SAUDI WOMEN PETITION KING ABDULLAH FOR RIGHT TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIYADH 002024 SIPDIS SIPDIS G/IWI FOR ANDREA BOTTNER; NEA/ARP FOR ROBERT JACHIM; DRL/NESCA FOR JESSICA LIEBERMAN; NEA/PPD FOR WALTER DOUGLAS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/01/2017 TAGS: PHUM PGOV KWMN KPAO SA SUBJECT: SAUDI WOMEN PETITION KING ABDULLAH FOR RIGHT TO DRIVE Classified By: Political Counselor David Rundell for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The Saudi press reported that on Saudi National Day, September 23, Saudi women activists submitted a petition to King Abdullah urging him to lift the ban on women driving in the Kingdom. The Committee of Demanders of Women's Right to Drive, a component of the newly formed Society for Protecting and Defending Women's Rights, sponsored the petition. The Society presented its position as a social, rather than religious or political issue. Although the petition is unlikely to result in women achieving the right to drive, it is indicative of a growing trend of public discussion on this topic. Saudi women are increasingly expressing their opinions and lobbying for their rights. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) The Saudi press reported that on Saudi National Day, September 23, Saudi women activists submitted a petition to King Abdullah urging him to lift the ban on women driving in the Kingdom. The Committee of Demanders of Women's Right to Drive, a component of the newly formed Society for Protecting and Defending Women's Rights, sponsored the September 2007 petition. Saudi women first demonstrated the right to drive in 1992. At that time, nearly 50 women took to the streets in family cars. The women were quickly apprehended and their passports temporarily confiscated; all participants were subjected to vicious personal attacks by religious extremists and all of the women employed by the SAG temporarily lost their jobs. The following year, a fatwa (religious edict) was issued prohibiting women from driving cars. Conservative clerics defend this fatwa by arguing that allowing women to drive would permit them to freely interact with men who were not related to them, thereby leading to Western-style immorality and an erosion of traditional values. ¶3. (U) Although the SAG and law enforcement officials have upheld this fatwa, government officials made public statements last year acknowledging that the decision to allow women to drive is up to society and is not dependent upon the repeal of any law. According to Saudi press reporting, King Abdullah said after coming to the throne in 2005 that women would be permitted to drive one day but he would not permit it against the will of his people. The English language daily "Arab News" reported on September 16 that Fawzia al-Ayouni, a founding member of the Society for Protecting and Defending Women,s Rights claimed that the King also stated that granting women the right to drive is a social issue -- not a political issue -- and that the Government does not object to it. International press reporting highlighted the fact that a member of the all-male appointed Shura Council, Muhammad al-Zalfa, increased public debate of women,s right to drive in 2005 when he proposed lifting the ban. His motion was quickly quashed. ¶4. (C) Women's and human rights activist Wajeha al-Huawider, an American-trained education analyst at the Aramco oil corporation in Dhahran, co-founded the Society for Protecting and Defending Women,s Rights with activists Fawzia al-Ayouni, Ibtihal Mubarak, and Haifa Usra. According to the Saudi press, this initiative, led by Al-Huawider, was the first action taken by the Society. The request that women be restored the right to drive was based on the facts that Saudi women previously enjoyed the privilege of driving in rural areas of Saudi Arabia and that there is no law explicitly forbidding women to drive. "The time has come to give women their natural right to drive a car, a right denied for purely social and unjustified, reasons," the petition read. ¶5. (U) In an effort to garner support for the initiative, the Society posted the petition on several Saudi websites and circulated the ideas supporting the petition via emails and text messages. Requesting the endorsement of Saudi nationals, as well as members of the international community, the petition received a total of 1100 signatures, 200 of which came from supporters living abroad. In an interview with an international press agency on September 24, al-Huwaider noted, "We don't expect an answer right away, but we will not stop campaigning until we get the right to drive." In the same article, Ayouni stated that petition supporters could face severe consequences for their attempts to initiate change. "We could be detained, lose our jobs, and be banned from traveling. But if we get the right to drive, it would be worth it." Ayouni also recognized that by filing the petition and generating international support for the issue, the Society had "broken a barrier of fear that the Saudi women had of asking for their rights." She concluded her interview by saying that this was the Society's major achievement. "We want the authorities to know that we're here, that we want to drive, and that many people feel the way we do." ¶6. (C) Local newspapers received numerous letters expressing strong opinions in reaction to the petition. Many responded in support of the effort, including Saudi novelist Abdu Khal, who commented that the ban on driving had isolated the Kingdom from the rest of the world. "Other than our scholars, of course, no one has said that allowing women to drive might lead to moral corruption," he wrote. "Are we the only Muslims in the world?" Petition advocates noted the irony of citing interaction with unrelated men as a reason to prohibit women from driving when it is commonplace for women to hire foreign men as live-in drivers. "Women and their children are at the mercy of these foreign drivers," stated Fawzia al-Ayouni in an interview with international press reporters on September 24.. Though there is support for the petition, some Saudi women attacked the petition's request -- noting that there are Saudi women who do not want the right to drive. In fact, some readily confess that they enjoy having a personal driver and do not want deal with the traffic themselves. When asked her opinion about the petition by EmbOffs on September 20, Hind Dhakeel Al-Shammari, Public Relations Supervisor for Al-Nahda Philanthropic Society for Women, queried, "Why would I want to drive?" ¶7. (C) COMMENT: While it is unlikely that this petition will result in Saudi women achieving the right to drive, it can be viewed as an example of a very significant trend -- where women feel more free to express their opinions and lobby for their rights. The fact that the petition was endorsed by a mere 1,100 supporters is certainly illustrative of the inherent conservatism of the Saudi people. There is concern about the implications -- both moral and social -- of women driving. However, the SAG is allowing the very public debate of a what has traditionally been a highly contentious issue. Continued public discourse on women's issues -- particularly those subjects once considered taboo -- serves not only to educate, but also sets the stage for future change. To date, there is no indication of any government action against those who signed the petition. END COMMENT. FRAKER