Are women protected?

When I was a university student in Makkah, I was often homesick since it was the first time I was away from my family.

The rules then, which still remain today, ensured that my loneliness didn’t count much. On weekends, university officials were charged to ensure girls like me were protected at all costs.

We couldn’t be trusted to leave the dormitory because girls could get into a lot of trouble when left to themselves.

So on Thursday nights, we would be locked up in our dormitories as prisoners until classes resumed on Saturday morning. The steel doors at the bottom of the stairwell that led outdoors were padlocked and an elderly man would guard it in case a crook wanted to break in and attack us.

If my brother would come to take me out to dinner or show me how the world looked like on weekends, his name had better be printed on the university’s approved list of guardians or I wasn’t going anywhere. And of course the guard should be at his post or my brother would have made his trip for nothing.We would be locked up for 48 hours assuming that we were safe.

I later realized that we were anything but safe.The old buildings lacked basic fire safety equipment and sprinkler systems. If a fire had broken out due to a girl’s sloppy cooking, we would have all burned down to death at the foot of those steel doors.

When 14 girls died in the March 2002 fire at an intermediate school in Makkah, I shuddered to think what could have happened if the fire had broken out in my dorm.Recently Okaz reported that a fire broke out at a private girls school in the Eastern Province.

The fire was started by an electrical malfunction. Fortunately the 250 girls were evacuated without any reported injuries. This was the sixth incident at the same school in just two weeks time.

So what did the government agencies learn from the 2002 Makkah school fire?

Apparently nothing.

Lt. Hamad Al-Juaid, chief of the Civil Defense Department in the Eastern Province, said the school demonstrated “gross neglect” of basic safety measures, and risked the lives of young students.

Further, Civil Defense authorities said they have not been allowed to conduct safety inspections at girls schools to check if the schools complied with safety laws.Our society insists that females must be protected, but fails to adhere to basic safety measures to guarantee their well-being.

Isn’t this hypocrisy?What is the logic behind denying Civil Defense authorities the access to school buildings? What is the logic of locking up girls in their dorms as if they were cattle. It’s as if Saudi females are an investment to be protected.Certainly the Makkah school tragedy was a result of over-zealousness displayed by a group of guardians.

A pathological desire to raise obstacles and stem progress, even when human lives are at risk, make a mockery of the male guardianship issue. We are failing to look at the big picture. If we as a society wish to preserve the guardianship requirement of women as originally intended, then it means much more than having my brother accompany me to malls or having written permission from my father to leave the country.

It means all forms of protection.

Organ Donation

By Sabria S. Jawhar
The Saudi Gazette

Having sat next to my mother on many occasions in hospitals while she receives dialysis I tend to pay close attention to whatever Dr. Faisal Shaheen, director of the Saudi Center of Organ Transplantation, has to say about his campaign to increase awareness of organ donations.
As part of the center's awareness campaign, Saudi television Channel 3 Al-Riyadh hosted a discussion with Dr. Shaheen and a father who donated the organs of his brain-dead 8-year-old daughter.

I think what was most gratifying about the program was the discussion from both a scientific and religious point of view regarding organ donations and its impact on families of both the donor and the recipient. And I give thanks to God that the campaign is responsible for an 80 percent increase in awareness among Saudis about the vital need for transplants.

But at the end of this program a father, whose son was declared brain dead, called in and accused organ donation officials of being criminals and that the act of removing organs from brain dead victims is a "killing." He cited some Qur'anic verses to support his argument.

I empathize with the caller and don't blame him for his anger. We all would just about do and say anything to protect a love one, especially in a time of grief.
But as Muslims we must look at the bigger picture and see the benefit that the entire society stands to gain with organ transplants.

We should not judge such sensitive issues based on our at-the-moment emotions. Dr. Shaheen stated that transplant programs will help save the lives of more than 11,000 kidney, liver and other patients. In 2006, more than 5,000 potential transplant recipients remained on waiting lists.

