Ban on Saudi women driving not legal: Commentator

Press TV has conducted an interview with Naseer al-Omari, writer and political commentator from New York, about the apprehension of women in Saudi Arabia by police for driving a motor vehicle, an act which is prohibited in the kingdom.

The following is an approximate transcript of the interview.

Press TV: According to the kingdom’s grand mufti he says that the ban on women’s driving protects the society from evil. How much is that so and what are the main reasons behind this ban in general?

Al-Omari: It’s really hard to find reason in these statements and responding to them is an insult to yours and my intelligence. The Saudi royal family cannot challenge the clerics and the Saudi people have to live with this reality, with this injustice. Mind you, there is no law against women driving in Saudi Arabia. However, there are fatwa’s … that prevent women from driving. So now when you try to figure out this situation, these women who defied the ban on driving are not breaking any law. They are breaking a tradition, they are breaking an edict. But that tells you the amount of work that the Saudi women have to do and the amount of challenge that the world has in dealing with these unreasonable governments and unreasonable religious scholars.

Press TV: If Saudi Arabia was another country or if this law or ban was set up in another country, how would the West particularly the United States respond to this and react?

Al-Omari: Well, to be honest with you it would react very differently. There are situations in Western countries where women are exposed to injustice, but they are exposed to less than what Saudi women are going through and you find upheaval and you find governments standing up for human rights.

When it comes to the Saudi people it is always the rule that strategic interests, oil and money and corporations benefitting from the Saudi people come before … human rights.

It’s a shame that these Western governments do not say a thing about what’s happening to Saudi women - not just when it comes to driving, when it comes to personal freedom; ability to travel; ability to choose.

It’s a shame that these Western democratic governments are dealing with such medieval regime in Saudi Arabia.