HUSSEIN SHOBOKSHI Saudis are occupied these days with video clips which are being posted on various social networking websites showing Saudi women driving their own cars in different “main” city streets in broad daylight with police cars in some instances noticeably present. The video clips are no longer “freak incidents” or “odd cases”, they are now all over the Internet and show women driving in many places not in the big cities alone. Saudi women have become more confident as time passes to express their opinion on this subject. Allowing women to drive has also gained momentum and support in the opinion of the general public. Opinion articles have been pushing the government to go ahead and introduce the needed policies to once and for all put an end to the very odd situation which bans Saudi women from driving. Those who were for so long adamant in preventing women from driving tried everything they could. For many years, they used a religious argument issuing one opinion after another “warning of the dire consequences” if women were allowed to drive. The latest opinion came from a scholar who said that he has proof that women who drive have serious health issues with regard to their ovaries; needless to say this opinion became the laughing stock of society for a number of weeks. They also tried to play the “social backfire” bogeyman, stating that if women were allowed to drive, society would erupt in anger, which is obviously complete nonsense. Saudis themselves can no longer find any arguments or excuses to explain, let alone defend, why their country is the only place in the world where women are not allowed to drive. To its credit the government has “allowed” women to drive; no warnings have been issued and no arrests have been made. It has encouraged the social debate, and there is clearly a “verdict” in the making here as society has spoken loud and clear. History is slowly in the making as I strongly believe we are seeing the last days of the ban on Saudi women driving. It's been a long path and a tiring road but putting an end to it is not only suggested but essential. When one evaluates the important steps achieved by Saudi women in the last few years in the job market, education, business and politics, it is simply mind-boggling and not acceptable that women still cannot drive their own cars in their own country.