An organ donation will spare Muslim patients the daily pain of dialysis and water drainage. And it will save the country billions of riyals that are spent on medication, money that should go to prevention and research.

We all have a responsibility towards our society, which should never be separated from our religious duty. I am aware of the fact that some Muslim scholars are somewhat conservative on the issue of organ donations, especially when we arrive at the point where we must declare a person dead.

But we can't take Qur'anic verses literally and base our judgment on them especially when it comes to science. A team of scholars from both science and religion should sit together and discuss the issue before a fatwa is issued. This is exactly what the Supreme Council of Senior Ulama did. In 1981, the Ulama allowed both organ donation and organ transplantation in the case of necessity, by determining that the organ can be taken from the body of a living person with his/her consent and also from the body of a dead person.

The Fiqh Academy of the Muslim World League in Makkah also allowed organ donation and transplantation in its 8th session in 1984. And in 1987, the Fiqh Academy of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Jeddah and the Mufti of Egypt, Dr. Sayyed At-Tantawi, also allowed the use of the body organs of a person who has died in an accident.

It is important to note that most of the jurists have only allowed the donation of the organs. They do not allow the sale of human organs. Their position is that the sale of human organs violates the rules of the dignity and honor of the human being, and so it would be haram in that case.

If we consider organ donations from an Islamic point of view, though I am not a religion scholar, we should take into consideration the Qur'anic verse that says, "Whoever kills a person [unjustly]…it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind." (Qur'an, 5:32)

I recognize that much of these religious issues boils down to the definition of death. The People's Assembly in Egypt this month is struggling with this very issue.
Akram Al-Shaer, an Egyptian MP and member of the health committee studying the issue for the People's Assembly, told the Egyptian press last week that he opposes a proposed organ donation law.

Al-Shaer told a television interviewer that, "I will only approve the new law if it was issued based on a correct definition of death; which is the permanent and definite stop of both the heart and the brain, which should be declared by a professional physician based on an extremely accurate and scientific analysis."

He said the proposed law makes no mention of the stopping of the heart to be an indication of death, leaving only brain failure as the only indication.
Whether one agrees with Al-Shaer, he has a point: Death should be declared by a professional physician based on science.

And as far as I am concerned that statement makes his point irrelevant. A person who is declared brain dead by a qualified doctor will never rejoin his family no matter how long the heart remains beating or how strong our emotions are for our loved ones. Death is a messy thing. Rarely does death accommodate us by having brain and heart functions cease at the same time. But having one or the other stop functioning is indeed death in my opinion. At some point we must rely on the professional physician to tell us when a loved one is dead and to be ready to save another's life

Why do we leave the strong evidence that supports donations, including the fatwa from the Council of Senior Ulama, and instead follow extreme conservatives or the ignorant when it comes to religion?

By having such organ transplant centers and systematizing the process of donations and transplants under the supervision of a competent and compassionate authority, we spare society the trap of commercial abuse. By moving beyond the borders of our selfishness and limited thinking, we help promote healthy programs.

***The painting is by Pat Zeunik, 10th Grade, Age: 15, Central Catholic High School Bloomington, IL, a winner of life goes on 2005 Organ Donor Poster Contest.

Some Saudis don’t get it

If the needs of Saudi women were written in tall letters on billboards in all major highways from Riyadh to Madina to Jeddah and on all major streets, I’m sure Saudi men would not understand a word of it.

Some men in positions of authority in government and private sectors would feign blindness or play the fool. “What?,” the typical Saudi male would ask. “The needs of Saudi women are simple. Feed them, clothe them, give them a driver, and money to spend at malls. What else do they need?”

I recently spent about two and a half months traveling to and fro between Madina and Jeddah before returning to UK for my studies. If I didn’t know better, I would think that half the Saudi male population is stupid by choice.

I sound a little angry because logic seems to be totally absent from public discussion in Saudi society about Saudi women, who are fast becoming the most important labor resource in the Kingdom.Some ministries do understand and appreciate the value of Saudi women.

