Memories of deadly fire resurface
Few can forget the horrible events of March 2002 when 14 young lives were deemed less important than modesty by a group of overbearing Mutawa in Riyadh. Of course, I'm referring to the infamous school fire. The students - all girls - were prevented from leaving the burning building because they weren't properly covered..in the rush to escape the inferno, they'd forgotten to grab their abayas - Imagine that!
We'd all like to think things like that can't happen in Saudi anymore, or anywhere for that matter, but a recent story in the Saudi Gazette seems to suggest otherwise.
According to the report, there have been six school fires in the EP just since fall. All at girls' schools.
Another report states that Civil Defense authorities have not been allowed to examine safety checklist in the girls’ schools to bring them into compliance with safety regulations in the EP.
Lt. Hamad Al-Juaid, chief of the Civil Defense Department in the EP notes that the situation is dangerous and just getting worse. The schools are vulnerable to fires, emergency exist and gates are often obstructed by steel fences, and any rescue operations would be "crippled".
Let's recap. No safety compliance checks...six fires in two months...Mutawa who believe girls must be fully-covered in public, altho they're allowed to be uncovered inside schools...
Another disaster waiting to happen.
I remember we used to have monthly fire drills when I was in elementary school, and I remember Mr. Strand, our principal at the time, coming over the loudspeaker and reminding us to leave everything behind.
Don't waste time gathering up books or paperwork, he told us. Don't grab your jackets out of the closet (and this was Minnesota, remember! Brr!). Just get out of the building as fast as possible. Your life depends on it!
The lives of these girls depend on getting out of a burning school as fast as possible.
7 comments:
Pretty disgusting, and disappointing.
It's like the old Separate by Equal crap they tried to pull in the USA with the races...the KSA is doing it with the girls. 50% of their population, it's evident, they feel they aren't deserving of the same basic safety standards.
It's also apparent they haven't discovered that separate is inherently not equal. But, maybe that is the whole point, since I think, women aren't viewed as equals. What is being done about this? Do/Can parents file complaints? Is there a formal process to address these types of concerns?
I remember that, I was teaching in a similar place in the EP at the time. How frustrating that they don't learn!
Terri -The odd thing is, more girls are being educated than boys, yet there remain so many issues and inequalities - it's stunning.
As far as complaints go, I've read school administrators have told parents to complain to gov't not schools, but how far that gets is a guess.
Sprinkle - Histury will continue to repeat itself unless we learn from it.
Thanks for stopping by, Ladies!
Yes, I DO remember well the fire in which the lives of women came to a horrible end when they forgot their abayas during their attempt to escape.
Strangely, however, while working in Riyadh, Saudi women I worked with did NOT remember and had never heard of such a thing. For some unfortunate reason, I was appointed to a committee to try and convince all women in the workplace that we should wear our abayas. These Saudi women wanted to take them off, and wear professional American wear, to them this was jeans with lots of bling and sparkly sandals.
One day on coffee break I told these ladies that this fire was just one good reason among many that I don't mind going to work in my abaya and staying that way. (The other reason is not wanting to be interrupted by constant changing of outfits).
These Saudi women were absolutely shocked that their kindred had died under these circumstances. I couldn't believe that they were surprised, and was aghast that they didn't know.
Here's the thing. I think they DID know. That's just how much taking off an abaya, wearing tight jeans and bling in front of others means to these women. That mentality is as crazy as the one which put forth the abaya in the first place...
Fellow American... mmm I haven't brought up the fire around many Saudi nationals, but I will. Interesting to see how accurate their memories of the event are. I'll keep you posted!
And thanks for dropping by.
Its funny that you guys live in the land that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) described as where the horn of satan would come from (Najd in modern day Saudi Arabia) and then you think that is what islam is. This is from the hadith. It shows how ignorant Saudis and Americans are about this religion. You live in the land of the cursed khawarij...and they control the country. Please go look it up.
Hi Anonymous:
I want to thank you for sharing the interesting information about what the hadith says about Najd. I will look it up!
I also wanted to tell you that I understand your feelings that many Saudis and Americans alike think that "that's all there is" to Islam. The more I live here and travel elsewhere, the more I learn how unique the Wahhabi form of Islam is in Saudi Arabia - particularly in Riyadh. No, I have not "judged" Islam on one locale alone. I am learning about Islam from a worldwide context, and becoming more educated about the hadith and the different ways hadith is observed all over the world. What I want to know is, why was a lot of hadith written by Aisha, the wife of Mohammed, not included in the accepted hadith? I'd like to read it.
Post a Comment