What does it take to be an active woman in Saudi Arabia? Have you suffered?
In the beginning there was no suffering as many people believe. When I started writing as a journalist in Al Madinah newspaper, I took the blessing of the King, that time, King Abdullah. The only feedback, which was a little hard, came from my immediate family. They thought that a princess cannot be a journalist! I resisted that. The society then began to accept my approach little by little. Of course I was not a young girl any more, I was a mature lady. It is different when you start something new when you are young and when you are old. When I started my journalism career, I was quite mature. I had children. And I knew that I was going into a field that would open its doors to many after me. I started writing in the newspaper first, then in Sayyidati, then in Al Ahram.
How was the reaction from the society?
I moved on to being the first princess to have her photo all over the Saudi newspapers. I was applauded by my society, by even a lot of men. They thought that I broke the ice for the royalties. I have also broken the ice for the women of my country. Some are now able to go on the visual site of media without being fearful. Their faces are not covered as part of our custom, not religion. I really broke the ice for everybody. Having that itself is an honour for me. After 5-6 years, I found many Saudi women in the magazines and newspapers. I think I have done something worthwhile for myself, for the women in my country, for my daughters and also for my sons who accepted that I was the first one to do such thing. Of course they suffered in the beginning from their friends. But now they are very proud of me. I have put my stamp internationally, I have travelled everywhere and I have proven that a Saudi princess can do a lot more than shopping or drinking coffee!
Is your mission completed?
This is only stage one! For stage two, after all what I have done internationally, now I want to be the maestro, start something to complete the development in my country. I want to implement a lot in education, social affairs and start reevaluating social standards and address humanitarian issues in Saudi Arabia within its own frame, not the Western frame. We have a lot of issues, from education to social security, environment. We have to address them first, before we think about what the West has in mind such as driving or being without abaya! These are very minor issues for me which will come later as result of all.
For the Western media, it is all about driving ban for women. Is it too simplistic?
Definitely! It has nothing to do with our needs as women in Saudi Arabia. Maybe few activists who have been inspired by the West were calling for the right to driving. Of course they are young, youth is always inspired by outside. But the main issues in our country are beyond that. We have the family structure. We have women rights. We have many issues for women in the constitutional area which have to be addressed. I have all the hope and inspiration, with our young new leaders, Prince Muhammed bin Naef and Prince Muhammad bin Salman. I believe they will take the steps towards proper reforms on the status of the women and the family.
How about you? Do you drive in Saudi Arabia?
No, definitely not. I am not even concerned about this! I am very happy to let the driver drive. I am happy to sit at the back and write for the future. I believe when we are ready, we will drive. Not one minute before or not one minute after.
Saudi Arabia looks like frozen in history. Is there any change in your country?
Definitely. It is a completely new picture, a completely new era. We have passed that bridge with social media; twitter, Facebook, with printed media. If you see the use of twitter, we are the third in the world. We are the sixth economic power in the world. We are the eighth in the world in affecting political decision. We were not there 10 years ago. We have taken a long way. People think that Saudi Arabia has not made any progress. Actually we have done a lot. It is just the media who does not concentrate except on the negative sides of Saudi Arabia. It is human nature. We tend to see empty side of the glass.
Why is the image of Saudi Arabia so negative?
For the last 30-40 years, unfortunately we had a very bad marketing. And Osama bin Laden did not leave us any hope to brighten our future. Before 2001, we were very much respected in the world. After what happened in New York, we were totally destroyed. After that incident, we always have tried to improve our image in the world. There has been so much blood from terrorism that has killed all our hopes in order to improve our identity globally. But now it is the right moment in history. We will write not the past, but the future of all the Arab countries. We will start a foreign policy with more friends than enemies.
Do you expect any change in Saudi foreign policy after King Abdullah?
Definitely. I think the foreign policy will take a different turn. What has been pursued at the time of Prince Saud Al Faisal was very much appreciated. It was right for that moment. He is one of our key leaders in the history. I have all the respect for him and his time of serving. But of course every era has its own tendencies. I think the whole region is crafting a new foreign policy, as a result, we hope, we can come together not split as we did in the past 10 years.
Is the operation in Yemen a sign in that direction?
