http://www.saudielection.com/en/article_body.php?id=112&PHPSESSID=424314b3ece70081e7a50d8c05d7b7b7
Women in Saudi Arabia Too Have a Dream I am a Saudi citizen, I am over 21, I am educated; I am positively contributing to society by educating hundreds of university-level Saudis every year, and I am patriotic. Yet, I am not eligible to vote in my country. It is not because I have a criminal record or because I participated in any anti-government organizations - because I have committed neither. And, even if I had, I recently read that prisoners will be allowed to vote. Nor is it because I am handicapped and cannot go to cast my vote because officials have kindly removed that obstacle by enabling handicapped Saudis to vote through an agent. As you can see, my country is doing its best to encompass as many Saudis in the new elections as possible; but they just cannot include me. My crime is too unforgivable. My handicap is beyond help. I am a woman. When I first heard about the elections, I was elated beyond words. My country was taking the first steps toward bridging the gap between the government and the people. I held my breath as several brave Saudi women nominated themselves for the elections. Deep down, I knew it would be too much to hope for at this point in time - so I was not shocked when it was announced that women will not be allowed to nominate themselves in the first elections. I was, however, both shocked and hurt to find out that women also will be excluded from voting. So hurt that I made a point of refraining from writing about it. "Fine," I stubbornly thought, "if they do not want our contribution, it is their loss." But today I find myself awake at 4 a.m., writing this. Why? Because it is not their loss; it is our loss - all of us - the whole nation's. Reading about the inclusion of prisoners and handicapped citizens shocked me into that reality. If officials are taking measures to include as many Saudis as possible in the elections, then why not women? Is it logical to boast about including 5,000 prisoners and ignore the fact that millions, constituting more than half of the population, are being marginalized? We cannot and must not function with half our population. That has been our gravest mistake thus far, and we are obviously not learning from our mistakes. Usually, the reasons given for marginalization of women in Saudi Arabia are either religious or social, but neither pertain here. As far as religion is concerned, I do not think anyone with any knowledge of Islamic history can deny that Islamic society was perhaps the first culture to include women in the "voting" process. More than 1,400 years ago, two women were among the first few people who approached the Prophet (peace be upon him) to pledge their allegiance. This was known as the First Bayah. The Prophet did not turn these women away, nor did he turn away the many other women who came side by side with their male counterparts during the Second Bayah years later in Makkah. And as for social reasons, well the elections are new to all of us. This is a chance to write on a clean slate for a change. The extensive media coverage of the elections can highlight the importance of getting all members of society to contribute. Reading the slogans on the billboards recently posted on many streets in Riyadh, I could not help but see the irony behind every line. "Your voice will not be heard unless you register"; "Participate in making decisions." The irony lays in the following paradox: On the one hand, you have a slogan that is obviously phrased to convince as many people as possible to participate, and on the other you have a rule that excludes more than half the population. Some have suggested that women cannot participate for reasons of practicality - mainly two: 1. Most Saudi women do not have ID cards: Then let those who have them start. Encourage those who do not have ID cards to get them immediately. Remove the obstacles in the way of getting one (like permission from a legal guardian). Better yet, make them obligatory. Isn't that the way it should be? 2. There aren't any female facilities to help in the registration and voting process: Then recruit and train the thousands of unemployed women in the country, and kill two birds with one stone. It is not impossible, and it has been done before. Weren't thousands of men recruited during the Saudi Census? Saudi women are no less talented or hard working. All it takes is a little initiative. Finally, I would like to say that while my voice has been muted, I am still here. I may not be able to vote today, but I will continue the struggle to be heard simply because, in the words of Martin Luther King, "I have a dream." 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