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UN Elects Largest Oppressor of Women, Saudi Arabia, to Women’s Rights Commission — Seriously

Saudi Arabia isn’t known for gender equality. In fact, the Saudi government’s idea of fair play among the sexes is ensuring women their husbands can only have three more wives. Saudi women truly have zero rights in society. Ranking Saudi Arabia among the 10 worst countries for women, the Toronto Star wrote,

In oil-rich Saudi Arabia, women are treated as lifelong dependents, under the guardianship of a male relative. Deprived of the right to drive a car or mix with men publicly, they are confined to strictly segregated lives on pain of severe punishment.

So, imagine the surprise and dismay the world is now exhibiting with the knowledge the United Nations has elected Saudi Arabia as a member of its Women’s Rights Commission called the “Commission on the Status of Women.”

Geneva-based UN Watch president Hillel Neuer likened the election to, “making an arsonist into the town Fire Chief!” Neuer went on a Twitter tirade to drive home the significance of his opposition to allowing Saudi Arabia to have a seat anywhere near a women’s rights council.

“The news the @UN never wanted you to see—but we made it go viral. Saudi Arabia elected to women’s rights commission,” he tweeted. Calling on opponents to rise up, he stated, “But why not show moral courage & condemn this UN betrayal of Saudi women’s rights activists? UNESCO’s chief condemned its election of Syria.”

And in another tweet, he said, “How does Saudi Arabia win seats on U.N. human rights bodies? Cash & secret deals—even with adversaries like Russia.” Neuer’s reference to Saudi money, certainly a factor in buying their way onto the commission, is nothing new. The Free Thought Project has been chronicling their monetary influence for years.

Earlier this year we told you the Saudis heavily influence John McCain’s politics, leading some to question his motives for encouraging the U.S. to join the Syrian Civil War. And on the Democratic side of the two-party-paradigm, the Saudis have given millions to the Clintons. So, it should come as no surprise watch dogs like UN Watch are saying the same thing about the Saudis.

What does it mean for the world now that the Saudis have a seat at the women’s rights table? Glad you asked….UN Watch describes the election as very significant.

The fundamentalist monarchy is now one of 45 countries that, according to the U.N., will play an instrumental role in “promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women.”

The election, also, was anything but transparent. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia was elected by a “secret ballot” last week at the U.N.’s 54-nation Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The U.S. reportedly objected to a Saudi nomination and pressed the countries of the world to take a vote, in protest of the ECOSOC’s customary practice of “rubber stamping” nominations. Unfortunately for women, the vote passed and the Saudis were placed on the commission.

Saudi Arabia, who was exposed by the 28-pages for helping to fund the 9/11 terrorist attacks which brought down the World Trade Center’s twin towers, and who is being sued in court by families of the victims, is the same country which kills homosexuals and stones adulterers.

When 9/11 happened, instead of going after the Saudis — who made up the majority of the hijackers — the George W. Bush administration attacked and overthrew Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, and destroyed the country of Afghanistan.

If you need any evidence on just how oppressive the Saudi regime is, look no further than the video below that aired on national television — an instructional video on how to beat your wife.

The video features a Saudi doctor, Khaled Al-Saqaby, who deals with the often ‘thorny’ issue of how and when to beat your wife. Al-Saqaby begins the video by telling husbands not to immediately attack their wives, but to discipline them properly first.

When speaking of how women some women say they would like to be treated with equality, Al-Saqaby called this a “very grave problem.”

He says, “The first step is to remind her of your rights and of her duties according to Allah. Then comes the second step – forsaking her in bed.”

The third step, beating, has to correspond with the “necessary Islamic conditions” before taking action.

“The beating should not be performed with a rod, nor should it be a headband, or a sharp object.”

Instead, husbands should use a ‘tooth-cleaning twig or with a handkerchief’ to beat their wife.

Hopefully, then, the wife will “feel that she was wrong in the way she treated her husband.”

At the end of the video, Al-Saqaby lets the wife-beating husbands of Saudi Arabia know that sometimes, you may have to dole out an extra beating outside of the world of just discipline. Sometimes, according to this sicko ‘doctor,’ they just deserve to be beaten. (For more from the author of “UN Elects Largest Oppressor of Women, Saudi Arabia, to Women’s Rights Commission — Seriously” please click HERE)

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Women’s Rights According to Islam (and America’s Greatest Gulf State Ally)

“Thank God for the Saudis and Prince Bandar,” Senator John McCain has publicly stated numerous times. He is not alone. Many American elected officials regularly praise Saudi Arabia as one of its “greatest Gulf-State allies,” also referencing America’s “Qatari friends.”

However, these “friends” are among the world’s worst human rights offenders. Under Shari’a law, Saudi women are prohibited from:

Going out unaccompanied in public. Women must be accompanied by a male guardian (a mahram) once they leave their home. Imagine “being allowed” to shop, run errands, or see a doctor– only with an “approved” chaperone. If violated, women face strict punishment. As The Guardian explains, “freedom of movement” causes women to become “vulnerable to sin.”

