In other news

[eumelia]

The Saudi woman who had been raped and sentenced for six months in prison and 200 hundred lashes for being the company of men she wasn't related to - link.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia "pardons" the aforementioned rape victim - link.

It's just too disgusting for words. Really.
I was going to say something sarcastic about the justice system in Saudi Arabia, but I really can't, seeing what I just wrote about my own countries legislative agenda, I'll not touch on the actual system.

I will mention that Saudi Arabia is very high up on the lists regarding their Human Right Violations and I'm very happy international (and Saudi public) pressure swayed the decision of the Qatif Girl's sentence.

I just find it absolutely disgusting and so scary that this young woman had been tried in the first place and still she has the mark of shame on her for the rest of her life... not to mention a criminal record, because being "pardoned" means that in fact you had been "found" guilty, but due to circumstances your punishment wasn't completed. She was no exonirated... she was given clemency.

Justice so blind, the sword nearly severed the hand* that holds the scales.

*Just thought I'd mention that the punishment for thieves in Saudi Arabia is the severing of a hand.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_yggdrasil/]

They raped her ex-boyfriend as well. Wonder what happened to him?

I am really, really done with the "blame the rape victim" routine. It's the only crime where the victim is persecuted (or in this case, prosecuted).

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Well, the actual rapists got five-to-nine in the slammer, most likely, the Saudi justice system didn't do anything to him seeing as he wasn't a woman in the company of strange men.
He's probably suffering the same post-trauma symptoms all rape victims suffer.

[talibah-nazahah.livejournal.com]

i was excited when i saw this... just the fact that the kingdom of saud backed down under international pressure is kind of encouraging... although next time, im sure they'll just gag the accused a bit better.

off topic, and i kind of feel cheesy asking this but people ask me about NYC a lot so here it goes...

i am going to hang out in Tel Aviv and Jaffa (Yafo) on my own the first day i fly in. i will most likely have a travelers backpack on... but besides that, is there any danger in me walking around on my own in jaffa? i hear that it has a bit of a drug problem... and im not sure how the tension between jews and arabs is there. any area i should definitely avoid?

also, how far is tel aviv from jerusalem? i feel cheesy about this as well but im kind of sketch about the buses... althoughthe chance of being blown up is slim, i was wondering if it was close enough to grab a cheap cab ride.

and... last question, what's the weather like? i see it's in the 60's... if i wore a thermal and a fleece would i overheat?

thanks for being my eyes on the ground :)

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

The area of Jaffa and Neve Tzedek, near the port, are the places to be, going in too deep is a bit scary, so i don't recommend it, but staying near the old buildings, squares and shore line during the day in Jaffa is a-okay.
Don't worry about going around in a backpack, lots of Tel-Avivians walk around with backpacks.
No one should bother you, since they'll just mark you as Tourist, so be aware as a tourist as you would be in any other country.
The Arabs who live in Jaffa are a mix of Christian and Muslim, as far as I know there isn't real tension unless someone does or says something stupid, which doesn't happen so often, though times are weird so... *shrug*

Tel-Aviv is about an hour from Jerusalem, give or take traffic, my suggestion is get to the Tel-Aviv central bus station and ask at the information desk for the bus lines, it's your safest bets, and the chance you'll get blown up is pretty much nill, there hasn't been a bus explosion in almost three years.
Cabs are expensive going from city to city, take one if you get lost within Tel-Aviv or Jeruslaem, but don't waste your money on a cab for another city.

The weather is so changeable, during the day can be quite warm, but it's cold during the night. My suggestion, bring layers that are comfy to take on and off, because really you can't predict what's going to happen with that.
Keep your eye on the weather reports, but year a thermal and a fleece (with scarf and hat in case) sounds like a good plan.

When about will you be lading here?

[talibah-nazahah.livejournal.com]

thanks! i love coming from NYC where there are so many tourists. i rarely feel shame about being one elsewhere... or speaking another language with an accent for that matter. im going to be coming into ben gurion on the 10th. i meet up with the group on the 11th and then i will be in jerusalem on the 17th.

the weather sounds pretty awesome. i love fall and winter...

the buss comment made me laugh in that kind of weird way. like, haha... no explosions in 3 years... whew. so unfortunate.

im am so psyched for this trip.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

I remember the times where there was an explosion every other day, coming to school and asking "Really? Where and how many each?" as in dead and wounded.

It's pretty morbid, when you think about it, huh.

Anyway, it's great in Israel and within Palestine, don't let the soldiers scare you, they're just following orders and if they glare just ignore it, it's not worth bothering them. Remember these are usually kids or reservists and they don't wanna be there.
Don't let the settlers bother you either, they'll probably not think anything of you since you'll be in a group and groups go in and out of the West Bank all the time.