Damascus Countryside, SANA – It might be not the first time for a woman to stand up to society’s grip boldly and say “no,” but every single cry of protest would help loosen this grip, and that is what happened when a young lady refused a marriage proposal and disobeyed her father’s will to fulfill her own.

19-year old Nagham from al-Tal town in Damascus Countryside was first obliged to become engaged to a man 20 years her senior, yet her will gained the upper hand, with her uttering a resounding “NO” before the wedding judge.

Nagham, who kept her family name anonymous, said that her father forced her to accept a marriage proposal of “a wealthy man in his 40’s” even though he is twenty years older than her.

“I told my father time and again that this man does not suit me… I’m just 19 and I want to continue studying for now, but my cries fell on deaf ears,” says Nagham.

“I was determined to reject this marriage, and the only choice left for me was to say no before the wedding judge and put an end to this matter… I wasn’t happy to embarrass my family or endure my father’s anger for sure, but I had to resort to the law to protect myself.”

Lawyer Laila al-Awwad says that Nagham did the right thing, as the wedding judge fulfilled his duty and discontinued the marriage process. “The law protects Nagham’s right to choose her spouse whether she is an adult or underage. The law is quite clear, as a person should explicitly announce their approval or rejection before the wedding judge.”

“A violent behavior is expected to occur in such cases, and that is why Nagham can [legally] mandate the judge to be her own guardian and the father is to make a written pledge assuring that he will not harm his daughter or force her to get married against her will,” the lawyer clarifies.

Hiam Ali, a social researcher, considers that the Middle Eastern society in general is still closed and traditional values still dominate many families in the country, giving no respect to personal freedoms or rights that are maintained in the state’s laws and legislations.

“Individuals, women in particular, should be aware of their rights that the law protects and be bold enough to defend themselves properly. Tyranny should not be masked with bright names such as parents’ obedience, as no woman is obliged to spend the rest of her life with an abusive husband,” Ali illustrates.

“There can be no real freedom for us until this traditional value system is deconstructed and social liberties are strengthened, leading to creating a healthy, constructive society,” she adds.

Yesterday, a conference on combating violence against women and children was held, and Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi said that providing protection to women and children is one of the Syrian government’s top priorities, adding that Syria has achieved major strides in eliminating violence and sexual abuse exercised against women and children.

Rasha Milhem /  Hazem Sabbagh http://www.sana.sy/en/?p=20143

Contrast THE ABOVE (the rights of young women, and young men, to say no to marriage, if they live in Syria) with  with the Saudi oil-rich dictatorship.

The Saudi dictatorship which is supplied with some of the most advanced weapons, not to mention constant diplomatic and political support given to it by our “leaders” in Washington for decades now:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misha%27al_bint_Fahd_al_Saud

Princess Misha’al bint Fahd (1958 – 15 July 1977; Arabic: الأميرة مشاعل بنت فهد بن محمد بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود‎) was a member of House of Saud, who was executed by gunshot^{[1]in 1977 at age 19}

According to Antony Thomas, there was no trial nor was there an official execution:^[2]

It wasn’t a trial. She wasn’t even executed in the Square of Justice. She was just executed in a car park. I’ve witnessed executions in Saudi Arabia, I’m afraid. They’re always done in a special square. This wasn’t even done there. It wasn’t done with an official executioner, not that would make it any worse or any better. But this was not following the process of any law.

David Fanning, co-writer and executive producer of Death of a Princess, added:

The difference between the official version, which was the girl was killed because she was found guilty of adultery, and the truth of it, which turns out that she was, in fact, executed by the king’s elder brother in an act of tribal vengeance in a parking lot in Jeddah, was, in fact, the heart of the controversy because that was the part that, of course, the royal family could not countenance. And that was the great outrage.

Meanwhile the granddaughters of the Saudi dictator king who just died are IMPRISONED in their own house for over a DECADE:

/terrorism/2014/12/four-women-imprisoned-for-13-years-by-islamic-dictators-obama-and-bush-both-support-2451790.html

Photo: An Egyptian Business woman lashed 300 times after falling out with a Saudi Princess

An Egyptian business woman, Najlaa Wafa, was sentenced to 500 lashes and five years in prison after allegedly falling out with a Saudi Princess. The Egyptian victim has only been named recently, but her case was reported by Egyptian media, while angry Egyptians launched campaigns on social media websites, calling on the new Egyptian President, Mohamad Morsi, to stop the Saudi authorities from “completing the sentence” through applying the last 200 lashes. The above photo has been taken after the first 300 lashes.
According to an Egyptian report, Najlaa was arrested on the 30th of May, 2009; she went through four days of harsh interrogation before being transferred to a prison where she spent 20 months without trial.  On the 14th of June 2011, she was sentenced to 5 years in prison and 500 lashes.
Last May, the Saudi authorities started the execution of the lashing sentence. Every week, Najlaa received 50 lashes for 6 weeks. She suffers from a deviation in her vertebral column, which only makes things worse.

After the Arab Digest reported on the case, the LA Times blog wrote about it in detail. Wafa, originally a wedding planner, cashed a cheque from a Saudi princess but did not fulfill the conditions of an agreement to open up a restaurant in the kingdom.

FOUR WOMEN IMPRISONED FOR 13+ YEARS BY ISLAMIC DICTATORS OBAMA AND BUSH BOTH SUPPORT (BeforeItsNews.com post)

Back to Syriam, see also http://www.sana.sy/en/?p=33047

Bottom line: oil-rich and supporing U.S. empire? Saudis murder, lash, beat, behead women and are supported by Washington.

Secular Syria with legal protections for women undreamed of in the “women? they are not even allowed to drive” Saudi Arabia?

Washington wants to overthrow the Syrian government, even if it means supporting brutal extremeist fundamentalist “ultra Islamist” terrorists.

The contrast speaks for itself.

See also our important article The Hidden History of the Syrian Civil War