There are forward thinking men who want to see women advance in education and the workplace. But for some reason once women reach a point to best use their education, they are told to stay at home, get married and produce enough children to make the family proud.Let’s address the education issue first.

The Ministry of Higher Education reported recently that more women than men are getting selected for scholarships. This year alone, 2,585 women were selected for master’s degree scholarships out of the total 4,779 candidates. Some 86 students out of the total 127 chosen for doctoral degree programs were women. In all, more than 50,000 Saudi men and women are studying abroad in about two dozen countries.

Year in and year out, Saudi women have proved that they are more motivated, more studious and more ambitious to earn a post-graduate degree than Saudi men. At Newcastle University, both Saudi men and women students are dedicated to their studies, but women are more organized and more willing to form study groups with other students of different nationalities and gender.

They are more open-minded about how to best utilize the resources the university has in offer.But what happens after Saudi women successfully obtain post-graduate degrees?She has two options: One, put the degree in the closet and start looking for a husband to raise a family.

If she earns a math degree perhaps it will serve her better when she calculates the grocery bill in her head at the Danube hypermarket or when she buys that Prada bag and the smart jacket that goes with it.

The second option is to teach. I’m sure teaching in a high school or a women’s college will be fulfilling for some, but for many women their eyes would glaze over with boredom at the mere thought of classroom instruction.Both of these options remind me of Victorian era America and England.

If a woman insists on getting a university education it’s only to serve the men in the family by being a gracious host and intelligent conversationalist or because teaching is the only “appropriate” vocation for women.

So here we are at the end of the first decade of the 21st century embracing 19th century Victorian ideals, yet we want to be taken seriously by the international community.All this reminds me of Saudi society’s continuing failure in keeping up its promises to Saudi women.

I’m not talking about the right to drive because that promise is dangled in front of us like a carrot on a stick. Behave, and maybe we will be able to drive a car “some day.”No, I’m talking about the comedy of women not being allowed to work in lingerie shops despite an order passed by the Ministry of Labor two years ago.

For all the trembling fears we Saudis have about gender mixing, we insist on foreign male drivers carting us from one mall to another, we insist on foreign men talking to us about our underwear. If a Saudi male stranger asked a woman her bra size, I’m guessing the sky would fall and the earth would split open. Her brothers would fly into a tizzy and demand the stranger’s head.

Me? I don’t care one way or another, but for the majority of women they rather have females working at lingerie shops. But more importantly, Saudi women want jobs. For those who don’t think that a university education is an option, why not give them the most logical and appropriate job available?Why is it that despite Saudi women continuing to demonstrate their intelligence, our society refuses to employ them in meaningful jobs.

The bottom line is, there is a segment in our society that is blind to progress and equates progress with Western values. We as a society lack the courage to confront these ignorant people to allow us to grow and mature as a country. I wonder just what will it take to for our society to stop tolerating this nonsense.

Satan's foot soldiers

When I was a kid growing up I watched a lot of Tom and Jerry cartoons. I didn’t like Jerry much. It wasn’t because he was a mouse but because he was so mean to Tom. I thought his attacks on the cat were unjustified.

So I perked up a little when I read that Sheikh Mohammed Al-Munajid told Al Majd TV recently that a mouse is “one of Satan’s soldiers.” Tom, I think, would sympathize.

Sheikh Al-Munajid went on to say, “How do you think children view mice today – after Tom and Jerry? Even creatures that are repulsive by nature, by logic, and according to Islamic law have become wonderful and are loved by children. Even mice. Mickey Mouse has become an awesome character, even though according to Islamic law, Mickey Mouse should be killed in all cases.”
It’s not surprising that Sheikh Al-Munajid’s remarks gained worldwide attention and much criticism from the usual Saudi-bashers and Islamophobes. What better target than a sheikh who attacks the beloved Mickey Mouse, the symbol to Americans that humanity can be found in a rodent.

