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Inside the Middle East
April 23, 2009
Posted: 907 GMT

In Saudi Arabia, a husband divorced his wife via text message and a court approved it. CNN's Mahommed Jamjoom reports.

Mohammed Jamjoom reports. Click here to watch
Mohammed Jamjoom reports. Click here to watch

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Filed under: CNN Coverage •Saudi Arabia •Video


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GLeigh   April 23rd, 2009 2:23 pm ET

I'm in the U.S. I once read that in a Native American tribe, women could divorce their mates by sitting their shoes outside the teepee and walking around a tree three times. Made sense to me – much less expensive or emotionally damaging – like texting it. Perhaps it weakens the institute of marriage, but courts have ruled. If women are allowed the same rights, it's fine with me.

Bill   April 25th, 2009 9:33 am ET

This is just another example of how badly Islam treats women. It is time that women are given the respect and equality that they deserve. People are not property.

Professor   April 27th, 2009 8:56 am ET

Bill,

"This is how Islam treats women?"... that really who your ignorance and how stupid you are....

first of all... Islam is not a human being to treat women good or bad...

Muslim women are treated much better than american or european women who live with drunk abusers.... or by their deug using children who beats them up or even kill them to steal their money to buy drugs... get my drift?

Barry   April 27th, 2009 8:08 pm ET

Albanian Professor -

Are you saying that a religion can't treat women badly? Are you that stupid?

Are you saying that Muslim women can't be abused by drunk abusers? And Muslim women can't be beat up by drug using children?

You are dreaming. Muslim women get treated like property, plus they suffer from the humiliation of being second or third class citizens, plus the abuse of honor crimes and no human rights, plus they can be traded off to old men as sexual slaves when they're only 8 years old!

Anthro. Dane   April 27th, 2009 10:07 pm ET

It would be a fair assumption to make that Barry and Bill have not ventured to countries that hold Islam as the dominating religion (because lets face it, there are plenty of Iraqi Christians (look to Northern Iraq), Palestinian Jews, and even Muslim Americans etc). Ignorance and naivety stem from a lack of understanding of the counterpart. Don't be so quick to point fingers.

It is however fair to argue that Saudi Arabia has failed to show equality amongst both sexes. But chose your battles right. A divorce by text will soon be appearing across the world as a part of globalization! you wait and see.

Professor   April 27th, 2009 10:18 pm ET

Israeli Barry,

People from any religious background can be criminal and sick as you are and do horrible things... we see it among jews, christians and muslims.

You are dreaming... women in the western socities get paid less than men for doing the same job.... they get abused by drunk men... get beat up and killed by drug using children.... they get treated like property by pimps and white slavery traders.... young women get abused by sexual pedophiles... They get traded off by swingers husbands as sexual objects.... and the list goes on and on.... where is their human rights?

GLeigh   April 28th, 2009 2:19 pm ET

To me, as a female, all I've really wanted is equality. I don't do it with a big important job. Some women do. More power to them. I do it quietly. Stable, safe homes with two parents matter to me. My kids matter to me. One parent homes, in any form, feel wrong in any form. It's a partnership. We work it out together and like and respect each other.

GLeigh   April 28th, 2009 3:13 pm ET

Prof – Get real. I'm a woman in the western world. Yes, bad things happen. Everywhere. We all know that. Big news. I tell my daughter often to be careful. She laughs and goes off to do her thing and live her life and make her own decisions. I hope men are nice and good to her. Some are and some are not, so they live with themselves. She just wants to live with no fear. Good or bad, and she is not a lesser person than any male.

GLeigh   April 28th, 2009 3:14 pm ET

Ask her brother. He is an astro engineer and a jock.

GLeigh   April 28th, 2009 3:17 pm ET

I do understand that some men fear women or whatever. My husband has never been one though. He's kind and tolerant and educated. So is his mother. She became an engineer and he went to school and became one then my son did the same. It started with her education. Men can learn from her and other females. I'm more like his father, who supported their family. Go figure.

GLeigh   April 28th, 2009 3:20 pm ET

Mostly it's about education. Read which counties allow it, college levels and figure out who allows what. Reading and writing are basic, but who allows the higher skills of women? That's not a trick question, just an honest one.

