There has been mixed reaction to the attempt by a Saudi woman to drive home across the border from the UAE, with some urging a less confrontational manner to highlight the issue.
Lojane Al-Hadhlul has a driver's license issued in the UAE. Saudi border control officers stopped her from entering Saudi territory in her car on the Saudi-UAE border on Monday.
Al-Hadhlul had posted photographs and video clips of her driving on her Twitter account. In one of her tweets, she stated: “Now I'm 10 minutes drive from the Saudi border. While I have a Saudi passport, I carry a UAE driver's license that is valid in all GCC countries.”
Chief of the Hadhlul clan, Abdul Rahman Al-Hadhlul, deputy chairman of the Riyadh Charity Society for the Memorization of the Holy Qur'an, said the women's driving campaign is part of a Western anti-Saudi initiative.
“Any conservative society committed to its values will stand up against these Western attacks with the help of its wise sons especially when the campaigns violate the country's rules,” he said.
He said he supports counseling for women driving activists so that they change their attitude.
Their current behavior undermines the unity of the country and incites sedition, he said.
Several women have taken to Twitter to express their views on the incident but appear divided on the manner in which Al-Hadhlul raised the issue. Many support the idea of women driving.
Hana Al-Amri said Al-Hadhlul was making a bold attempt to highlight the issue, but said it would not work in the Kingdom where only the government could change the status quo.
Alya Saeeda, a university student, said: “Society's disapproval in the Kingdom is rooted in the fear of the undesirable consequences of having women driving freely.”
She said Saudi society must be prepared for such a change, and that the negative reaction was natural because this is how people react to change. She said women should drive because they have different roles to play compared to the past.
Salimah Ali said change cannot take place overnight and called on women not to adopt a confrontational approach. They should attempt to work with the authorities to bring about change.
The Interior Ministry has commented several times on the ban order issued in 1990, which clearly states that women are not permitted to drive in the Kingdom.
Women driving takes a new turn: Activists advised to undergo counseling
Women driving takes a new turn: Activists advised to undergo counseling
Saudi Arabia launches initiative to reroute Gulf cargo to Red Sea ports
- The initiative comes as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted by the widening conflict in the region
- Since the US and Israel struck Iran last month, Tehran has moved to restrict passage through the waterway
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has launched an initiative to redirect shipping from ports in the Arabian Gulf to its Red Sea ports amid the ongoing US-Israel-Iran war.
Transport Minister Saleh Al-Jasser, who also chairs the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani), launched the Logistics Corridors Initiative alongside Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority Governor Suhail Abanmi, Mawani President Suliman Al-Mazroua, and other officials, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The initiative will establish dedicated operational corridors to receive containers and cargo redirected from ports in the Kingdom's Eastern Region and other Gulf Cooperation Council states to Jeddah Islamic Port and other Red Sea coast ports.
Al-Jasser said the Kingdom was committed to ensuring supply-chain stability and the smooth flow of goods through global trade routes. Jeddah Islamic Port and other west coast ports, he added, were already playing a key role in accommodating shipments redirected from the east, while also linking Gulf cargo to regional and international markets.
The initiative comes as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted by the widening conflict in the region. Iran has long threatened to close the strait — the world's most critical oil and gas chokepoint, through which roughly a fifth of global oil supplies pass — in the event of a war.
Since the US and Israel struck Iran last month, Tehran has moved to restrict passage through the waterway, sending freight rates soaring and forcing shipping companies to seek alternative routes.
Saudi Arabia's Red Sea ports offer a viable bypass, connecting Gulf cargo to global markets without passing through the strait.
