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[johnslat]

"Saudi Arabia Considers Allowing Women's Sport Clubs, According To Daily Newspaper


LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has set up a ministerial committee to consider allowing women's sports clubs, al-Watan daily newspaper reported on Saturday, despite opposition to female exercise from religious conservatives.

Abdullah al-Zamil, a senior official from the General Presidency of Youth Welfare, the top Saudi sporting body, said the committee was being formed to end the "chaos" surrounding women's sports clubs which are effectively unregulated, Watan reported.

"The mission of the committee is focused on building a system for these clubs," the newspaper, owned by a member of the Saudi royal family, reported Zamil as saying.

In the austere desert kingdom, powerful clerics have long argued against women playing sports or doing physical exercise, forcing female gyms to be designated as expensive "health centres".

A member of the top clerical body in 2009 said girls should not play sports lest they lose their virginity by tearing their hymens. State-run girls schools are banned from doing sports, but private girls schools are allowed to offer sports classes.

The General Presidency of Youth Welfare only regulates male clubs and its head was recently quoted saying he would not endorse Saudi women athletes at the 2012 Olympics.

Human Rights Watch has called on the International Olympic Committee to bar the kingdom from the London games unless it fields a woman athlete.

The most likely woman candidate to compete under the Saudi flag, equestrian Dalma Malhas, represented the kingdom at the junior Olympics in Singapore in 2010, but without official support or recognition.

Saudi women are barred from driving and need the permission of a close male relative to work, travel or open a bank account, but King Abdullah last year said they could vote in municipal elections, the country's only public polls.

Saudi Arabia's only female deputy minister, Noura al-Fayez, has written to HRW saying there is a plan to introduce physical education at girls' state schools. (Reporting By Angus McDowall; Editing by Sophie Hares)"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/28/saudi-arabia-considers-al_n_1461067.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

Regards,
John

[veiledsentiments]

This is so foolish and short-sighted. A Doctor in Oman told me that too many of the young women have difficult pregnancies and deliveries because they are so out of condition. I often talked to my female students privately emphasizing that keeping in shape was important in so many ways.

They would say, "But, Miss... we walk a lot." It is almost not humanly possible to walk as slowly as they sauntered about our parking lot and called it "walking."

It is sad really. I have been happy to hear that in the UAE and Oman, more local women are getting physically active. Hopefully more Saudi women will be able to do the same.

VS

[sharter]

It will be a cold day in hell before Saudi fields a women's beach volleyball team.

The obsession with hymens is scary in a weird, twisted way.

[cmp45]

Guess it depends on where you are in KSA. Here in Riyadh there are designated walking areas and one can often see numerous women walking briskly, swinging their arms; flapping like giant crows. It is hard to know if they are all Saudi women though as there are no signs attached to their foreheads. I imagine some of them must be Saudi.
Ironically, you can see on the same walking path the men jogging in regular gym shorts and tank tops while the women are completely covered....this stark contrast in attire is yet another example of the glaring imbalances that exisit between the basic rights of men and women in KSA.
All due to their strict religious interpretation...and an unreasonable need for the men to keep their women folk 'safe'...from what???
It's a long and trecherous up hill battle for women to obtain many of the basic rights that men take for granted...this is KSA in the 21st century folks!

[bulgogiboy]

If you want to know what Saudi society was like in the middle ages...just go there now!

The poor women in KSA. I really hope I live to see the revolution there, although the oil probably won't run out until long after I've gone to get my reward.

[johnslat]

Dear bulgogiboy,

It's about the year 1433 on the Islamic calender now, right? Back when I was there, in the 1420s and earlier, I remember often thinking, "Yup, that's about right." Think Europe back then - without the technology, of course,.

Regards,
John

[Bill Frawley]

Xxxxxxxxx

[scot47]

Bulgogibooy

I am sure the Pious Ones are praying that you see the Truth as revealed to them. It may be a shock to you but they do NOT share your values !

[bulgogiboy]

[johnslat]

Casablanca: Captain Renault "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here."

