Saudi women today

My friend, Al -Hayat foreign editor, Baria Alamuddin had once been described by STAR publisher, Max Soliven as an Elizabeth Taylor look alike. Max met her when he visited London as our house guest in the 80s. Baria became a friend because of her interest in the Philippines since 1986. I met her on one TV breakfast show in a panel on the peaceful revolution which was the news rage at the time.

In time she became a valued friend and we kept in touch. Whenever she had a chance she puts in a good word for the Philippines in prestigious Al-Hayat, the bible for Arabs the world over. She is also known as the last journalist to have interviewed the late Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, just minutes before she was assassinated. As for me, it is an important connection to the Middle East as well as to Arabs around the world. Al-Hayat and Baria are based in London so I took the opportunity to see her once again during this visit, over cups of coffee in the new Moet Bar and Gallery at Selfridges. She was prettier than ever but was too serious to indulge on such fripperies. I teased her immediately and said, "I see, you have become the spokesperson of the Iraqi government on CNN and BBC." That immediately drew a sharp rebuke and said no, not Iraqi government, but for Iraqis. "I speak on behalf of moderate Muslims who are being cast aside in this war against terrorism." she said.

Here are some of her views on the American handover of government to Iraqis. She said "No, Iraq is not ready for security reasons, but it’s a welcome step. It’s a very good step. It’s not only about security. Morally and otherwise, yes, it is ready, "I hope, and I pray that the coalition forces will stay for the time being in Iraq, train very quickly these Iraqi forces, and then get out as soon as they can so that Iraq is seen to be actually governing itself with its own police, with its own army."

I’ve been speaking to an Iraqi official who told me that Mr. Bremer had just left and he said good riddance. Although Americans are seen to be the liberators, yet, they are not seen to have played their cards well, in the last two years after liberation because they are seen as occupiers more than liberators·However, now, if they are not seen to be playing a big role, this will be very welcome by the Iraqi people and, indeed, I think, by this Iraqi interim government". I won’t be saying something new when I say it’s security, security, security. Because when you speak to the Iraqi people, the first thing they say, yes, we have seen some progress in schooling, hospitals" whatever other walks of life. But we cannot do anything with this if we don’t have security. It also needs to gain the confidence of the Iraqi people that it is going forward with providing jobs for people. ..

You cannot imagine how bad the situation is inside Iraq as far as jobs are concerned. Also, providing the infrastructure. Many, many places in Iraq still don’t have electricity. I think it’s very crucial to bring in the Iraqi people together to stop any faction – factioning – factors going in. For example, stop playing on being Shia, Sunni, Kurdish, Turkistan (ph), whatever it is. It’s very important to unite the Iraqis. These people have always been one. She said Saddam Hussein did well on this aspect if anything good could be said of him.

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On the sensitive topic of the role of women in Arab society which is generally regarded as backward. She thinks it is more the lack of information coming from the country itself. Baria recently interviewed Princess Al-Jawhara Ibrahim Al-Ibrahim, wife of the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, King Fahd Bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, who said "I consider education and sound preparation of the Saudi woman as one of my highest priorities." At the same she was quick to add that "in our society, the success of any development project depends on its conformity with Islamic law." During the long interview which I now share with this column’s readers, the princess was at the same time relaxed, trustful and self confident while saying these things to Baria.

The Princess is well-known for her work in support of Palestinian charitable organizations. But Baria pushed on to find out what was being done for the Saudi woman, who has to balance the country’s culture and tradition as well as to participate in national development and growth. Again this is a topic that we know little of, most often negative at that. Baria’s interview with the princess told otherwise.

The Princess said, "Any fair-minded person can see that over the last two decades the Saudi woman has succeeded in expanding her effective role in the service of her society. It is a balanced development that takes into consideration many factors, most important of which are the fundamental Islamic principles followed in our country. She emphasized the progress of the development of Saudi women by wiping out illiteracy. Expanding the education of women and their scientific training in the various specialties and fields is being done. She pointed to the tremendous growth in the number of women going to public schools and to higher education. There are more than three million female students in comparison to merely a few tens thirty years ago. Female students far exceed the number of male students in higher education."

Had I not been to Saudi Arabia myself and met some of the women the princess was talking about, I would have dismissed this as propaganda. But I did meet them and it is these Saudi women to whom we should reach out to understand the specificity of Saudi culture and how it copes with the modern world. There will be other occasions when Baria and I will continue to cooperate having a mutual friend, former ambassador to the Court of St. James, Ghazi Al-Gosaibi who is now Minister for Labor and would be on top of issues that concern Filipinos in Saudi Arabia.

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THANK YOU to all who made the launch of Quality Britain a success. To corporate sponsors InterContinental Manila, Hewlett Packard, Stores Specialist Inc. (Marks and Spencer, Burberry, Lush and Denman,Globe Platinum, Philippine National Oil Company. Also to HSBC, Bechtel, British Gas, Shell, The Podium, Palms Country Club,Paul Smith, Ralph’s Wine and Spirits. It was a star-studded guest attendance headed by Pres. Arroyo, former president Fidel Ramos, Speaker JDV, Ambassadors Paul Dimond, Mohamad Wali, Navreda Sharma, Thelmo Cunanan, Alberto Pedrosa, Max Soliven (Philippine Star) Bing Carreon-Buck, (British Legacy) Eamonn Staunton (British Embassy) Anthony Barker(British Gas) Stefan Voogel(InterCon),Tessa Prieto, Stephan Stoss (New World Hotel) Laine Santana, (HSBC) Victorino Bala (PNOC) David Watson (Mabey and Johnson), Andrew Bateson, (PIC) Francisco Nemenzo, (UP),Andrew Bateson, (PIC) Art Bassig (Bechtel)David Leechiu (Leechiu & Associates), Hermann Fiedler, M. Becker (Siemens), Harry Tominz (Voest Alpine) and Trina Davies, among others.

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