"Saudi cleric criticized for showing wife’s face on television" by Adam Taylor, Washington Post December 20, 2014
WASHINGTON — Last Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s Sheik Ahmed al-Ghamedi appeared on ‘‘Badria,’’ a talk show shown on Dubai-based satellite television channel MDC. During the show, the Islamic cleric told viewers that women were not required to wear a full niqab and could also wear beauty products.
Ghamedi’s appearance on ‘‘Badria’’ followed similar statements he had made on Twitter. On television, however, he decided to go further. Ghamedi not only appeared on the program himself, but so did his wife, Jawaher bint Ali. And not only was her face uncovered, but she was wearing makeup and her nails were painted.
‘‘The prophet did not order women to cover their faces,’’ Ghamedi explained to the female host of the show, Badria Al Bishr. ‘‘Wearing makeup is allowed.’’
In a country where religious arguments are often used to restrict women’s rights, this was a bold action — Saudi women are generally expected to be completely covered when they are seen in public. Instead, Ghamedi’s wife was simply wearing an abaya cloak.
Saudi Arabia is also the only country that prohibits women from driving.
Ghamedi has made similar comments about women’s rights in the past. Although he was once the head of Mecca’s branch of the Saudi Committee for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (usually referred to as the Religious Police), he has become better known for his liberal positions on such issues in recent years.
However, by showing his wife’s face on television, he sparked a large backlash. On Monday, Ghamedi told the Saudi newspaper al Watan that he had received threats since the show aired. Later, Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti criticized him to the press.
‘‘My message to Sheik al-Ghamedi is to fear God,’’ Sheik Abdul Aziz Al Sheik told the Saudi news site Sabq, according to a translation from CNN. ‘‘You should ask repentance from God, and to back away from this mistake before you meet God with these sins.’’
The act may have some real repercussions for Ghamedi. On Thursday, it was announced that a number of Saudis in Jiddah were planning a lawsuit against the cleric.
In Saturday’s interview on ‘‘Badria,’’ Ali acknowledged that her husband’s statements had already caused some problems for her family. ‘‘Our children complain that some teachers tell them: Why does your father say this and that?’’ she said.
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Once all the robes and veils are removed:
"Backers fear for two held in Saudi driving protest" by Aya Batrawy, Associated Press December 26, 2014
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia has been trying to blunt possible challenges to monarchical rule. At the height of Arab Spring protests sweeping the region in 2011, King Abdullah pledged $120 billion to fund a number of projects, including job creation and hikes in public sector wages.
Saudi Arabia’s Cabinet on Thursday endorsed a 2015 budget that projects a slight increase in spending but a significant drop in revenues because of sliding oil prices, resulting in a nearly $39 billion deficit.
That is the price you pay for trying to subvert Russia and Iran.
In a sign of mounting financial pressure, the Finance Ministry said the government would try to cut back on salaries, wages, and allowances, which ‘‘contribute to about 50 percent of total budgeted expenditures.’’
Austerity comes to Saudi Arabia -- although I doubt it will come to the house of Zaud.
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One activist said the driving ban is also part of ‘‘a wider effort to quash any chances of raising the ceiling on civil liberties’’ in Saudi Arabia....
You can see her in the driver's seat for yourself:
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NEXT DAY UPDATE:
Time to gas up:
"Oil fell, capping a fifth weekly loss on concern that OPEC’s refusal to cut production will worsen a global supply glut, as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries resisted supply cuts to defend market share while the highest US production in three decades exacerbated a global glut."
Now they are blaming the underreported (there and here) disruption in Libya for it all.
FURTHER UPDATE:
"Saudi Arabia said to plan bourse opening to foreigners in April
NEW YORK — Saudi Arabia is seeking to open its $509 billion stock exchange to foreign investors in April, three people briefed on the plans said. The Capital Market Authority informed brokers and fund managers of the timeline in London last month, two of the people said. Saudi Arabia is not planning significant changes to draft rules published in August, the people said. The country announced in July that it would open the market in the first half of 2015. The world’s biggest oil exporter is removing barriers to one of the world’s most-restricted stock exchanges as it pursues a $130 billion spending plan to boost nonenergy industries. The Saudi Stock Exchange is the largest equity market in the Middle East. Investors from outside the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council are not allowed to buy shares directly and have to access the market through equity swaps and exchange-traded funds. Regulators may also cap foreign ownership of a single stock at 49 percent, according to draft rules."