There are several problems with the criticisms heaped on Al-Munajid. For one, it was described as a fatwa by the Western press. These were remarks during a television appearance and at most he was expressing his own opinion and not issuing any formal religious edict.

For another, his comments were widely circulated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, a pro-Israeli Arabic translation website. Western media routinely use MEMRI to obtain Arabic news. What are lost in these translations are attempts at dry humour and sarcasm. A look at the interview on YouTube one can detect that Al-Munajid was probably attempting to make a little joke about Mickey Mouse.

In their zeal to publish another story about crazy Arabs issuing crazy fatwas, journalists missed the nuance of the interview. Now we are put in the same position we often find ourselves, which is being the object of ridicule and contempt. This doesn’t bother me since I am comfortable in being a Saudi and with my relationship with God. I only answer to God, not to Western contempt.

But there is another aspect from the fallout of this television appearance that should be considered. It should be clear from the beginning of a televised appearance the distinction between opinion, discussion and a fatwa. Providing answers to an interviewer’s questions or questions from a television audience doesn’t necessarily mean that a fatwa has been issued. How can it be without the proper research and deliberation?

Perhaps a more fundamental issue is just who is entitled to issue a fatwa. Honestly, over the years I have heard from clerics I never heard of issue fatwas that were just plain ridiculous. Issuing fatwas should a job for the Council of Senior Ulama, which spends the time, research and deliberations to make proper judgments. This would go a long way towards eliminating confusion of what is a fatwa and what is merely discussion and opinion.

In the cold light of the transcript, Sheikh Al-Munajid’s comments, taken out of context, present an image of backwardness. But what many non-Muslims fail to appreciate is that televised discussions of our religion are very popular and instructional to Saudis. It doesn’t mean that we view cartoon mice as Satan’s foot soldiers. It just means we are enjoying and responding to religious dialogue and perhaps the occasional humour that comes with it.

I kind of view the Western media the same why I view Jerry. Jerry commits illogical violence and trickery apparently for the pleasure and delight of provoking Tom to react. Western cable pundits are not much different.

Muslims and US culture

Sabria S. Jawhar

The Saui Gazette

A religious battle – nothing to do with terrorism or the invasion of American troops in a Muslim country – is going on in the heartland of the United States. Central Nebraska to be specific. The land of corn, pickup trucks and evangelical Christians.

The issue is whether Muslim workers at a food processing plant can be allowed to pray during working hours and to break fast at sunset during Ramadan. It hardly seems to be a burning issue among Muslims worldwide, but in the city of Grand Island there have been protests, firing workers and allegations of religious discrimination by Christians and Muslims alike.

The workers at the plant are primarily Somali refugees who have long struggled to assimilate into the American society. There has been a huge influx of Somali immigrants into America’s Midwest because of its low cost of living, modest housing prices and a generally tolerant view of Midwesterners toward immigrants.These immigrants have been at the center of controversy before.

Somali taxi drivers have refused to take passengers possessing or being under the influence of alcohol or have a dog with them. With the exception of rather loud opinions of American conservative extremists, these small cultural and religious eruptions settled down quietly.The incidents at the food processing plants are somewhat different because unlike business offices and retail outlets, there are significant safety and production issues.

Plant managers are concerned that workers walking off the processing line once or twice during their working hours can affect productivity. It’s illegal in the United States to ask potential employees during the hiring process about their religion. Federal law demands that employers “reasonably accommodate” workers’ religious obligations.

The exception to this accommodation is if making changes in workers’ schedule causes a hardship to the business, such as reducing efficiency or affecting safety guidelines.While one can appreciate the Americans’ desire to keep religion a private matter and not hire workers based on their religious affiliation, an employer must be woefully ignorant not to recognize that a large number of his workers are Muslim.

