Misbehavior

Expatriates are ill-treated in the Kingdom not because they are domestic maids or house drivers, but because they are expatriates. Many Saudis believe that they must mistreat them to prove their own superiority. Saudi youngsters have learned their values from their parents and harass expatriates at every opportunity. Their elders approve of the actions by their silence.

A couple of weeks ago, as I was walking on the street, some Saudi kids started to hit me and beat me with sticks for no reason at all. There were six of them. All I could do was protect myself, because any offensive action on my part would have got me into bigger troubles. Saudis seem to believe that expatriates should not react when tortured by Saudi children. I understood this when, a few days later, I saw the same kids deliberately kicking a soccer ball to hit Indian workers passing by. One of the victims got furious and took the ball and kicked it hard. One Saudi saw that and, instead of disciplining the kids, he warned the Indian not to do that again. Encouraged, the kids stoned the Indians and followed them up to their building. Many Saudis saw this, but did nothing. For them it was normal behavior that did not require intervention. Such incidents occur not only in Jubail but in every part of the Kingdom. I wonder where the parents of these children are. What do they teach their children? Do they teach them anything? Do they, as a people proud of their Islamic heritage, teach them Islam’s rules about good behavior? I think not.

The blame for such behavior by youngsters should be put on their parents. They don’t lift a finger to correct their children. Clearly, they believe that they have a right to make fun of others. If they tolerate this behavior, sooner or later, the children will treat them in the same manner.

Chakryas, Jubail published 17 December 2007

Air-India Delay

Javid Hassan’s story “Flight Delay Hits 300 Passengers in Riyadh” (Dec. 11) reports another incident that should shame India. It was a case of sheer mismanagement on the part of the Air-India staff and managers. Passengers are justified in their anger at Air-India, because such delays are not rare occurrences, but everyday events. That also explains why passengers don’t get agitated when Saudia flights are delayed. They are not delayed unless there are exceptional reasons. In contrast, Air-India’s delays are due to indifference.

The solution is for Air-India to be sold to either Kingfisher or Jet Air. By taking such a decision the government will be doing a big favor to Indians working abroad, who generate billions of dollars in foreign currency reserves. The behavior of the Air-India staff also is unacceptable.

The only way to force Air-India to pay attention to the problems of their passengers is not to travel by the airline.

Nauna, Jeddah published 17 December 2007

Air-India Delay [2]

There are precautions that passengers must take when traveling on Air-India in peak periods: Be prepared for delays, technical snags, missing passengers, missing luggage, and increasing frustration. The Maharajah is not there when you need him. He is already on his holidays.

Stephen B. Gomes, Riyadh published 17 December 2007

Illegal Ruler

Your editorial “Voters’ Dilemma” (Dec. 11) showed that you are not aware of Pakistan’s internal situation. Musharraf is the most hated man in Pakistan today. He has brought the country to the brink. Bomb blasts are taking place because of this one man. His rule of eight years has been a failure. The prices of food items have gone sky-high and make life unbearable for ordinary people.

His rule is unconstitutional and illegal.

Ashfaq Ahmed, Dammam published 17 December 2007

Laws and Traditions

This refers to Abeer Mishkhas’ “Do We Need Someone to Watch Over Us?” (Dec. 13).

We must distinguish between Islamic law and the traditions of different Muslim societies. Islamic law has traditionally been interpreted by the ulema as specifying that a woman has to resort to a guardian to help her take important decisions, such as whom to marry or the amount of dowry she must receive, etc. But the guardian doesn’t make decisions in her place. He is just a counsel to help her protect her interests, and advise her. It is up to her to make all final decisions. But, over the centuries, men have interpreted the law more and more in their favor and have taken decisions women should have taken and have acted in their place, even against their will. For example, the dowry is supposed to be the property of the wife, but it was always the father of the bride who took it for his own use, considering it as the payment he received for authorizing the marriage.

Theologians of different schools — such as Hanbali, Shafi’i, Maliki, Hanafi, Shiite etc. give different interpretations to the rights of the guardian (whether father, husband or even son) over the woman. Not that there is any confusion about what the Qur’an says on the subject. The confusion is about the conclusions drawn by different experts.

Women everywhere, including in Europe and America, have lived through the same situation at different periods in the history of their societies. European women didn’t gain most of their current freedoms until the second half of the 20th century. That’s not so long ago. Swiss women didn’t have the right to vote until a few years ago. So, it’s not unusual that women in Muslim societies are subjected to the same restrictions of freedom that Europeans and Americans were subjected to until well into the 20th century. The real issue, at this time, is how to get men, and people in authority, to realize that the time has come to change prejudiced interpretations of laws and traditions concerning women. Only women’s associations working full-time on these issues can hope to make any progress. But, in order to obtain any significant results, they need backing from major political decision-makers such as King Abdullah and from international organizations in order to help them exercise pressure for change.

To paraphrase a famous call that changed history, “Women of the world, unite”.

Tariq Amin, Jeddah published 17 December 2007

Moral Hypocrisy

In his letter “Bad News” (Dec. 11) Haim Belisowski accused the Palestinians of being responsible for the constant failure of peace efforts in the Middle East. The gist of Haim’s letter was that Arabs “throw around a common and false accusation” of Israeli apartheid and genocide. Haim contemptuously dismisses these claims and holds them in such low esteem that he didn’t even deign to address them. They are false because Haim says so.

Now, let’s watch Haim’s claims collapse under the weight of actual quotations from Israeli leaders. Regarding apartheid, David Ben-Guiron said, “We must expel the Arabs and take their places...We must do everything to insure the Palestinians never return.” In regard to genocide, we need only look to Israel’s advocate of the “Final Solution,” Gen. Shlomo Lahat, who said, “We have to kill all the Palestinians unless they are resigned to live here as slaves.” For a more detailed account of apartheid and genocide, I encourage the reader to compare Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” to the writings of the Zionist Theodor Herzl. Then, ask yourselves this simple question: Did Hitler inspire Herzl or did Herzl inspire Hitler and what’s the difference between the two?

Haim concluded his letter by blaming the Arabs for the failure of Annapolis. But are the Palestinians really to blame? Once again, let’s look to the Israelis for an answer. Vladimir Jabotinsky stated, “A voluntary reconciliation with the Arabs is out of the question, either now or in the future.” David Ben-Guiron said, “If I were an Arab leader I would never sign an agreement with Israel — it is natural, we have taken their country.” And how can the Palestinians have a peace settlement when Golda Meir infamously claimed, “There was no such thing as Palestinians, they never existed.” What grotesque moral hypocrisy! One is condemned for denying the Holocaust, but one may deny the existence of millions of captive people held under the cruel bondage of Israel.

Steve Corcoran, Alkhobar published 17 December 2007