Another Kind of Warrior

By CHRISTOPHER DICKEY AND FAIZA AMBAH | NEWSWEEK

May 3, 2004

[1] It was late Sunday and the kids were asleep," remembers Rania al-Baz, one of Saudi Arabia's few women television presenters. She and her husband were arguing, as they often did. "The next thing I knew he was strangling me," al-Baz told NEWSWEEK. "Then he threw me against the wall and banged my head down on the floor. He told me to say the Shahadah [the Muslim prayer of last rites] because I was going to die. I said it and fainted. The next thing I remember, I was in the hospital."

[2] For many battered wives, and not only in Saudi Arabia, the story might have ended there. But because al-Baz, 29, is a celebrity in a country where many women aren't allowed to show their faces in public, and because she was barely recognizable with her features fractured in 13 places, somebody took her picture. More surprising still, the Saudi press published the gruesome image. Then, in the full glare of international publicity, al-Baz spoke out for her rights as a woman and a mother.

[3] "I spoke out because I wanted [women] to know that they have rights under Sharia that protect them from domestic violence," says al-Baz. "I also want to say that one man beat me, but one hundred have stood by me. My boss, my colleagues at work, my friends, the man in the street." She had been battered before, but had not sued for divorce for fear that she might lose custody of her two kids. Now she tells her sons, 5 and 3 years old, that she fell down some steps, "and if you run without being careful, this is what happens."

[4] Al-Baz's plight, and her protest, is emblematic of a broader struggle that is underway in Saudi society. It is not the stark conflict of forces that George W. Bush often envisions, between good and evil, freedom and oppression, Western-style democracy and dictatorship. It's a struggle within Islam over how to make Saudi Arabia a better Islamic society. People like al-Baz and her many supporters are pushing for more equitable laws in a society of the present, not one locked into an idealized vision of a medieval past. Conservatives are pushing back, and bin Ladenists are fighting a campaign of their own.

[5] Days after al-Baz went public with her story, a suicide bomber attacked one of the Saudi security service's own administrative buildings, killing six people and wounding 148. The next night, police fought a running gun battle with suspected terrorists in a Jidda suburb. A claim of responsibility for the bombing, posted on a fundamentalist Web site, was couched in the language of desert justice. "There is not one house, neighborhood or tribe left that does not have a blood feud [with the royal family]," it declared.

[6] Which forces are winning? Change in Saudi Arabia may be violent or it may come, says Rachel Bronson of the Council on Foreign Relations, "through consultations and signals" from the royal family. But those are often unclear, sometimes totally contradictory, and utterly frustrating for U.S. officials worried about the stability of world oil prices.

[7] A survey of more than 15,000 Saudi men and women, conducted last year with government funds, suggested that a huge silent majority supports reforms promoted by Crown Prince Abdullah, including efforts to give women more legal rights (such as driver's licenses) and some tentative steps toward democracy with municipal elections. Indeed, as winter began there was a kind of Saudi spring. People were speaking out in the press, on the radio and on satellite TV channels. But in December, Prince Nayef, the Interior minister, warned a group of leading liberals that "their files were now with him," according to a man who attended the meeting. Nayef ordered them not to air their demands publicly, but in private discussions with the authorities. When Nayef's warning wasn't heeded, a dozen of the most prominent reformers were jailed. Three are still in prison.

[8] The story of beautiful, battered Rania al-Baz hit the papers just as the reformers needed some inspiration. "The message I want to give is 'no to violence'," al-Baz told NEWSWEEK. With her husband having surrendered to police, she and her two boys are safe for the moment. But their struggle isn't over. A human-rights group has provided her with a lawyer to fight for her rights and everyone else's. At a time when a murderous minority is trying to seize power, many are hoping the silent majority isn't silenced once again.

Discussion - questions:

1. Beowulf, Roland, King Arthur, Mother Theresa (…) What do they all have in common? Could you give any more examples of warriors?

According to “Compact Oxford English Dictionary” a warrior is: “a brave or experienced soldier or fighter”. Do you entirely agree with this definition? Who is a warrior for you?

2. Although the occurrence of maltreatment women is very common in the country Rania al-Baz comes from, she did not explicitly condemned each and every male, but she said: “one man beat me, but one hundred have stood by me”. Why do you think did she said this?

3. According to the survey carried on 15,000 Saudi men and women the silent majority wants to bestow more legal rights on women. Why do you think the government does not agree to do so? Is it convenient to treat women as second-class citizens?

4. Why did someone take a photo of Rania al-Baz despite the fact that Saudi society does not allow women's faces to be shown in public? Do you think it means that more freedom is gradually being `introduced'?

5. What is the price that Saudi women have to pay if they demand a divorce from their husbands?

6. Are there any visible signs of improvement in the country according to the text? If you have any additional information concerning the topic, please share.

7. Do you think that in case of physical abuse and maltreatment the religion morality and law should still be above the civil law? Why?

8. Do you think that the occurrence of maltreatment women is also something that our country has to fight? What sort of special aid are battered wives given? (any centres, special hospitals, social assistance)

New phrases:

• battered wives (par. 2)

• the gruesome image (par. 2)

• equitable laws (par. 4)

• hit the papers (par. 8)

Barbara Fiedor & Justyna Besz

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