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Monday, August 24, 2009

Saudi women: "My guardian knows the best for me"

From the Arab News:
RIYADH: Describing themselves as activists, a number of Saudi women have launched a campaign supporting the Kingdom's male guardianship system.

As part of the campaign — entitled “My Guardian Knows The Best For Me” — the women have written a letter to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in which they confirmed their full support for an Islamic approach in administering the Kingdom.

The campaign has been launched to counter calls to abandon the Kingdom's guardianship or wali system. In a statement published on the Internet, Rawdah Al-Yousif, the campaign's supervisor and organizer, wrote about “her dismay at the efforts of some who have liberal demands that do not comply with Islamic law (Shariah) or with the Kingdom's traditions and customs.”

Al-Yousif also pointed out in her statement that the campaign’s mission is to promote the voices of Saudi women who reject the “ignorant and vexatious demands” of liberals to do away with the guardianship system. She said guardians protect women and the stipulation that women can only travel with their walis’ approval is in their interests, giving them protection.

Al-Yousif said the campaign is supported by Saudi women belonging to all sections of society and it is currently working to collect votes on its website.

But did Rawdah Al-Yousif's guardian tell her to make this website?

And do the the women who sign up at the website rely on their all-knowing male guardians to tell them how to vote?