Dear Saudi Friends

Dear Saudi friends, A few months ago, I wrote on Twitter that I had decided to stand up for Saudi Arabia. After living in the region for 8 years, after researching the history and the culture of your country for months, after studying your country’s communication for over a year, I felt I was ready. You might be wondering what the heck I have been doing. You might be questioning if I am really standing up for Saudi Arabia. I am. I’ll admit it, the Khashoggi case has sent me up and down the rollercoaster. I questioned if I had been right to support you and the Crown Prince in the first place, but in that process, over the last few weeks, I actually learnt a lot. It was as if all the demons came out of the box at the same time. It was interesting to observe them, and interesting to observe you, Saudi Arabia facing the stress test. As I said, I learnt a lot. Also it’s sad to say, but I cannot do for you as much as I was hoping I could do. I was hoping...

I was telling you here about how I was raised as a woman, not to fear and how with that freedom, I have gone to places on my own. Lebanon is one of those places I have gone on my own. I love Lebanon, I have gone 5 times, 4 times on my own. A few years ago, while I was there discovering Lebanon beyond Beirut, that thing happened to me. I was staying with friends in the suburbs of Beirut. I had rented a car and decided to go up the mountains to see the cedars on my own. My friends had things to do, I went on my own, I had no issue with that. That morning, leaving Beirut, I had a car accident. The driver’s door was badly damaged, but as the car still worked, I continued on my way up north. Lebanon really is an amazing country, with breathtaking landscapes. I finally made it to the cedars but the park was closed already, the accident and stopping too many times to take pictures had delayed me. I thought I should hurry a bit to make sure I could get home on time. I ...

I told you here how my youth shaped my perception of me as a woman. I also realized while thinking about this that before I moved to the Gulf, I never really saw myself as a woman specifically. I mean, I am a woman, I look like one, I doll up sometimes for special occasions (but certainly not everyday) but mostly I see myself as a human being who just happens to be a female, the same way I am a human being who just happens to have blue eyes. Actually, maybe my blue eyes define me more than my gender, because my blue eyes are not the product of chance, both my parents have fair eyes, while me being a woman is a matter of chance. I have been fascinated how often in this region I have heard sentences like “Women usually are more...” or “Men tend to be less...” It’s not the fact that people might say those sentences, it’s the fact that people think like those description are a product of nature, and not the result of experience, that drives me nuts. I don’t have a stere...