By Zanub Saeed
Word has it that Saudi Arabia, the nation in the world with the strongest and strictest Islamic rules, will be allowing two women to compete for the upcoming London Olympic summer games, set to begin on July 27.
It is a huge step for the nation, which does not promote women in athletes at all as part of their national rules, and to some extreme extent, Islamic law. Two women will be heading to London to participate for the Middle Eastern nation, 800-meter runner Sarah Attar from Pepperdine University in California and Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani in judo, said the Associated Press. The two women technically do live outside of Saudi Arabia but will be heading to the Olympics with other representatives of the nation.
"It does not change the fact that Saudi women are not free to move and to choose," said political analyst Mona Abass in neighboring Bahrain to the Associated Press. "The Saudis may use it to boost their image, but it changes little."
While the news is being reported by international press, it is receiving low, if none, coverage in Saudi Arabia, said the Associated Press.
"We are still disappointed here," Ahmed al-Marzooqi, editor of a website that aims to cover women and men's sporting events in Saudi Arabia, told the Associated Press from the Saudi city of Jiddah. "I should be happy for them, but this will do nothing for women who want to be in sport in Saudi Arabia."
A Saudi newspaper said in April that the Saudi Olympic Committee did not approve sending women to the Olympics, and that they wish the two who are competing would do so under a neutral flag, noted the Associated Press. Something similar happened during the 2010 Youth Olympics, Saudi equestrian competitor Dalma Rushdi Malhas, who won a bronze medal, had done so under another flag.
"Allowing women to compete under the Saudi flag in the London Games will set an important precedent," Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at New York-based Human Rights Watch, told the Associated Press. "But without policy changes to allow women and girls to play sports and compete within the kingdom, little can change for millions of women and girls deprived of sporting opportunities."
