Religious police in Saudi Arabia arrest mother for sitting with a man (American in Starbucks)

The Times (U.K.) ^ | February 7, 2008 | Sonia Verma

[Stoat]

Thanks to Matt Drudge for the article link

[saganite]

I have witnessed and heard about several run ins with these thugs over the years. They are pretty much unregulated and don’t answer to the civil authorities. Their presence in Saudi Arabia is part of a bargain the Saud family made decades ago to obtain power.

[RDTF]

couldn’t pay me enough to work there

[outofstyle]

We missed our opportunity. on September 12, 2001, we should have given 24 hours warning. The next day a cruise missile should have turned the rock of Mecca into dust. This religion of evil must be confronted.

[Grimmy]

Anyone going to a lion’s den should not be surprised when they end up as food for large angry cats.

[socialismisinsidious]

A 37-year-old American businesswoman and married mother of three

She goes on to say that she is going to stay and fight, doesn't want them to win, wants change blah, blah (and good luck with that whole beat the radical Muslim thing)....which is amazing when you think of how they already beat her, but is just plain stupid since she has 3 kids! Why would anyone want to raise kids in that environment if they don't have to? Get off your crusade and take your kids out of that horrible place.

[AlaskaErik]

When you sleep with camels don’t be surprised when you wake up with fleas.

[Clock King]

I wonder if she really thinks she can accomplish anything by staying there: These are men who think women are inherently unclean and evil. And a Westerner, even more so. I also wonder if she still thinks it’s a great place to make money. At what cost to your human dignity?

[RoadKingSE]

If you hang out with the dogs you’re gonna get some fleas.

[marron]

The muttawah are the very definition of “jerk”. If you’ve ever watched those guys in action, you want to pop their little heads like a pimple.

[aviator]

Sounds like she didn’t keep a lid on things.

[junkman72]

Please do not insult my dogs. Not only do they NOT have fleas, they don't like Islamofacists.

[Stoat]

The muttawah are the very definition of “jerk”. If you’ve ever watched those guys in action, you want to pop their little heads like a pimple.

I have no doubt that you're correct, and I thought it would be helpful for readers to see what you, other posters and this article refer to.

I looked for an example on YouTube and found this by using the keywords "saudi religious police"

YouTube - caught by saudi religious authority

It's probably not the best example, but I was surprised that I didn't see more videos of this sort of thing.  I'm wondering if

• Filming of such events is prohibited?
• Uploading or taking such films out of the country is a crime?
• YouTube is deleting them after they're posted?

[Joan Kerrey]

If she wants to make big money working there she better be prepared to suffer the consequences. Most sane women wouldn’t be so foolish as this mother of 3 children.

I’m sorry but as much as I despise Saudi Arabia and ALL that it stands for this woman has no business complaining about living in an entrenched 7th century culture.

Western women simply should not go to or live in a muslim country under any circumstances.

[Huntress]

The barbarity and backwardness of Saudi Arabia and Islam aside, this headline really irritates me. What does the fact that this woman is a mother have to do with her getting arrested?

[Stoat]

The barbarity and backwardness of Saudi Arabia and Islam aside, this headline really irritates me. What does the fact that this woman is a mother have to do with her getting arrested?

I don't think that it had anything to do with her getting arrested; it merely describes who she is.

[Huntress]

Perhaps, but the headline writer could have referred to her as an American woman or American businesswoman, a description that would actually have been relevant to the story.

[Stoat]

Do you think that it may be possible that the headline writer was sympathetic to her plight, and so she wanted to describe her in a sympathetic yet accurate way?
I think that most people would want to read about a “mother” who was cruelly mistreated as opposed to an “American Businesswoman” who was mistreated, particularly in a fairly liberal UK paper that has not gone out of it’s way to print a whole lot of pro-American articles lately.

[Disambiguator]

"The man she with? He looka like a man."

[Huntress]

Do you think that it may be possible that the headline writer was sympathetic to her plight, and so she wanted to describe her in a sympathetic yet accurate way?

Probably so, and frankly, that's what I find irritating about it. When I see a headline like this, I generally see it as an attempt to manipulate the reader's emotions. These kinds of headlines usually show up above stories about people like Cindy Sheehan or Elvira Arellano--women who use their children and their status as mothers to cynically manipulate public opinion. I am actually sympathetic to the plight of the woman in this particular article, but I resent the attempt at manipulation and the implication that she is more worthy of concern than a childless woman.