Opening a bank account. Wives must first receive their husband’s permission. Daughters, their father’s permission.

Driving. If women drove automobiles their presence would “undermine social values.” Amnesty International reports that women who supported the recent “Women2Drive campaign, launched in 2011 to challenge the prohibition on women driving vehicles, faced harassment and intimidation by the authorities, who warned that women drivers would face arrest. Some were arrested but released after a short period.”

Dressing “indecently.” When going out, women are required to always wear an abaya, a long, black cloak, and a head scarf. According to Arab News, the Shoura Council (the king’s advisory body) recently ruled that the women should wear “modest” clothes and should not “show off their beauty;” meaning, not wear any makeup.

Interacting with men in public. Women and men enter public buildings through separate entrances. Public transportation, parks, gyms, pools, and beaches are all segregated by two genders only: male and female. If women and men do interact, they are charged and punished for committing a crime with varying penalties.

Competing as athletes. Unless a female athlete receives the required permission to compete in a competition, and are accompanied by a male guardian, they must also wear “Sharia-compliant” uniforms and cover their hair. Despite this, however, Saudi clerics still call women athletes “prostitutes.”

Trying on clothes/undressing in store dressing rooms. To do so even behind closed doors in public is scandalous.

Reading uncensored fashion magazines.

Entering a cemetery.

Purchasing a Barbie doll. Unless it’s a Fullah.

If America’s Gulf-state friends are as praiseworthy as U.S. senators suggest, why not send their mothers, wives, and daughters to live there? Why not suggest that American women also benefit from the way in which Saudi women are treated?

Why not prohibit American women from driving, having bank accounts, shopping, reading fashion magazines, burying their dead, and wearing make-up?

In addition to these restrictions, Amnesty International’s 2014-2015 Report on Human Rights Violations states that the Saudi government has:

“Severely restricted freedoms of expression, association and assembly, and cracked down on dissent, arresting and imprisoning critics, including human rights defenders. Many received unfair trials before courts that failed to respect due process.

“New legislation effectively equated criticism of the government and other peaceful activities with terrorism. Authorities clamped down on online activism and intimidated activists and family members who reported human rights violations.

“Torture of detainees was reportedly common; courts convicted defendants on the basis of torture-tainted ‘confessions’ and sentenced others to flogging. Women faced discrimination in law and practice, and were inadequately protected against sexual and other violence.

“Authorities [also] made extensive use of the death penalty and carried out dozens of public executions.”

Saudi women and girls are systematically legally and culturally discriminated against. Under Shari’a law, women have subordinate legal status to men, as defined in the Qur’an Surah IV (Women), which establishes guidelines for marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance. Saudi women are rarely protected from sexual and other violence. Amnesty International reports that domestic violence is endemic to Saudi culture.

Yet, Americans are to “thank God for the Saudis.” (For more from the author of “Women’s Rights According to America’s Greatest Gulf State Ally” please click HERE)

Watch a recent interview with the author below:

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Jimmy Carter Compares Catholic Church to Islam on Women’s Rights

Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter says religious leaders, including those in Christianity and Islam, share the blame for mistreatment of women across the world.

The human rights activist said Friday religious authorities perpetuate misguided doctrines of male superiority, from the Catholic Church forbidding women from becoming priests to some African cultures mutilating the genitals of young girls.

Carter said the doctrines, which he described as theologically indefensible, contribute to a political, social and economic structure where political leaders passively accept violence against women, a worldwide sex slave trade and inequality in the workplace and classroom.

“There is a great aversion among men leaders and some women leaders to admit that this is something that exists, that it’s serious and that it’s it troubling and should be addressed courageously,” Carter said at an international conference on women and religion.

The 39th president is hosting representatives from 15 countries at The Carter Center, the human rights organization he launched in 1982 after leaving the White House.

Read more from this story HERE.

Bill Clinton: Champion of Women’s Rights?

LITTLE ROCK – On Monday, Bill Clinton moderated a discussion about empowering the world’s women.

But the event was also clearly focused on the Clintons themselves. “Friend of Bill” Jerry Jones, senior vice president of Little Rock-based Acxiom, quoted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the group, reminding them of her words in Beijing to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. “Human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights.”

Jones also lamented to the group that the United States, unlike many nations in the world, still hasn’t had a female president. (A possible hint about 2016?)

Hillary Clinton, who is recovering from stomach flu and a fainting spell that gave her a concussion, addressed the group via video before her husband entered the room. In the message, taped prior to her illness, Hillary Clinton praised the city of Little Rock, which this year renamed an airport in her and her husband’s honor, in her brief remarks.

She also said the topic of women was “near and dear to her heart,” especially “how to harness the power of women around the world.”

Read more from this story HERE.