would not take place. When
questioned about family pressures and tribal concerns
regarding marriage, she remarked that families are the most
important element of Saudi society. When the father presses
his daughter to marry a man she does not want, she needs to
talk to her mother or siblings. If they cannot help her,
then she needs to ask for assistance from her extended
family. If they cannot help her, then despite the Quranic
teachings, she said, the woman should marry the man chosen by
her father in order to protect her family. When pushed about
a woman's right to choose her own husband irrespective of
economic or tribal factions, she reiterated that a woman can
always say no, but since no right-thinking Saudi woman would
even want to marry outside of her own class or tribe, this
concern is not an issue.


7. (C) When questioned by PolOff, Al-Akeel at first tried to
avoid the issue of domestic violence. She finally admitted
that domestic violence is, unfortunately, endemic in Saudi
society, even though she said that it is prohibited in the
Quran. She said that the abusive behavior occurs because of
tradition. Al-Akeel suggested that in severely abusive cases
where the entire family is non-responsive to an abused
woman's pleas for help, the victim retains the right to go to
the police. However, due to family honor, if the abuse is
not severe, then the police should not be involved, and the
woman should "endure" the situation. She then recounted a
story told to her during one of her lectures about a woman
who was a victim of incest and rape by several male
relatives, including her father. After failing to seek
support from her family, and after listening to one of
Al-Akeel's lectures on the rights of women under Islam, this
woman went to the police. The police sent her to live in her
uncle's home for protection until her father was declared
"cured" from his "problem." Remarkably, Al-Akeel said that
she felt the police "properly" handled the issue in
accordance with Shari'a law, even though none of the victim's
male relatives were ever arrested, tried, or punished for
acts that are considered capital crimes under Islamic law and
punishable by death (beheading).


8. (C) COMMENT: From her privileged vantage point,
Al-Akeel's perspectives on women's issues demonstrate the
very conservative nature of the average, educated Saudi
woman. Her magazine Hayat's popularity has skyrocketed
during its seven years in print, with its readership growing
from 15,000 in its first year to 50,000 presently. The
widespread acceptance and continued expansion of Hayat, even
to other countries, indicates the support tens of thousands
of young women have for Al-Akeel's extremely conservative
ideology. Given that a majority of Saudi Arabia's population
is under the age of 30, the conservative beliefs of these
young women are important indicators of how they perceive the
Government's attempts at reform -- especially as they relate
to women. If women themselves -- particularly those like
Al-Akeel who understand their rights -- accept and support
the "status quo," it should come as little surprise that
Saudi men would do the same. These attitudes reflect the
young generation of Saudis who have had no direct exposure to
the West. They are therefore illustrative of the problem
that the King is attempting to solve through the scholarship
program that aims to send tens of thousands of Saudis to
universities abroad. Even more compelling is that fact that
educated, modern "women like Al-Akeel have such strong
allegiance to traditional tribal law that, to their way of
thinking, tribal custom can trump Islamic law itself, thereby
condemning many Saudi women to suffer a degree of inequality
that their religion expressly forbids. END COMMENT.
GFOELLER