Saudi cleric faces backlash over harassment tweet

BBC News, Sebastian Usher, 29 May 2013

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The tweet also cited an academic thesis comparing
women's employment to human trafficking

Saudis on social networks have called for legal action against a writer and cleric who urged his Twitter followers to harass women cashiers.

Abdullah Mohamed al-Dawood, who has almost 100,000 Twitter followers, used an Arabic hashtag on Sunday which read: "sexually harass female cashiers".

He advocated harassment as a way of discouraging women from working.

Recently Saudi women have been allowed to work in public in shops, provoking a backlash from conservatives.

Hundreds of Saudis and other Arab tweeters attacked him, some asking him what right he had to stop women working, others accusing him of inciting sexual attacks.

Others have defended him, arguing that his tweet was aimed at preserving the country's deeply conservative Islamic identity.

One of Mr al-Dawood's arguments is that letting women work is tantamount to human trafficking - he claims they are being exploited to attract business.

But a number of Saudi women have tweeted to contradict him.

Conservative anger

Traditionally Saudi women have worked as professors, teachers or doctors in all-female workplaces.

It is a sign of changing times in the country that women have not only been permitted to work with men, but that many have also seized the opportunity for jobs that once would have been seen as too menial.

But this has not gone down well with the powerful religious elite, which has shown its displeasure with similar moves, such as granting women the vote in the next municipal elections and letting them serve on the influential Shura Council.

But in defending the conservative position, Mr al-Dawood has gone out on a limb. It is not the least of the ironies of his position that it appears to transgress the deepest social and religious taboos in Saudi Arabia.

It is not, however, the first time he's courted such controversy - he has previously suggested that babies should be veiled to protect them from being sexually molested.

Another irony is that he has used Twitter to make his point, although in recent weeks the site has come under sustained attack from leading Saudi clerics for corrupting and misleading young Saudis.

To lighten the debate with a touch of humour, tweeters have been sharing a recent cartoon in a local newspaper. It shows a huge, authoritative Saudi man holding out his hand to deny entry to a veiled woman.

She, however, has already walked straight through him, leaving him looking surprised - and with a gaping hole in the middle of his body.

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version) 

“… Spiritual Systems

Let's speak about spiritual systems. I will report on what we have said in the past and what may very well be in store for you in the future. There are many spiritual systems on the planet, but the one that we wish to speak of is the one right now that has approximately one billion followers, for this is one we have spoken of before and it's the one that's going to change the most. It's old, and the leader is currently called the Pope.

Now, if you want some information about what's going on in his church, find out how many are signing up to be priests and nuns. In most parts of the world, it's very few. Certain countries have sustained the numbers, but most of them are finding the numbers reduced greatly. Without interest from younger people, this whole spiritual breed is dying. The organization is losing its younger leader pool, and it has been noticed by the church.

Now, here's what I'd like to tell you, dear ones: The potentials are that this church is going to survive, as well it should. Know this: There is nothing occurring now that will create a full earth that will be metaphysical, esoterically minded or New Age. That is not going to happen. It doesn't have to happen and it shouldn't happen, for it doesn't respect the elders of those who have different systems, but who also have healings and the love of God in their systems. Instead, these systems are going to see themselves recalibrate - that is, adjust and correct.

Blessed are the Human Beings who find God in their own way. Old souls will awaken to a truth that new souls are still working on. This explains the various levels of worship on this planet and the reason for very diverse spiritual systems. Many Human Beings who do not have the advantage of your old soul wisdom will motivate towards systems you may feel are too simple, and even mythological. But these systems are often the beginnings of understanding God. There is a place for it all. So let us speak about the Catholic Church.

I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.

There it a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.

It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness.

New Tolerance

Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.

Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."

"... Conclusion

This is the message of the day. The recalibration of awareness is going to change systems, education, government and finance. Those who don't choose to be spiritual at all will still move with a new awareness, for they will be aware of something that they are not aware of now - a softer way of living.

We close with a trite statement that we've given before, but that many have stated in jest: "If women ran the world, they would never send their sons to be killed on a battlefield."

Many laugh. How trite, how simple minded. Indeed, there have been women leaders who have put wars together; they had to. They sent their sons, so that's not really a correct statement. However, it's more right than you may think, dear ones.

So now I will make the statement I have made over and over in these recalibrated channellings: "When recalibrated Humans run the world, there will come a day when they will never send their sons into the battlefield." You see, awareness will change all of that. They will eventually see the wisdom of unification, new ways to settle issues, and the intuitive attribute of putting things together instead of tearing them apart.

There will be a time when government armies will not need to be large, and weapons will not be as powerful. Slowly, government won't need them. Slowly, slower than you want, these things will happen as the old soul carries his light and looks at the masters of the planet and emulates them.

You've all heard it: There will come a time when the masters will come back to Earth, and there are many who are waiting for this. However, it has already happened! They couldn't come back until the alignment was right and now it is right. This is what you are feeling in 2012 and beyond. It's starting to happen, and they're back. But they're not back as corporeal Human Beings. They're back as the energy of recalibrating of the awareness of God.

I wouldn't say these things unless they were true. Watch for these things, dear ones. Remember where you heard them first and when some of them start to occur in your news. And when you see the earth working in this fashion, dear one, maybe you'll realize that what I have given today is real.

Be circumspect. There is no perfect timing. Humans will create all this at their own pace. Do not be in fear of the things that might follow, for I say it yet again that the old energy will show itself soon in survival mode and it won't be pretty.

In this beginning of new energy, stand tall and turn on your light. Darkness will shirk before you. That is the truth of the day. ...”