Rasha Saad spotlights the kingdom's decision which improves the political situation of its women Pundits focussed this week on Saudi King Abdullah's decision that women join the Shura Council and run for office in local municipal elections. While writers said the announcement was an important and brave step for this most conservative of Islamic societies, it was in line with the king's strategy of supporting women's rights ever since he came to the throne. In 'Saudi Arabia, the king and women,' Abdel-Rahman Al-Rashed wrote that it was important to view the issue in a larger perspective than at the political level. In the London-based Saudi-run daily Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Rashed pointed out that the king had granted Saudi women genuine status in all fields in society as a whole. He reminded readers that the king granted women an "identity" by issuing them identity cards -- when there was nothing to acknowledge them as citizens in the past -- along with political rights. Al-Rashed rejected the idea that the king was bowing to popular demands or that his decision was based on fears following the eruption of Arab revolutions. On the contrary he said the king's initiative goes against male-dominated popular ideology. "Despite several campaigns witnessed in the Saudi arena against the idea of women's rights, reform and regulations in favour of women, and against the decisions of the government itself, this did not prevent the king from going down the path of reform," Al-Rashed wrote. Was the king's decree a surprise? "These decrees require the courage of a man who knows he has the confidence of his citizens, including those who may not agree with his actions. This is a king who has made historic decisions in the past which we all now know to be right, and they will serve the country and society in the long term," Al-Rashed added. Pundits also continued to comment on the fallout from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's UN speech and the quest for membership of the state of Palestine. In "The American veto is also Iranian," Zuheir Kseibati wrote that ever since President Abbas put forward the request for membership of the state of Palestine at the United Nations, he has been facing an American veto prepared in advance. However, Kseibati argues, Iran is playing the same role. Following President Abbas's speech, Kseibati explained, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei renewed the theory of the referendum on a complete and unified Palestine. "He challenged the legitimacy of the request for membership of the state, as Netanyahu did, and seemed like Obama to beat around the bush on the priority of negotiations with the Hebrew state," Kseibati wrote. "Iran shed doubt on the legitimacy of Abbas, the PA and their methods, and a dwarfing of the Palestinian president's efforts in New York -- such that the American (and of course Israeli) veto seems to be an Iranian one as well," Kseibati wrote in the London-based daily Al-Hayat . Also in Al-Hayat Jihad Al-Khazen wrote that after Abbas's speech, he sat with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who advised and planned with him the next phase of the Palestinian bid for full membership at the United Nations. In 'Erdogan's popularity', Al-Khazen wrote that Erdogan is the man behind the idea of an Arab- Turkish economic alliance "which I believe is aimed against Israel even if its advocates do not admit so." The Turkish prime minister, according to Al-Khazen, "believes that the Arabs and Turkey are much more important than Israel in the Middle East, and that subsequently, they do not need to run after America and Europe, but can let the West run after them to protect its interests." Khazen answered the fears of some Arabs concerning Erdogan's intentions. They say he is after quick popularity by supporting the Palestinians in every forum and promoting a moderate version of Islam similar to the one advocated by Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayeb, the sheikh of Al-Azhar. "I see nothing wrong with that. I also reassure the sceptics that the attack by Israel's minions in America against Erdogan is proof of the sincerity of his intentions vis-à-vis the Arabs and the Muslims," Al-Khazen wrote. In the daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Abdel-Bari Atwan wrote that when Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the US Congress some months ago he was given multiple standing ovations by America's senators and congressmen. "Last week, the whole world, represented at the UN by their ambassadors, sincerely and spontaneously gave Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a standing ovation -- with the exception of the US and Israel, who sat on their hands," Atwan wrote. Atwan described Friday 23 September 2011 as "the day of Palestine par excellence, and the day of a historical setback for Israel and the United States." He wrote that he has disagreed many times with President Abbas, and that he may disagree with him again. "However, I cannot deny or ignore that his UN speech was a brave one characterised by defiance, crossing the T's and dotting the I's, relating the sufferings of the Palestinian people in an effective, humane, and civilised way, emphasising the constants of the conflict, and unambiguously and explicitly warning against the consequences of Israeli policies that destroy peace and change reality on the ground." "It is a great diplomatic victory for the Palestinian people that ought to be the strong cornerstone for the eruption of a comprehensive Intifada in all fields in order to confirm that the Palestinian people, who started their Arab Spring earlier, are now reviving it, but in a stronger, more solid way."
