JEDDAH, 12 February 2006 — If there are women queuing up at the Traffic Department today, don’t be surprised. “There is nothing in the law that prohibits women from applying for a driver’s license,” Culture and Information Minister Iyad Madani told a packed audience at the Jeddah Economic Forum yesterday. The women didn’t know how to react, but a moment later they all screamed, “Yes!”
He continued, “If the traffic director turns down your request, then approach him and try to sort out your problem. There is nothing in the law that prevents women from applying for a driver’s license.”
The question was posed by British Baroness Emma Nicholson, a member of the House of Lords, who addressed Madani as “Your Royal Highness.” Madani responded by “Thank you for promoting me but to set the record straight, I am not a royal highness.”
The audience burst into laughter again. Hussein Shobokshi, the moderator, was literally gasping for breath. “I advise all women to apply today,” he said.
Madani urged women to seek more representation in nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) as a prelude to running for office. “The initiative should be taken by activists in the women’s community,” he advised. “The doors, if not wide open right now, are partially open.”
Madani was the first speaker at the first session. “It is quite a thing to address a gathering at nine in the morning in a city notorious for late-night sleepers,” he observed. The audience again broke into laughter.
The question-and-answer sessions were much livelier than the speeches. Immediately after former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder finished his speech, a man in the audience stood up and said: “Do whatever you want to do. Make caricatures of us, lampoon our leaders, but never make fun of our beloved Prophet.” Schroeder said he completely agreed with him. He added that republishing the cartoons was very provocative. “It shouldn’t have been done.”
Another attendee commended Schroeder for standing up to US President George W. Bush in the run-up to the war in Iraq. “You are the only leader with a backbone,” he said.
“Why did it take so long for a woman to become a chancellor in Germany?” one woman asked. “In the Muslim world, to which you always preach lessons in democracy, we have had five heads of government. In Turkey (Tansu Ciller), in Bangladesh (Hasina Wajed and Khaled Zia), in Pakistan (Benazir Bhutto) and Indonesia (Megawati Sukarnoputri). Even the United States hasn’t had a woman president. And now that you are out of office, can we expect a non-diplomatic answer?”
Schroeder laughed but didn’t really have an answer and paused. “I hope Hillary Clinton becomes the next president of the United States. I hope I am not damaging her chances by making my wish public,” he said laughing.
My colleague on the other side of the forum noted women were present in huge numbers. “Compared to last year, we have many, many women this time,” commented Maha Akeel, who is covering the forum for the fourth time. She also was pleased with the growing number of Saudi women journalists who were not only covering the event but also asking tough questions. “When I first reported about the forum, there were not many women journalists,” Akeel remarked. “Now it is completely the reverse.”
The cartoon controversy came back to haunt speakers again and again. Judith Kipper of the US Council on Foreign Relations, Lawrence Wright of The New Yorker and David Andelman of Forbes faced a volley of questions about Western and American double standards. The issues of Jewish lobbyists working against Muslim and Arab interests also came up during the discussion.
Wright said newspapers and television stations all are publicly held corporations with many shareholders and couldn’t cite even one controlled by a single family. He also made the pertinent observation: “There are indeed many Jews in the US media. Where are the Arabs? I wish Saleh Kamel would come to the US and invest in a big way in the American media. Let him be the Rupert Murdoch of the Arab world. Nobody will speak for you. You have to speak for yourself.” Wright gained prominence after publication of “The Kingdom of Silence” in The New Yorker.
The King Abdullah Economic City planned for Rabigh was a hot topic at the conference. Emaar Properties, developers of the SR100 billion project, had a huge model of the project next to the main hall at the Jeddah Hilton, which drew hundreds of fascinated participants for a closer look.
Arab News was a hot seller, too. One particular advertisement in yesterday’s paper caught everyone’s fancy. The double-page spread from Sadafco showed an aged Saudi with a carton of Saudia Milk and the catch line, “If this milk is not 100 percent Saudi, then I am 100 percent Danish.” Sadafco was basically trying to tell everybody not to boycott Saudia Milk because it is a “100 percent national product.” Andelman of Forbes liked the advert very much but asked us about its background. When we explained it to him, he said: “Very smart.”