The Orwellian Kingdom

I took apart a NYTimes column, about women in Saudi Arabia, this Wednesday past. Do read what Dymphna had to say about it. Today, I read a somewhat similar article which is different in one major aspect: it is written by a Western woman who presents her personal experience. Right there in the first paragraph, we get this gem:

In Riyadh’s Bedu Souk I added a burqa and realized, for the first time in my adult life, men spoke directly to me rather than to a physique. That is respect.

[Emphasis mine]

This is how a woman is "respected" in Saudi Arabia:

• Mandatory covering of the entire body.
• Not allowing her to drive.
• No travel without the permission of a guardian (some male relative).
• Must travel with a male companion.
• More than 90% of the jobs are illegal for her.

I am sure Western women are breathlessly waiting to be respected in the Saudi way. Hey, it certainly beats talking to a physique.

I had expected to return to the US, defensive posture prepared. Since Sept. 11, I have tried in vain to explain the Kingdom to a country reluctant to understand or listen, have been the target of attacks, and have had professional difficulty for insisting on clarity on Saudi issues. It is acceptable in the US to be anti-war, anti-Bush, or support the Palestinians; it is not acceptable on either side of the political spectrum to be “pro-Saudi”. That is “sleeping with the enemy” or “hero worship”.

Hold that thought.

I experienced few inconveniences. Prayer time forces the habit of pausing. Time passes differently in the United States as we race from work to school to the grocery store to after-school activities to dinner, housecleaning and laundry, finally collapsing in exhaustion having barely spoken to our children eating in separate rooms at different times. Families walk together along the Jeddah corniche, flying kites or riding donkeys, barbecues permeating the air — vastly different to the deafening X-rated rap music that invades main streets in America as teens cruise.

All businesses must close at prayer time (24-hour stores in Saudi Arabia are really around 22-and-a-half-hour stores). Time passes miserably in Saudi Arabia as gender apartheid is enforced by the religious police -- the Muttawa. Single men and women are cruelly deprived of romance and usually end up marrying their first or second cousins. Real incomes in the desert Kingdom have fallen from around $23,000 in 1980 to $13,000 in 2001. Their G-rated culture produced such luminaries as Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers -- vastly different to the roaring superpower which has liberated over 50 million Muslims over the past 4 years.

I don't think this sugarcoating of a Hell on Earth is "sleeping with the enemy." It's more like "providing lapdances to the enemy." The former is, figuratively and literally, a lot worse.

For years you [the Saudis] have publicly apologized for comparatively low levels of violence, lack of reform, or the slow pace of change. Repeatedly I heard the despair and cynicism blinding you to what is happening in front of you: Palpable change, construction growth, new institutions, reform efforts, and the mutawa. You have much to be proud of, ...

[Emphasis mine]

I have re-read the above passage again and again and I still find it hard to believe that a Western woman would think of the Muttawa as something to be proud of. The Muttawa are in large part responsible for the wretchedness of Saudi society. They enforce all sorts of idiotic and totalitarian rules on an unsuspecting public. It is because of them 15 girls died in a fire in March of 2002. Those girls ran out of the burning building and the Muttawa forced them back in because they weren't covering their entire bodies like respectful Muslim women.

It is horrifying to read how Tanya C. Hsu has effortlessly converted a vile country into a harmless nirvana. I can understand when members of the regime and their enslaved women defend Saudi Arabia but to read of a Western woman doing the same is revolting. Tanya presented her pristine view of the desert Mordor after only 4 weeks in the Kingdom. I write from 10 years of soul-crushing experience.

Update
I'm attending the Stop The ACLU trackback party.
My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy is quite welcoming.
Mudville Gazette has got an open post with a picture of a cute Iraqi girl. She is free thanks to the men and women in uniform.
Wizbang has the Carnival of the Trackbacks.