American women's group "blown away" by Kingdom visit (Saudi propaganda alert)

Arab News ^ | November 11, 2002 | Roger Harrison

[zapiks44]

JEDDAH, 11 November 2002 — The delegation of American Women for International Understanding (AWIU) has returned to the US after a gruelling but very rewarding two-week visit to Saudi Arabia.

Led by Marianne Alireza, the 16 delegates visited Jeddah and Riyadh, making contact with individuals and organizations in the interest of greater understanding and developing strong personal links with Saudis.

Martha Atherton, president of the AWIU, described the visiting group as “21 century nomads. We have travelled widely, stopping at oases of culture very different from our own. We made the trip to the Kingdom in the spirit of the nomad, visiting Jeddah and Riyadh for refreshment, both in learning and in spirit.”

Asked to sum up their parting impressions of the Kingdom in just one or two words, the group responded with “awesome, fantastic, sincere, extremely positive, hospitable and loving.”

“The Saudis were far more willing and open in sharing their concerns and telling us about the real issues that concerned them than we were. They seemed to be entirely comfortable, understanding that we did not arrive as guests in their country with any kind of political agenda.”

Kathleen Hunt observed ironically that one of the more difficult appointments to make was with the US Embassy. “I’m a Pollyanna; I’d like to believe they lost our reservation!” Their reception with families and organizations in the Kingdom proved fulsome and overwhelmingly generous.

The group intends to use their experiences to make contact with other groups and organizations in the United States and present a different view of Saudi Arabia from what is commonly seen.

“We came with preconceptions,” said Martha Atherton, “of course we did. It was unavoidable, because the only information apart from the first hand input from Marianne Alireza, all we knew about the Kingdom was gleaned from the US media.”

Asked how she felt now and what her reaction to the Kingdom was on leaving, she said, “Simply blown away!”

The group hopes to follow up on this visit with another some time in the future.

[zapiks44]

The naivety of these people are mind-boggling to me. Notice they don't give any concrete examples of their "awsome, fantastic, sincere, extremely positive, hospitable, and loving" treatment of women. The reason: THERE IS NONE!

Calling these people "useful idiots" would be an understatement.

[Bobby777]

if any of them had been pregnant and eating a ham sandwich the "prince" wouldn't have had anything to do with them ... however, the term "useful idiots" is completely appropriate ...

[texasbluebell]

This must be the reason Maureen Dowd has been in Saudi Arabia then. Hmmm, didn't sound as if it was the greatest visit for her, in spite of the ravings of this spokeswoman.

Frederick's of Riyadh (Dowd Alert)

"I felt drab, dressed in black to suit Saudi standards with a scarf over my hair, a long skirt, a sweater over a T-shirt and flats. An earlier outing with a pink skirt had caused my Ministry of Information minder to bark: "Get your abaya! They'll kill you!" "

[Paul Atreides]

The failed Mrs. Michael Douglas just wants everyone to think that her body was driving them wild over there.

[Saundra Duffy]

“I’m a Pollyanna" - Ha! She admits it. There is no substance in this article. There is no there there.

[texasbluebell]

Let's see. Maureen Dowd...Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Hmmm, such a choice Michael Douglas had to make.

[Humidston]

"Oh my, the Saudis are such nice and wonderful and CARING and lovely, warm, concerned people

...And the tooth fairy escorted us around to the yellow brick road where we saw Humpty Dumpty and we bought a bridge and some swamp land."

[Paul Atreides]

Ha! He may be a liberal, but he isn't completely stupid.

[Paul Atreides]

I bet these dimbulbs believe that Saddam actually did get 100% of the vote.

[xm177e2]

At least Maureen Dowd was honest about what she saw. We have to give her credit for that..

[fella]

These principled women were bedazzaled by all that Money and would do anything to get some of it. Just like some ex-U.N. weapons inspectors.

[Welsh Rabbit]

It's much like how Barbara Walters and her ilk are routinely mesmerized by Castro and his regime after being given a well-planned and rehearsed tour of the country....

[rimmont]

Asked how she felt now and what her reaction to the Kingdom was on leaving, she said, “Simply blown away!”

'Blown away?" Oh, like the U.S. servicemen at the Khobar towers?

[nightdriver]

Bet they didn't see the Wahabbists locking those little girls in their burning school house because they weren't dressed according to the precious islamic law in order to be legal to come outside.

[tom paine 2]

And they probably missed that part of the tour where they explained that women are not allowed to drive in the Kingdom nor can they hold any public office. And they must have missed all the slave labor imported from the Phillipines and Pakistan to do all the s**t work that pampered Saudi males won't do. They must not have had any encounters with the secret police either or the public beheadings.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Oh, wow!! The Kingdom is, like, totally awesome!!!

[an amused spectator]

Do they get the Walter Duranty award for this? ;-)

[Sparta]

I have a suggestion for these bimbos, if you like how Saudi Arabia treats women then move there. If being the property of your husband, being stoned for being unvailed, and having your daughters forced into arranged marriages to men they've rarely seen before the wedding night is your thing, stay.

[aruanan]

American women's group "blown away" by Kingdom visit (Saudi propaganda alert)

Like those trips to the Soviet Union. This is a "We have seen the medieval past; and it works!"

[swarthyguy]

IDIOTS.

Wahabbism's control over the world of Islam is so absolute that it defines Islam today. Take for example the issue of women's rights. The Islamist preachers view women no more than a chattel. They instruct women how to behave so as not to slide down the slippery slope of the "moral degradation" pervasive in the West. The sermon of Sheikh Hamad Ibrahim Al-Hariqi at Al-Basateen mosque in Al-Riyadh is one example of many: "One of the mistakes made by women with regard to their husbands is to avoid [joining] the husband when he calls her to bed claiming that she is fatigued, or simply because she wants to anger him, or because she is ignorant and does not know that by doing so she denies her husband the greatest of his rights and places herself under serious threat… As it was said: 'If a man calls his wife to his bed and she refuses to come, the angels curse her until she wakes up'…"

Under the influence of such preachers, marital rapes are not only permissible but recommended. Women in a traditional religious family have virtually no rights. That's why, when a feudal establishment in a Muslim society, decides to punish a woman by ordering her gang raped, the religious authorities look the other way. This was exactly what happened in a dusty village in Pakistan.

http://www.paktoday.com/tashbih.htm