A women's rights activist, Manal al-Sharif, spent the past week in jail, until being freed Monday, for posting a video on YouTube of herself driving in Saudi Arabia. The video was part of an online campaign encouraging Saudi women to take to the diver’s seat in defiance of a restriction on female drivers in the country.

The edict banning women from driving is just one of numerous constraints placed on women in Saudi Arabia and in the Muslim world at large.

For the past several months, we have watched citizens of the Arab World struggle for fundamental rights and freedoms in revolutions that have brought about immense change. But what about change for Muslim women? When will rights and freedoms be granted to them as well?

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Exclusive Clip (Iranium): "Apocalypse Now"

Islam's Apartheid By Amil Imani

“Islamic countries, such as Egypt, Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia are signatories to the declaration condemning the barbaric practices of apartheid. Yet, these same countries…are the most blatant violators of the declaration.” The dictionary defines apartheid as: An official policy of racial segregation promulgated in the Republic of South Africa with a view to promoting and maintaining white ascendancy. In 1973, the General Assembly of the United Nations opened for signature and ratification the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (ICSPCA). It defined the crime of apartheid as: “Inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial [religious] group of persons over any other racial [religious] group of persons and systematically oppressing them."

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Saudi Arabia's Coming Revolution By IPT News

“Injustices include repression of women's rights and freedom and poor treatment of Shiites and immigrants” A Saudi-born, liberal intellectual claims that while the Saudi regime has bought off and suppressed current dissatisfaction, revolution still is coming. In excerpts of an article translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Mansour al-Hadj argues that disenfranchisement of weak sectors of the society will lead to an inevitable backlash. Shiites, women, children of immigrants, political prisoners, and liberals are all volatile elements in Saudi society, al-Hadj argues in his article at the liberal Arabic-language website Aafaq.org.

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Take Action!

Women2Drive is an online campaign urging Saudi women to take to the driver’s seat on June 17th, in defiance of the ban on female drivers. “Like” the Women2Drive Facebook page and display the “Women2Drive” bumper sticker on your car to encourage the women of Saudi Arabia in their struggle for this basic freedom. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::