So it is quite reasonable that a compromise can be met if a company hires a significant number of Muslims. Reasonable accommodation can be arranged with a work schedule to fit in prayer times and allow a brief iftar at sunset.The problem in the United States is two-fold: Islam has become so politicized that many people can no longer view the duties of a Muslim as a religious issue, but one of Muslims attempting to change the landscape of a Christian nation through force.

Many conservatives have gone so far as to label the wants and needs of Muslims as some sort of silent jihad.The other problem is the refusal of some Muslim immigrants to assimilate into Western society. We in Saudi Arabia ask our expatriate workers to respect our customs, traditions and religion while they are guests here. The same could be said for Muslims choosing to live in the United States.

That doesn’t mean they are not entitled to praying five times a day. Of course they have that right. And every employer who respects freedom of religion should find a compromise to accommodate Muslims during work hours. But some Muslims take their beliefs to the extreme. What works in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or Somalia doesn’t necessarily work in the West, and special considerations must be addressed.

If you choose to be a taxi driver, then you have to take passengers under the influence of alcohol safely home.There also have been controversies surrounding Muslims working at the JBS Swift & Co. meat packing plant in which pork is processed. Muslim workers have refused to handle pork and have been fired for refusing to handle it.

Any person in the US with a television set, an Internet connection or has gone grocery shopping knows that JBS Swift is a leader in pork products. You don’t want to handle pork? Don’t work at Swift. Don’t like drunk passengers? Don’t be a taxi driver.The point is simple. Accommodation comes from both sides. Compromises have saved the world from many crises in the past.

If you shut out the noise from the religious bigots and take time to understand US history, this whole “us versus them” issue between Muslims and Westerners is a result of new immigrants arriving at American shores.The Irish in the 19th century faced severe discrimination because they were Catholics who adhered to the edicts of a single man in the Vatican and engaged in what was then deemed strange religious ceremonies.

Orthodox Jews, or Shomrei Shabbos, do not operate machinery or drive cars or use electric appliances after sundown on Friday till Saturday night. To this day there are some Jewish American baseball players who refuse to play the sport on Saturday so they can observe the Sabbath.Historically, Christian Americans have accepted them over time and the same will eventually occur with Muslims as Muslim communities assimilate into their new environment. Give it time. Ramadan, like any other American holiday, whether religious or secular, will become common in the US workplace.

Hire more Saudi nurses

By : Sabria Jawhar

AS a regular, if not daily, visitor to hospitals in Madina and Jeddah for my mother’s medical care, I have become more intimate than I care to admit about medical centers.

Though I have come across some well qualified nurses whom I consider life-savers in my mother’s treatment, I have also seen several other nurses whom I wouldn’t trust to treat the neighborhood dumpster cat.

Providing quality medical care is one of the many issues Saudi Arabia faces.I acknowledge that Filipino nurses are usually qualified and dedicated to the job, but does that mean we must continue to recruit Filipinos for nursing positions here? Recently, the Philippines government announced that 2,000 Filipinos will be recruited to work in Saudi Arabia. The applicants must be graduates in nursing.

Work experience, however, is not a requirement.Monthly salaries for these nurses range from SR 2,250 to SR4,000. They get all benefits like 45 days annual paid vacation with a round-trip air ticket to their home country, free transportation and free housing. This is fine for Filipinos, but not so for Saudi women. Even in 2008 a stigma that nursing is a less than noble profession remains in Saudi minds.

They still feel it is an embarrassment for Saudi women to treat and provide aid and comfort to the sick and afflicted.This was even more true 10 years ago. The idea of a Saudi woman entering the nursing profession was short of being scandalous. Today an estimated 35 percent of the nurses in Saudi Arabia are Saudi women. By contrast, in Kuwait - which is perceived as a progressive Arab nation - only 8 percent of the nurses are Kuwaiti women.Clearly, the perception in the last decade has changed and acceptance of Saudi women as nurses is now more prominent.

