Saudi Arabia Archives - The Seattle Globalist

“Reform” of Islam is not the only answer to extremism

by Ibtihal Mahmood

The "reform" of Islam isn't the only solution for terrorism, when political factors stifle dissent, says Ibtihal Mahmood.

"Whose side are you on?" A Kurdish female fighter from the People's Protection Units (YPG) near the site of fighting between ISIS and fighters from the Democratic Forces of Syria in south-eastern Syria. (Photo by REUTERS / Rodi Said)

Sectarian Superpowers: At war with ourselves in Syria

by Patrick Hilsman

Sunni/Shia, Arab/Kurd. How viewing the Middle East through a sectarian lens has driven the U.S. to folly.

The Kaaba, holiest site in Islam, is circumambulated by worshipers making the Hajj in 2014. (Photo by Tariq Yusuf)

How local Muslims are coping with the tragic Hajj stampede

by Tariq Yusuf

Mourning and outrage as a Seattle Muslim who made the Hajj last year tries to process the stampede that killed over 750 worshipers last week.

Young Ali Abdullah Saleh and his son Ahmed, 1984

What’s happening in Yemen (and why you should care)

by Cooper Inveen

The crisis in Yemen explained: Saudi Arabia, Iran and the complex web of alliances that's tearing apart the Middle East’s poorest country

What’s happening in Saudi Arabia and Yemen (and what it means for us)

by Megan Herndon

Making sense of the recent political changes on the Arabian Peninsula.

Meva Beganovic,who started wearing hijab after moving to Seattle from Eastern Washington, prepares to pray at the Muslim prayer room in the UW HUB. (Photo by Annie Wilson)

Scarfless in Seattle: Young Muslim women negotiate hijab

by Annie Wilson

Fearing judgment and discrimination, some Muslim women are giving up wearing headscarves in Seattle, while others are putting them on for the first time.

Samia El-Moslimany, an American woman who has lived most of her life in the Middle East and has dual citizenship in Saudi Arabia, was detained by Saudi police while participating in a driving protest in October. Women are prohibited by custom, but not by law, to drive in Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times)

Driven to fight for Saudi women’s rights

by Sarah Stuteville

A quick trip around the block in Saudi Arabia landed Burien resident Samia El-Moslimany in jail — and put her at the forefront of the women’s rights movement there.

As Saudi women make history, local Olympian recalls struggles of US female athletes

by Allison Int-Hout

For the first time in Olympic history, women are sporting Saudi Arabia’s flag at the Olympic games. Just two weeks before the start of the games, this Middle Eastern country known for the restrictions it places on women announced that it would send two female athletes to the Olympics. Neither athlete has been favored to win […]