|
19009a9
|
Surely the weakness of our monarchy in Saudi Arabia is bound up in our addiction to extravagance. I fear it will be our undoing.
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
5abed39
|
suddenly remembered a beautiful verse by the great Lebanese philosopher Kahlil Gibran: "Mayhap a funeral among men is a wedding feast among the angels." I imagined my mother at the side of her mother and father, with her own little ones gathered in her arms."
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
349f9f0
|
Riyadh was the base of the government, but none of the Al Sa'ud family particularly enjoyed the city; their complaints never ended about the dreariness of life in Riyadh. It was too hot and dry, the men of religion took themselves too seriously, the nights were too cold. Most of the family preferred Jeddah or Taif.
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
487190e
|
In my land, in the event of a divorce, the mother has the right to retain her children if they are still suckling. But in most cases, a mother maintains custody of daughters until a girl child reaches puberty. In the case of male children, the boy should be allowed to remain with his mother until he is seven. When he reaches his seventh birthday, he is supposed to have the option to choose between his mother or father. Generally it is accep..
|
|
girl-child
marriage-laws
marriage
relationships
islamic
saudi-arabia
quran
muslim
inequality
|
Jean Sasson |
|
31468de
|
I thought to myself, beware of those who look like a rose, for even roses have spikes.
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
28d9593
|
Their walking relationship was unnatural, but they were too fearful to seat themselves at a restuarant to share a meal, for they knew that restaurants in our country are the principal target of the active and increasingly familiar morals committees that harass people of every nationality who live in Saudi Arabia. Such committees are composed of menancing men who unexpectedly surround and enter eating establishments, demanding identification..
|
|
feminism
relationships
women
royal-family
society
muslim
oppression
|
Jean Sasson |
|
f7ee41b
|
Choking back sobs, I tried to remember a verse from Kahlil Gibran on the question of death. I first whispered it, and as a my memory of it returned, I slowly raised my voice, until all could hear me. 'Only when you drink from the river of silence, shall you indeed sing. And, when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. And, when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.' My sisters and I joined ..
|
|
sisterhood
women
saudi-arabia
royal-family
patriarchy
oppression
|
Jean Sasson |
|
71764e7
|
In California, after weeks of meeting transported Americans from practically every state in the Union, I announced to Kareem that I liked these strange loud people, the Americans. When he asked me why, I had difficulty in voicing what I felt in my heart. I finally said: 'I believe this marvellous mixture of cultures has brought civilization closer to reality than in any other culture in history.' I was certain Kareem did not understand what..
|
|
arab-world
politics
opinions
culture
|
Jean Sasson |
|
2e106b9
|
I had never been to America and was anxious to form an opinion of the people who spread their culture worldwide, yet seemed to know so little of the world themselves. New
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
4cbf811
|
No human being has ever had the opportunity to select a family, country, or culture." I"
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
3952035
|
I have the tendency to be nervous at the sight of trouble looming. As the danger draws near, I become less nervous. When the peril is at hand, I swell with fierceness. As I grapple with my assailant, I am without fear and fight to the finish with little thought of injury.
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
77614d2
|
I walked away, feeling the dejection keenly. I will always marvel that most powerful women do not make the lives of other women a priority in all things.
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
91ab069
|
cloak.
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
80c8efc
|
born with a book in her mouth.
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
d5a409e
|
when change is needed and strongly desired by citizens, change will come, one way or another.
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
728bd34
|
We have witnessed all around the Middle East the tragedies that occur when citizens of repressive governments become so frustrated that they turn to those who preach violence.
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
a4d2388
|
Then there are unreasonable men who complain that simply knowing a sensual female is in the building is too distracting for them to work productively.
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
494b098
|
Millions of people have become refugees and beggars when violent extremists have overthrown governments. Should this happen in Saudi Arabia, the first action taken would be to behead or burn to death every Saudi royal.
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
7699928
|
The man who marries a woman for her beauty will be deceived; he who marries a woman for good sense can truly say he is married. - Sultana
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
38b0975
|
It is much better to work with nonviolent activists, who take the time to set up appropriate organizations to work with citizens, rather than create violence in the hearts of men by refusing to allow them to participate in decision-making and government. No--Saudi
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
f31fd15
|
Saudi Arabia does not belong to the al-Saud family. Saudi Arabia belongs to all its citizens.
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
9a84da6
|
when a person wishes to be angry, as Noorah was demonstrating, there is little one can do. Before
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
b930ec6
|
Infant mortality in Saudi Arabia was among the highest in the world, for there was no money, doctors, or hospitals to treat the sick. Saudi diets consisted of dates, camel milk, and goat and camel meat.
|
|
infant-death
nutrition
saudi-arabia
royal-family
|
Jean Sasson |
|
3f14b2b
|
Under Muslim law, a man's freedom to divorce his wife is justified in the Koran. This system of the threat of divorce looming over a woman's security is most unsettling to women in my land. It is intolerable that many men stretch this ruling to the utmost of its flexibility, demanding divorce for the most trivial causes, ending with the continuous social degradation of their women. Women do not have the same options, since a divorce in a wo..
|
|
marriage-laws
marriage
women
islamic
saudi-arabia
quran
muslim
inequality
|
Jean Sasson |
|
499aff9
|
Then I brought up the obvious, that the physical vulnerabilities of a woman can be traced to that most important function of human accomplishments, the absorption of her strength in carrying, nursing and rearing children. I have always known that this one fact doomed females to a subordinate status in all societies. Instead of attaining honour for being producers of life, we are penalized! To my mind, this fact is the scandal of civilizatio..
|
|
muslim-women
muslim-world
religion
islamic
society
|
Jean Sasson |
|
a6a572e
|
lethargic with hopelessness
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
b77f708
|
to be valued and esteemed is beyond the expectation
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
e787554
|
that the children of this generation have decayed with the ease of their lives, and that their great fortune has deprived them of any ambitions or real satisfactions.
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
c5d4d75
|
wed. Kareem would find it difficult to outwit
|
|
|
Jean Sasson |
|
d420301
|
The heart of evil beats in Afghanistan. When men hold every advantage, neither wealth, nor beauty, nor intelligence, nor education, nor strength, nor family can compete with gender. Women have only prayer and hope as allies.
|
|
war
feminism
prayer
women
hope
rights
boys
evil
|
Jean Sasson |