The Yemeni problem has been building up for the last 8 years. It is something from the past. We are only seeing the outcomes now. We are active in preventing the effusive energy coming into our land. I think we have made the right decision at the right time. I hope this will be a lesson to all our enemies. I do not want to say ‘enemy’, but all who think Saudi Arabia is a land that can be conquered. Saudi Arabia is the ‘Qibla’, this is where peace should be stabilised for the whole Muslim world. It is not any other country that can be turbulent. I think King Salman is the right man at the right moment. He has done the right decision for the identity of Saudi Arabia, for the next hundred years I hope. We are decision makers and we will be so. We will not put our faith except God and our leaders.
King Salman did not go to Washington. Does it imply a change in Saudi Arabia’s relations with the US?
It is given more meaning than it should be. King Salman stayed in Saudi Arabia because there was a week of humanitarian aid to Yemen. He wanted to make sure the world understands that humanity is more important than Camp David!
Whom do you see as the biggest threat to Saudi Arabia now?
All of them are one. Anybody who has bad intentions to Saudi Arabia is an enemy. There is no threat. Maybe I am very nationalist, but I see our country is a very stable country. You cannot destabilise a country from outside. It has to be from the inside and we are very strong from inside. We are very nationalist.
What about the Muslim Brotherhood? Does Saudi Arabia have problem with the Brotherhood?
I think Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan) has problem with Saudi Arabia! Not the other way around. We have no problem with anybody. Saudi Arabia has taken everybody into her bosom. We have been the moderators for many. If there is a problem at a time, believe me it is not from Saudi Arabia, it is from the other side!
But, Saudi Arabia supported the coup against the Brotherhood…
For me, there is no coup in a revolution. There is revolution after revolution. They keep changing and changing until everything is finally settled. I see the Muslim Brotherhood had always been a terrorist party. Only before the revolution they became legal. Ikhwan was always categorised as terrorist. How in one minute a party goes from a terrorist group to being accepted as constitutional party to rule? This is very strange for me. I could not understand how a country like Egypt can have a party that has been considered as terrorist, and all of a sudden being legalised. Few months after the elections, the Egyptians themselves were not happy. I saw woman coming who had to wear the scarf in the airport. They were terrorised on the streets, they were terrorised by the Ikhwan and they were all coming to London. That time I was in London, and I was hearing all the stories. I saw that it was the Egyptians who did not want this, not Saudi Arabia nor Qatar nor Israel. If they did not want it, how can we force on them? We always help who ask for our help. We never force anything on anybody. But, we are not going to help terrorists to be legalized in a country.
How do you see Turkey-Saudi Arabia relations? Do you see a competition between the two?
On the contrary, I see a coalition rather than a competition. I think Saudi Arabia and Turkey are not very much different. But seeing the common interest is not yet achieved by both sides. Turkey can be a very good partner for Saudi Arabia. But first, Turks have to trust Saudis! I believe there is a trust issue here. When I was in Turkey, I have heard so many times, “how can we trust?” Turks are very careful people. But being too careful sometimes can stop you from doing many things. Distrust can harm the business. Turkey should release that caution little bit from Saudi Arabia. If there is more trust from Turkey to the Saudi wisdom, the relationship will improve between Turkey and Saudi Arabia. I hope I can open the door for Turkish-Saudi economic development.
Did you ever fear that the Arab Spring will reach Saudi Arabia?
We are already living in Arab Spring in Saudi Arabia! There is a beautiful spring. I think the other countries have had hot summer, rather than a spring. Destruction, insecurity… This is not spring, this is a very hot summer. We have no chaos, no refugees, this is the real spring. What I see is a summer that has melted all the efforts of previous centuries. Now Egypt has to rebuild whatever they have destroyed. Syria is destroyed, Libya, Tunisia… Where is the spring? I don’t see spring.
The relations with Qatar had been tense for a while. What was the real problem?
It was miscommunication! Communication is very important on a governmental level and personal level. Especially at a time when all media channels were screaming at each other. Governments were listening to the media, they were not listening to each other. The message was not properly delivered. Thus, communication was lost. Now we have regained it. I believe in the young leaders of the two countries. I believe we are in a golden era for GCC.
Have you ever cooperated with HH Shaikha Mozah?
Never. But I would be happy to collaborate with her in the future. After all this communication has gone with Qatar, it will be my pleasure. She is a lovely lady, I admire her for what she has done. I hope we join our forces for the future of our countries.
The Peninsula
