“Only you can save my life” Saudi women and public protest on Twitter A Critical Discourse Analysis of emergency calls for protection or protest and the users’ responses in return.
Lina Alkowatly Malmö University, June 26, 2019 Media and Communication Studies: Culture, Collaborative Media, and the Creative Industries One-year Master Thesis (15 Credits) Spring, 2019 Supervisor: Dr. Temi Odumosu Examiner: Dr. Erin Cory
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Abstract
Since the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, Twitter has proven to be a useful mobilization tool for citizens within the relatively closed societies of the Arab world. Twitter affirms that unheard voices can now be heard and the claims on social and political practices are being exposed to public discussion. Within this debate, women’s right’s issues have floated to the surface. In societies like Saudi Arabia, a culture of modesty and conservatism exists, and the implication of male guardianship law restricts the ways in which women can participate in the public sphere. Twitter has provided a medium for challenging this culture. Here, the contradictions inherent in restrictions on Saudi women are being renegotiated, and there is a new landscape of social activism in the kingdom. This thesis sheds some light on these issues by studying tweets created by one online protester, Rahaf Mohammed Al-Qunun, as a case study. Her use of Twitter during the whole experience of fleeing from her family stimulated many responses from the Twitter community, and some users helped to facilitate her escape. Focusing on a selection of Al-Qanun’s tweets and responses to them by Twitter users, this thesis uses quantitative Content Analyses to address the large data sets, in combination with Critical Discourse Analysis. This is complemented by the feminist scholarship and theorization on publicness and privateness for Middle Eastern women.
Key words: Critical Discourse Analysis, Saudi Women, Twitter, Private and public Sphere, Online Protest, Saudi Arabia.
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Table of Contents Abstract ...... 2 1 Introduction ...... 5 1.1 The background Story ...... 5 1.2 Research Questions and Contribution to the field ...... 6 1.3 Overview ...... 6 2 Literature Review ...... 8 2.1 Social media &Twitter in the Arab Region ...... 8 2.2 Saudi women on Twitter ...... 9 3 Theoretical Frame Work ...... 11 3.1 Critical Discourse Analysis ...... 11 3.1.1 The notions of critical, ideology and power ...... 12 3.1.2 CDA in new media & Public Sphere ...... 13 3.1.3 Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis...... 14 3.1.4 CDA Analytical framework ...... 14 3.2 Conceptual framework of public and private spheres ...... 15 4 Methodology ...... 17 4.1 Data Collection ...... 19 4.2 Preparing the data ...... 19 4.2.1 Main Tweets: ...... 19 4.2.2 Tweet Replies: ...... 19 5 Ethical considerations ...... 20 6 Data Analysis ...... 21 6.1 The calls ...... 22 6.1.1 Pre Asylum Calls, ...... 22 6.1.2 Post-Asylum Calls, ...... 23 6.2 The Responses ...... 25 6.2.1 Responses to the themes ...... 26 6.2.2 Referential and Nominalization ...... 27 6.2.3 Predicational strategy ...... 28 7 Discussion:...... 31 7.1 Patriarchy strikes back ...... 32 7.2 Hidden agenda ...... 32
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7.3 Limitations of the Study & future research ...... 33 8 Conclusion ...... 34 9 References ...... 36 9.1 Non-Academic References ...... 39 10 Appendix ...... 41
List of Figures, Tables, Images
Figure1. Dimensions of discourse analysis (Fairclough 2010:133)……….…………………15
Figure2. Gendered Distribution…………………………………………………………...….25
Figure3. Users Position………………………………………………………………….…...25
Figure4. Gendered position and distribution………………………………………….….…..25
Table1. Gendered position & distribution according to themes…………………………...…26
Table2. Percentage of Users’ position & distribution according to calls theme……………..27
Table3. Number of Texts position & distribution according to calls theme…………………27
Table 4. Predication messages according to gender…………………………………...……..29
Image1. Tweet that launched the Twitter campaign #Voting_with_their_feet………...…….24
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1 Introduction
‘‘I was not treated respectfully by my family and I was not allowed to be myself and who I want to be. As you know in Saudi Arabia, this is the case for all Saudi women except for those that is fortunate enough to have understanding parents, they can’t be independent and they need approval of their male guardian for everything, any woman who thinks of escaping or escapes will be at risk of persecution.’’
-Rahaf Mohammed Al-Qunun, 2019
1.1 The background Story
In the evening of Saturday, 5th January 2019, a desperate situation began to unravel on a newly created Twitter account. Fleeing her Saudi family in Kuwait, 19-year-old Rahaf Mohammed Al-Qunun sent out a series of tweets pleading for help from an airport hotel room in Bangkok. She claimed that she ran away from her family, who consistently was abusing her. At the time she had 24 followers. The fear and desperation she conveyed through the tweets drew sympathy and support from the Twitter community. Tweets carrying the #SaveRahaf hashtag gained momentum, and by mid-Sunday afternoon, it was in more than half a million tweets, according to Twitter. An unknown teenager from Saudi Arabia that no-one had ever heard of had gone from 24 followers to more than 27,000 in less than 24 hours (Chen& Lin, 2019). Her calls for help on Twitter reached Human rights organizations and also attracted the attention of The Canadian legal authorities who took action to help the girl in defending her right to live with free will.
The Twitter community began to engage more closely with Rahaf’s account after mainstream live news broadcasted about her entire story. This news coverage gave credibility to her calls for help. At a critical point during her escape, Rahaf locked herself in the airport hotel and refused all attempts made by the Thai police to capture her, under pressure by the Saudi authorities who demanded she is sent back to her family in Saudi Arabia. The tweets she sent during this experience were the only way for her to communicate with the outside world. Her calls for help were spread by Twitter users either by launching the hashtag #Saverahaf, retweeting her tweets or tagging the UNHCR Twitter accounts, asking them to find solutions to save her life. A few hours later that tweet caught the attention of Human Rights Watch, Asia deputy director, Phil Robertson, who eventually demanded through his Twitter account for quick action.
