Does anyone know if the Facebook page calling for women drivers in Saudi Arabia to be beaten is still up? Given Facebook’s sorry track record of supporting Islamic supremacists and working against counter-jihadists, I wouldn’t be in the least surprised if it were. “Female Saudi Driver Said to Be Freed,” from the Associated Press, May 30 (thanks to Bill):
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) “” A Saudi woman detained for defying the ultraconservative kingdom’s ban on female drivers was released Monday after growing international pressure for her freedom, a rights activist said.
In AP’s world, you’re an ultraconservative if you want Sharia implemented so strictly that women are treated as mere possessions of men, and aren’t even allowed to go out of the house on their own, much less drive. You’re also an ultraconservative if you oppose and resist Sharia.
The 32-year-old woman, Manal al-Sherif, became the center of a growing Internet campaign that also served to draw attention to plans for a June 17 rally calling for a mass driving protest to challenge the restriction.
The Saudi activist, Waleed Aboul Khair, credited al-Sherif’s release on “pressure from inside and outside” Saudi Arabia, which follows an austere brand of Islam known as Wahhabism that is enforced by morality police.
Al-Sherif had been detained since May 21 after posting an Internet video of her driving as part of a campaign for the planned protest next month. She was ordered to remain in custody until at least early June. […]
Al-Sherif’s Facebook page, called “Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself,” was removed after more than 12,000 people indicated their support. The campaign’s Twitter account also was blocked. Hundreds of other sites have sprouted to support her and the protest call.