Saudi women give Hughes an earfulThu Sep 29, 2005 02:0364.140.158.30
Saudi women give Hughes an earful
By Steven R. Weisman
New York Times News Service
Published September 28, 2005
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509280113sep28,1,3030712.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia -- The audience--500 women covered in black at a Saudi university--seemed to be an ideal place for Karen Hughes, a senior Bush administration official charged with spreading the American message in the Muslim world, to make her pitch.
But when Hughes on Tuesday expressed the hope here that Saudi women would be able to drive and "fully participate in society" as they do in the United States, some challenged her.
"The general image of the Arab woman is that she isn't happy," one audience member said. "Well, we're all pretty happy."
The roomful of students, faculty members and some professionals applauded.
The administration's efforts to publicize American ideals in the Muslim world often run into such resistance. For that reason, Hughes, who is considered one of the administration's most scripted and careful members, was hired specifically for the task.
Many in this region say they resent the American assumption that given the chance, everyone would live as Americans do.
The women, who were selected for the audience by the university, represented the privileged elite of this Red Sea coastal city, which is known as one of the more liberal areas in the country.
Hughes, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, is on her first trip to the Middle East. She seemed taken aback as the women told her that just because they were not allowed to vote or drive, that did not mean they were treated unfairly or were imprisoned in their homes.
"We are not in any way barred from talking to the other sex," said Dr. Nada Jambi, a public health professor. "It is not an absolute wall."
The session at Dar Al-Hekma College was an unusual departure from the carefully staged events in Hughes' tour, which began Sunday in Egypt.
Hughes, a longtime communications aide to President Bush, assured the women that she was impressed with what they had said and would take their message home.
"I would be glad to go back to the United States and talk about the Arab women I have met," she said.
She also met with leading editors, all men, some of whom complained about perceived American biases against Palestinians, the incarceration of Muslims at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and what they said was an American stereotype of Saudis as religious fanatics and extremists after Sept. 11.
But it was the meeting with the women that was unpredictable, and Hughes found herself on the defensive simply by saying that she hoped women would be able to vote in future elections.
She also faced a woman in the audience who charged that under Bush the United States had become "a right-wing country" and that criticism by the news media was "not allowed."
"I have to say I sometimes wish that were the case, but it's not," Hughes said with a laugh.
Then, Hughes spoke personally, saying that driving a car was "an important part of my freedom."
Several women said later that Americans fail to understand that their traditional society is embraced by men and women alike.
"There is more male chauvinism in my profession in Europe and America than in my country," said Dr. Siddiqa Kamal, an obstetrician and gynecologist who runs her own hospital. "I don't want to drive a car. I worked hard for my medical degree. Why do I need a driver's license?"
But a mother of four, who would give her name only as Tulien, said she had secretly learned to drive in the desert and was frustrated by the ban. "We are very happy and satisfied, but we would be happier and more satisfied if we could drive," she said.
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Karen Hughes' high-octane gall
With amazing chutzpah, the Bush flack says reporters should ask more questions about John Kerry's military history. What they really ought to explore is her role in covering up Bush's spotty National Guard record.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2004/04/27/hughes/index_np.html
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Born in France to a military family, Hughes spent her childhood in Panama and later moved to Dallas, where she attended W.T. White High School. Hughes earned degrees in English and journalism at SMU, where she credits her professors with teaching her how to think critically. Following graduation Hughes worked as a reporter for a local television station until 1984, when she switched to handling media relations for the Reagan-Bush re-election campaign in Texas.
Master propagandist of the Nazi regime and dictator of its cultural life for twelve years, Joseph Goebbels was born into a strict Catholic, working-class family from Rheydt, in the Rhineland, on 29 October 1897. He was educated at a Roman Catholic school and went on to study history and literature at the University of Heidelberg under Professor Friedrich Gundolf, a Jewish literary historian renowned as a Goethe scholar and a close disciple of the poet Stefan George.
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