As Saudi Voting Ban Is Lifted, Driving Ban Gets Worse  Women in
Saudi Arabia got the right to vote in municipal elections this
week. But is this seemingly progressive decision just a way of
drawing attention away from rights Saudi women still don't have,
like driving?  A post on the Ms. blog bolsters this theory —
Trish Calvarese writes that the very day King Abdullah announced
the new voting law, "a woman named Najla al-Hariri was brought
in for questioning about her ongoing driving campaign by the
Authority of Prosecutors Committee." And although it's not
technically illegal for women to drive in Saudi Arabia, al-
Hariri will face trial in a few months. Meanwhile, the BBC
reports that a woman identified as Shema has just been sentenced
to ten lashes for driving. Ms. says Saudi Arabia is in the midst
of a driving "crackdown" — a source tells Calvarese "that there
seems to be a secret underground push by Saudi religious
authorities to detain and persecute any woman who drive[s] in
Saudi Arabia." The same sourc