Over the last five years, the Saudi government has repeatedly stated its commitment to hire more Saudi female nurses to work in government and private hospitals. The Ministry of Health pledged to employ as many as 70,000 Saudi female nurses by 2010. Despite such announcements, recruitment of nurses from Philippines and other countries continues. Rather than training Saudi nurses, the government is hiring non-Saudis.

This doesn’t mean the Saudi government should embark on a Saudization program of placing unqualified workers in jobs. Such a program is bound to fail.Saudi female nurses have a reputation of not doing the job properly. Complaints of failing to show up to work on time, lacking proficiency in their work and refusing to treat male patients are quite common.

These selfish girls remind me of the female Muslim medical students in the United Kingdom who refused to wash up before a medical procedure because they are required to roll up their sleeves up to their elbows.Ridiculous. If one can’t abide by the rules of the profession and give 100 percent of what is required, then these women should do what they are best at: Stay at home or go to the mall to buy the latest Hermes purse or Chopard watch.

The nursing profession doesn’t need them.My guess is, there are plenty of Saudi women out there willing to provide care for the sick and eager to earn a good salary. Let’s not waste our precious labor resources by continuing to recruit expatriates, especially when we have enough qualified workers within our own borders.

Saudi Tourism

WHEN I disclose to someone in the UK about where I come from, I get a look that says, “I’d go anywhere but there.”They are polite, of course, and respectful, but the conversation usually ends there.

Interest for travel seems to plummet with the mention of Saudi Arabia.Not everyone feels that way though. Japanese and most Asians see visiting Saudi Arabia as adventurous. Muslims, naturally, even if it isn’t for the specific reason of Umrah, want to experience our country.Since 9/11 Saudi Arabia has taken many steps to open the country to visitors.

I admit the Saudi government moves at a snail’s pace when it comes to tourism, but in areas of trade, commerce and attracting investors for projects we have moved rapidly forward.Tourism is a natural step that becomes part of the equation.

People should not need a visit visa, a sponsor or a work visa to visit the country. People who want to visit the historic sites and experience the Saudi lifestyle should have that opportunity.The process is, however, not easy. A potential tourist can’t simply walk into a Saudi embassy or mail his or her passport to a consulate for a tourist visa.

Tourist visas are arranged by travel agents when their holiday packages are purchased. Citizens of 66 nations are approved for tourism. US, UK and most European countries, including Denmark, are part of the approved list. We won’t eat their butter but we will use their tourism dollars.

The website for the Saudi Commission on Tourism and Antiquities is of little help for the average traveler. No specific tourist visa information or guidelines is available. If someone wants to have a general idea on tourist packages and visa requirements, they won’t find it so easily.

The reported requirement is that only women over the age of 40 will be considered for a visa, as if younger women will be too much for our Saudi men. Another requirement of male guardianship for all female tourists will be a concern for foreigners.

Tour groups should also have a minimum of four people and tours range from three days to two weeks. Promoting tourism can have several social benefits. Of all the complaining we do about being misunderstood by the western world, what could be better than inviting tourists to improve understanding.

Tourism can also create a number of jobs for Saudis. Prince Sultan Bin Salman, secretary general of the Higher Tourism Commission, said he expects the industry to create up to 2.3 million jobs by 2020.Tourism officials are seeking investors to help boost local tourism and promote tourism culture among Saudis.

Scuba diving, restaurants, transport, hotel industry will all grow and even the small businesses, such as those in old Jeddah will benefit.Travel agencies have already reaped the benefits of bringing in tourists. One company reported that 2,500 tourists from the United States, Germany, Italy and several Asian countries have visited Saudi Arabia since January. Saudi tourism has had a bumpy ride since it was first considered in 2000.

I never felt that Saudis were enthusiastic about the idea. The belief among many of my friends and acquaintances is that since we live in the land of the Two Holy Mosques, why bring in outsiders, especially non-Muslims, to our country?