Regards,
John

[Mysterious]

[johnslat]

Dear Mysterious,

Islam is not alone in having its share of whackos:

NY Archbishop Forbids Catholics from Congratulating Gay Newlyweds
POSTED BY KEVIN FARRELL


Dolan, on behalf of the Catholic Church, forbids Catholics from even being happy for their newly married gay friends or offering congratulations. Failure to comply with this perversion of law from their all-knowing, all-loving god that hates some of the things he lovingly created in his own image will result in canonical sanctions � a fancy way of saying priest court.
Oh, and stay the F away from Catholic churches, homos.
(1) No member of the clergy (priest or deacon) incardinated in the Archdiocese of New York, or any person while acting as an employee of the Church, may participate in the civil solemnization or celebration of a same-sex marriage, which includes but is not limited to providing services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, good or privileges for such events. Ecclesiastical solemnization or celebration of same-sex marriages is expressly forbidden by Canon law.
(2) No Catholic facility or property, including but not limited to parishes, missions, chapels, meeting halls, Catholic educational, health, or charitable institutions or benevolent orders, or any place dedicated, consecrated, or used for Catholic worship may be used for the solemnization or consecration of same-sex marriages.
(4) Failure to adhere to this policy may result in the imposition of canonical sanctions.
The terms of this policy shall take effect within the canonical boundaries of the Archdiocese of New York as of the date of this Decree.
Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan Archbishop of New York"

http://unicornbooty.com/blog/2011/11/11/ny-archbishop-forbids-catholics-from-congratulating-gay-newlyweds/

But as for priests and the young, well, that's a horse of a different color:

Failure to report alleged criminal acts to police
From a legal perspective, the most serious criticism aside from the incidents of child sexual abuse themselves was by the bishops, who failed to report accusations to the police. In response to the failure to report abuse to the police, lawmakers have changed the law to make reporting of abuse to police compulsory. An example of this can be found in Massachusetts, USA.[23]

Handling of evidence
William McMurry, a Louisville, Kentucky lawyer, filed suit against the Vatican[24] in June 2004 on behalf of three men alleging abuse as far back as 1928, accusing Church leaders of organizing a cover-up of cases of sexual abuse of children. In November, 2008, the United States Court of Appeals in Cincinnati denied the Vatican's claim of sovereign immunity and allowed the case to proceed. The Vatican initially stated that it did not plan to appeal the ruling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_sexual_abuse_scandal_in_the_United_States#Failure_to_report_alleged_criminal_acts_to_police

And birth control - don't get me started.

Regards,
John

[johnslat]

"Flouting a religious ban on female sports, a school in Saudi Arabia has become the first state-run girls' school in the country to openly allow their students to play sports, Reuters reports.

Female participation in sports has long been a controversial issue in the conservative Islamic kingdom, where an austere interpretation of Islamic law not only prevents women from playing sports, but also working, opening bank accounts and driving.

In 2009, Sheikh Abdullah al-Maneea, a powerful cleric and advisor to the royal court, said that the excessive movement needed in football and basketball might cause girls to tear their hymens and lose their virginity.

In defiance of this religious ban, a school in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province has erected basketball hoops, allowing their female students to play during weekly "activity classes," Reuters reports.

Private girls' schools in Saudi Arabia already offer sports classes, but the state-run school -- which has not been named -- is the first of its kind to openly promote sports among girls.

Forbes reports that this small step may be a sign that international pressure on Saudi Arabia's retrograde attitude on women is working.

In February, Human Rights Watch called for Saudi Arabia to be banned from the 2012 Olympics for having never fielded a female athlete, The New York Times reports.


Last month, in a landmark move, Saudi Arabia set up a ministerial committee to consider allowing women's sports clubs. Saudi Arabia's only female deputy minister, Noura al-Fayez, also wrote to Human Rights Watch saying there is a plan to introduce physical education at girls' state schools.

"I hope that when they see that there are girls who really want to play, and who do play regardless of the obstacles that lie in their path, they realize that they have to do something," 24-year-old Nour Fitiany, a female basketball player for Jeddah United, told Reuters.

Founded in 2003, Jeddah United, under the aegis of the privately-run Jeddah United Sports Company, is Saudi Arabia's first women's basketball team.

Reuters reports that when the Jeddah United squad returned from a 2009 tournament in which they played the Jordanian national team, a local newspaper published their photograph under the headline: "Shameless girls"."


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/03/saudi-girls-school-defies_n_1474224.html?1336072717&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

Regards,
John