Milk, Sugar or a Burqa with that Coffee?
The religious police in Saudi Arabia arrested an American businesswoman because she had the whorey, slutty nerve to sit with a male colleague at a Starbucks in Riyadh. During her stay in a Saudi dungeon she was, predictably, strip-searched and then forced to sign a false confession (1). Unfortunately for the police and fortunately for her, she was not in custody long enough for her to be tortured and raped as is the custom among Muslims.
It was only a few weeks ago that the Saudi government under the auspices of the Foreign Ministry initiated policy for the agents of the "commission for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice", the official name of the muttuwa, the Saudi religious police, to take sensitivity training toward non-Muslims (2). Obviously the lessons haven't yet taken hold.
Notwithstanding my comments above, I believe the Saudis have the right to enforce their laws against foreigners who break them. Indeed in our country we do not allow Muslims to Honor Kill daughters, rape servants, mutilate vaginae, or do any of the things that are honorable and customary in Islam.
As a civilized nation we only have two alternatives:
- Stay out of Muslim Countries altogether.
- Occupy their countries and allow them to be dhimmis under our rule.
If we follow #1, we will have nothing to complain about when they practice their primitive, brutal, barbaric religion. If they continue to finance terror schools and mosques throughout the world, we would be committing long-term suicide if we don't exercise #2.
Related:
Planck's Constant,
An Easier way to Rape WomenBut then I realized the real purpose for the sex-segregated sidewalks: to make it easier for Muslim men to rape women. In order for a Muslim woman to even report a rape, she has to have 4 male witnesses (other than those who actually raped her) or 8 female witnesses. If she reports an unsubstantiated rape, she will find herself charged with having unlawful sex. If males can be kept off the female-only sidewalk, there will be fewer male witnesses to a rape, making it easier to get away with the act.
selvesandothers,
Saudi Religious Police in Firing LineThey prowl the streets and shopping malls, hunting down women who don't shroud themselves and Muslim men who ignore the call to prayer.
Saudi Arabia's pervasive and powerful morality police have been a pillar of the ultra-conservative kingdom since its foundation.
Answerable only to King Fahd and separate from ordinary police, members of the "Authority for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" patrol with police escorts, ensuring that their strict interpretation of Islamic social customs remain the norm among a youthful, Westernised population with wide access to the internet and satellite TV.
Here is the full caption for the photo above:
Here's the men's entrance to Starbucks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The way it works is this: any establishment that wants to serve women must have a "family section" and a "singles section". "Families" is a loose term: in more liberal Jeddah it's "Mixed crowd" and in highly conservative Riyadh, this would usually mean more scrutiny to the definition of "family" by the religious police, who are way more visible in the central Nadji region of the country. "Singles" means men or groups of men. What it means in practical terms for me is that in ideal situation I go out with a mixed crowd with at least one woman. Which is ideal anyway :) It's kinda complicated, actually. It's illegal for a woman to be around unrelated men (by blood or marriage) without her legal male guardian. But in practical terms this is pretty much impossible to enforce in any absolute terms. (2006)
Thoughts Of A Conservative Christian,
Porn Accounts for 70% of Cell Phone Use in Saudi Arabia..Up to 70% of files exchanged between Saudi teenagers’ mobile phones contain pornography, according to a study in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom.
The study quoted in Arab News focussed on the phones of teenagers detained by religious police for harassing girls
The same researcher also found that 88% of girls say they have been victims of harassment using Bluetooth technology.
"The flash memory of mobile phones taken from teenagers showed 69.7% of 1,470 files saved in them were pornographic and 8.6% were related to violence," said report author Professor Abdullah al-Rasheed.
Notes
(1):
CBSNews,
7 Feb 2008,
Saudi Cops Grab U.S. Woman In StarbucksThe 37-year-old businesswoman works for a finance company in Riyadh. Her problem began when her office lost electricity. She and her male colleagues then went to a nearby Starbucks to use the coffee shop's Internet connection.
She sat with a male colleague in the Starbucks' family area, the only place women are allowed to sit with men.
"Some men came up to us with very long beards and white dresses. They asked 'Why are you here together?' I explained about the power being out in our office. They got very angry and told me what I was doing was a great sin," she told the Times.
Following her arrest and interrogation, the woman was hauled before a judge.
"He said 'You are sinful and you are going to burn in hell.' I told him I was sorry. I was very submissive. I had given up. I felt hopeless," she told the Times.
(2):
Asia News, 25 Jan 2008, The religious police get sensitivity training toward non-Muslims
The agents of the "commission for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice", the official name of the muttuwa, the Saudi religious police, must attend courses on how to behave toward diplomats and non-Muslim foreigners.
The Dubai newspaper Gulf News reports that the courses will be organised by the Institute of Diplomatic Studies in Riyadh. The head of the institute's development programmes department, Nasser Al Marzouqi Al Buqmi, says the courses will begin on April 20, and will be taught by "specialised experts from the institute and others from outside".