In my opinion, Saudis and non-Saudis should get to know each other and try to ease the suspicion and fear we often have of one another. We must also ease our dependence on oil revenues.Perhaps when Saudi Arabia does really become an international tourist destination, I will no longer get those “I’d go anywhere but there” looks.

Stop brain drain of professional Saudi women

TWO news stories published earlier this month got me to thinking about the future of professional Saudi women.

Just where do they fit in Saudi society and what contributions will they make – or maybe it’s better to say, allowed to make – as working professionals in Saudi Arabia.

The Boston Globe reported that 13 Saudi women recently completed an international diplomacy course sponsored jointly by Dar Al-Hekma College and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

The same week, Bahrain’s Gulf Daily News published an interview with Saudi writer Wajeha Al-Huawaider, who warned that Saudi women studying abroad are reluctant to return home because they enjoy the freedom of independent living and they want to pursue greater employment opportunities.

These seemingly unrelated articles actually convey similar themes that dominate the lives of Saudi women. And in the case of women seeking diplomatic careers, it raises the inherent conflict Saudi women feel about the intense patriotism they feel for their country and the desire for their country to treat them better.There is no question that the Ministry of Higher Education has done much in recent years to provide scholarships for women to study abroad.

I am the beneficiary of such a program. The intent by the ministry is to give Saudi women a Western education so they can return home and contribute to society much like their fathers and uncles have done in the 1970s and ‘80s.

One reason why Saudi Arabia has flourished in the international business community over 30 years is because thousands of men studied in the West and brought that knowledge home to apply it to Saudi business practices.

Now women are given similar opportunities. But there is a twist. The reality is the Ministry of Higher Education wants its women to get the best education possible. The fantasy is that there will be well-paying jobs, respect and opportunities for advancement in the workplace.I’ve always admired the work performed at Dar Al-Hekma, with many of its bold and aggressive programs to prepare women for the workplace.

Its relationship with the Fletcher School is a prime example.Suhair Al-Qurashi, president of Dar Al-Hekma, told the Boston Globe, “We want women ambassadors, women officials, women leaders – not women working in the office.

My efforts here will push the ministry (of foreign affairs) to make serious steps. Now they have no excuse. We have a prepared group, and they are not secretary material.”Al-Qurashi is correct.

The ministry will have no excuse. But that doesn’t mean jobs will magically appear once these 13 young women apply. The reality is that only a fraction of the diplomatic corps in Washington, D.C. is female.This brings to mind Wajeha Al-Huawaider’s calls for Saudi women studying in Bahrain and other countries to return home with their new education and experience in foreign countries.

She complained that Saudi women searching for too much freedom abroad is a dangerous trend because they will be reluctant to return home to fight for change.The problem with Al-Huawaider’s concern is that many Saudi women don’t want to fight the good fight for greater freedom, demand driving rights and seek high-level positions in private and government institutions.

Do they want these things? Of course. But rather than pick up the cause, most young women are only too aware that they have one life to live. They feel they would be better served enjoying living an independent and rich life rather than beating their head against a brick wall because their male boss either feels threatened by their talent or wants them as a second wife.

I have spoken to many Saudi women. They view their future after earning a university degree as living outside Saudi Arabia, marrying a non-Saudi and being employed by a company that doesn’t care about the status of her family or whether she will be perceived as a “good Muslim girl.”

Why worry about a supervisor who thinks a woman is loose because she works in a mixed environment when you can work for a boss who is only interested in the results and quality of her work?That’s why it’s interesting to see that Saudi women want to become diplomats.

They have the best of both worlds. They demonstrate their loyalty by representing Saudi Arabia in the most prestigious way. They live abroad. And for the most part their lives are independent. Take that a step further.

Saudi women with international experience and education are eager to find employment with the United Nations, an NGO or a Middle East company based in the West. By Saudi standards, that is complete freedom.If the Saudi government beyond the Ministry of Education truly wants to benefit from the experiences of Saudi women, then an education is simply not enough.

Only through efforts to change the environment in the workplace and in government offices will Saudi Arabia be allowed to benefit from giving women an education. Today, living and working abroad is appealing.