Professor   April 28th, 2009 3:53 pm ET

Anthro.Dane,

you are very correct... this is after all a tool that was invented in the west... lol

Girls get dumped by their boyfriends (in most cases those are common hasbunds) on daily basis accross the US. But, it does not hit the news beacuse it is a very common practice here in the US.... but when a Saudi uses it then its news becuase its unheard of... and ofcourse Israeli Bill and Israeli Barry like to focus on the exceptions to the rule and generalize.... What they don't understand this will only backfire on them when the rest of the world will start generalizing and lumping all jews together.... then we are back in Hitler Germany all over again.

Barry   April 28th, 2009 10:33 pm ET

Albanian Professor -

Your weak arguments are getting more sordid. You defend Islam's virtual slavery of women by saying that other countries treat women badly too? In other countries, women are not property. They are individual humans with rights, just like a man. In other religions, women are not traded off to dirty old men as sexual slaves when they are 8 years old. In my country, the only thing we hear about "honor crimes" is when a Muslim commits some heinous act against a woman. We put people like that in jail for a very long time.

You obviously can't see the difference between boyfriends and girlfriends breaking up and married people getting a divorce. A marriage is a moral, legal, and religious covenant between a man and a women. (Well, in your case, maybe not a woman) For a man to be able to dismiss this with a text message is a flagrant insult to women and a disgrace to mankind.

GLeigh   April 29th, 2009 2:50 am ET

At my house, my husband is our ultimate control figure. That's our choice, as a couple, our partnership. If another male person attempts to "dominate" me in some way just because he is a male, it's unacceptable to me. Being where I am, in a pretty easy going place, I actually find it a little funny. His trying never lasts long. I'm not exactly timid, just a little quiet and thoughtful. The two sexes have some differences naturally, but that doesn't mean that one can boss or be mean to the other. That is not a good thing. It can be abused for one thing. Secondly, some women can't stand it. I've raised two boys into men. They pretty much listen to me. There father demands it, and they want to listen.

Professor   April 29th, 2009 10:47 am ET

Israeli Barry,

Obviously your reply is a proof of your ignorance of Islam and its holy book and the culture of the middle east.

You are so mixed up in your head you don't know that the more you write the more its clear to the reader that you have no clue what you are talking about.

1. First of all an honor crime is a crime as its well identified in the name it name... the word honor is just to identiy the type of the crima but not to make a less crime than other or to make it acceptable... an honor crime is not acceptable by any muslim society and those who commit an honor crime is punishable by law according to Islamic Sharia. Go check your references and if you don't find it then maybe you are checking in Israeli websites that tells you what is Islamic Sharia law... you should stop doing that and go to well respected Islamic references to understand what is Islamic Sharia law specifics.

2. Islam is the first religion to make men and women equal partners. Again go check your references. If some (few) bad apples muslims are treating women are properties then that should not be reflecting on the whole religion or the rest of the muslim people. As I mentioned to you in my earlier comment there are bad apples in the west too and their actions should not be a reflection on the whole west or the Christian religion.

3. Obviously, you do not live in the US and you do not know what common law means. A boyfriend and his girlfriend that live together and treat eachother as a hasbund and wife treat eachother are treated as a hasbund and wife in a court of law. And the girlfriend car force the boyfriend to pay child support if they have children and take half of his assets just like a wife exactly.... and so many of those common law wives are dumped (divorced) with a text message.... go check the stats on American websites and US court records. Don't check for these stats on Arab or Israeli website.... get my drift?

4. Do you know what they do in Catholics societies where divorce is not even allowed? They don't even need to send a text message. LOL

Professor   April 29th, 2009 10:52 am ET

GLeigh,

Who cares what goes around in your house?... Keep your personal life private as it should be. We do not need nor like to hear what goes around between you and your hasbund and children.

Bill   April 29th, 2009 1:28 pm ET

Albanian Professor -

You have always demonstrated an amazing ignorance of Islam and its Koran, as well as any notion of common law in the United States. Men and women equal in Islam? What a bad joke! Is this more Muslim taqiyya, lying to the infidels? LOL. You should stick to things you know about like Islamic terrorism, beastiality, honor killings, and selling 8 year old girls as sexual slaves to settle your debts with dirty old men.

Tell us the statistics of marriages in the United States that are legally ended by a text message. Cite your sources. Can't do it, can you? You are just another Muslim prevaricator, trying to protect a 7th century cult and doing a very bad job of it.


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