Stop brain drain of professional Saudi women

TWO news stories published earlier this month got me to thinking about the future of professional Saudi women.

Just where do they fit in Saudi society and what contributions will they make – or maybe it’s better to say, allowed to make – as working professionals in Saudi Arabia.

The Boston Globe reported that 13 Saudi women recently completed an international diplomacy course sponsored jointly by Dar Al-Hekma College and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

The same week, Bahrain’s Gulf Daily News published an interview with Saudi writer Wajeha Al-Huawaider, who warned that Saudi women studying abroad are reluctant to return home because they enjoy the freedom of independent living and they want to pursue greater employment opportunities.

These seemingly unrelated articles actually convey similar themes that dominate the lives of Saudi women. And in the case of women seeking diplomatic careers, it raises the inherent conflict Saudi women feel about the intense patriotism they feel for their country and the desire for their country to treat them better.There is no question that the Ministry of Higher Education has done much in recent years to provide scholarships for women to study abroad.

I am the beneficiary of such a program. The intent by the ministry is to give Saudi women a Western education so they can return home and contribute to society much like their fathers and uncles have done in the 1970s and ‘80s.

One reason why Saudi Arabia has flourished in the international business community over 30 years is because thousands of men studied in the West and brought that knowledge home to apply it to Saudi business practices.

Now women are given similar opportunities. But there is a twist. The reality is the Ministry of Higher Education wants its women to get the best education possible. The fantasy is that there will be well-paying jobs, respect and opportunities for advancement in the workplace.I’ve always admired the work performed at Dar Al-Hekma, with many of its bold and aggressive programs to prepare women for the workplace.

Its relationship with the Fletcher School is a prime example.Suhair Al-Qurashi, president of Dar Al-Hekma, told the Boston Globe, “We want women ambassadors, women officials, women leaders – not women working in the office.

My efforts here will push the ministry (of foreign affairs) to make serious steps. Now they have no excuse. We have a prepared group, and they are not secretary material.”Al-Qurashi is correct.

The ministry will have no excuse. But that doesn’t mean jobs will magically appear once these 13 young women apply. The reality is that only a fraction of the diplomatic corps in Washington, D.C. is female.This brings to mind Wajeha Al-Huawaider’s calls for Saudi women studying in Bahrain and other countries to return home with their new education and experience in foreign countries.

She complained that Saudi women searching for too much freedom abroad is a dangerous trend because they will be reluctant to return home to fight for change.The problem with Al-Huawaider’s concern is that many Saudi women don’t want to fight the good fight for greater freedom, demand driving rights and seek high-level positions in private and government institutions.

Do they want these things? Of course. But rather than pick up the cause, most young women are only too aware that they have one life to live. They feel they would be better served enjoying living an independent and rich life rather than beating their head against a brick wall because their male boss either feels threatened by their talent or wants them as a second wife.

I have spoken to many Saudi women. They view their future after earning a university degree as living outside Saudi Arabia, marrying a non-Saudi and being employed by a company that doesn’t care about the status of her family or whether she will be perceived as a “good Muslim girl.”

Why worry about a supervisor who thinks a woman is loose because she works in a mixed environment when you can work for a boss who is only interested in the results and quality of her work?That’s why it’s interesting to see that Saudi women want to become diplomats.

They have the best of both worlds. They demonstrate their loyalty by representing Saudi Arabia in the most prestigious way. They live abroad. And for the most part their lives are independent. Take that a step further.

Saudi women with international experience and education are eager to find employment with the United Nations, an NGO or a Middle East company based in the West. By Saudi standards, that is complete freedom.If the Saudi government beyond the Ministry of Education truly wants to benefit from the experiences of Saudi women, then an education is simply not enough. Only through efforts to change the environment in the workplace and in government offices will Saudi Arabia be allowed to benefit from giving women an education. Today, living and working abroad is appealing.