Rahaf was able to take things into her own hands by successfully mobilizing a solid online campaign to protect herself. She has utilized from the platform’s socio-technical characteristics to construct online interaction that would help to deploy her messages. After she was granted asylum in Canada, she continued with the same Twitter account to send protest calls now on behalf of other Saudi women. Now she is taking the role of an online feminist activist trying to raise awareness for Saudi women’s rights. Driven by this news story and considering the perspective of media and communication studies, the focus of this
5 thesis will be on tweets that have protesting features on Twitter. Such tweets are understood here as “calls” for help, recognition, action, or support. 1.2 Research Questions and Contribution to the field
In this thesis, I will work on identifying the discursive tools, emotional registers, and choice of language that were used in Rahaf Mohammed Al-Qunun’s tweets to stimulate responses from the public sphere. Then I will work on tracing the responses according to the dominant context of the calls. The messages will be analyzed using the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis as proposed by Fairclough, in combination with feminist theory specific to the context of the Middle East.
My research questions are:
1. What discourse themes emerge from the corpus of a Saudi teen’s emergency calls on Twitter? 2. What do the response tweets reveal about different perspectives on Saudi women’s rights?
The posed study presents an in-depth examination in the fields of CDA, which can have broader implications for media and communication studies. Moreover, it provides a basis for the social significance of Twitter as an (inter)discursive tool for social activism. Furthermore, the study demonstrates the extent to which the platform has helped to cover the discussion of such social phenomena in Saudi Arabia represented in multiple voices and positions.
The uniqueness of Saudi women’s situation presents a very interesting case study, derived from their presence and yet non-presence in the public sphere (Hamdan, 2005:45). Thus, I argue that as long the Saudi women continue to organize for social change, scholars should examine how their messages are constructed and interpreted in public. Besides, it is crucial to explore how women’s issues are discussed against the conservative background, where a fast- developing country like Saudi Arabia is trying to assert its place on the global map and yet maintain its Islamic and cultural values.
1.3 Overview
Dichotomous conceptions of the public and private sphere, which emerged out of colonial encounters, have combined with older repertoires to create a volatile and complex reality for Middle Eastern women today (Thompson, 2003:53). Women’s inequality in the Arab world is associated with culture in those societies, subjugating them to second-class citizens based on gender and dictates of the patriarchal establishment (Odine, 2013:167). The gender ideologies articulated in Saudi society can be attributed to traditional and socio-economic values gained legal force by being associated with Islamic teaching (Hamdan, 2005:45). Moreover, The Saudi government has historically used aspects of religion to justify the unequal treatment of women. ‘‘One of the main reasons given for why women need ‘extra’ rules of governance deals with aspects of modesty and protecting the image of women as chaste and obedient’’ (Chaudhry, 2014:950).
A quiet revolution is slowly empowering women to demand more rights and inclusion in social and political life. Internet use empowers people by increasing their feelings of security,
6 personal freedom, and influence. This effect is particularly positive for women (Castells, 2012). Women in the Arab region have taken advantage of the proliferation of media activities to serve their many causes. ‘‘Blogs are part of media strategy adopted by women to portray their abilities and narrow the inequality heaped on them’’ (Odine, 2013:177). As pointed out by (Guta & Karolak, 2015), approximately half of Saudi blogs are written by women aged between 18 and 30 years old. Given the shield of anonymity, Saudi women have also found social media a perfect place to express themselves, which would have been disallowed in the public spheres (116).
Overall, the emergence of the social media has enabled increasing numbers of women to share their stories and analysis, raise awareness and organize collective actions, and discuss difficult issues across cultural, geographical, and generational lines (Martin & Valenti, 2012:6). This has also enabled a new wave of feminists to communicate with a wider audience and draw attention to women’s causes, as well as engage in and influence the public sphere (Alsahi, 2018:298). For Saudi women’s issues, in particular, some researchers have argued that without the existence of Twitter, the small but notable improvements to women’s inclusion in Saudi society may not have emerged (Chaudhry, 2014:957). The online world has become an area of choice for Saudi women to experience a nonrestrictive lifestyle.
The starting point for Twitter’s potentials to host online protest activities followed the Arab Uprisings of 2011. Some media critics even went so far as to describe Arab Spring events as the ‘‘Twitter Revolutions’’ or ‘‘Facebook Revolutions’’ because of the role that social media played in ‘‘the coordination of mass protests, communication of real-time images and up-to- date information, or processes of contagion across the Arab region’’ (Al-Jenaibi, 2016: 65). Also, since the beginning of the Arab Spring, waves of democratizing movements in the Arab World have brought Muslim women to the focus of Western news media again (Dastgeer& Gade, 2016:433). In light of that, a growing number of Saudi women have reclaimed the use of social networking platforms such as Twitter for disseminating their gender-focused claims and demanding social reforms via dedicated hashtags over Twitter and media outreach campaigns (Alsahi, 2018:299).
Many Twitter protest activities preceded the incident of Rahaf Mohammed on Twitter for the sake of women’s rights issues. In particular the male guardianship law, which refers to ‘‘a set of social and legal restrictions that legally binds every Saudi woman, regardless of her age, to the authority of a male relative — normally a father or husband — who is effectively her legal guardian’’ (Alsahi, 2018:303). For instance, in 2011, Twitter hashtag #women 2drive gained significant momentum within Saudi Arabia within the context of male guardianship, where women were banned from driving (Choudary, 2014: 953, Guta & Karolak, 2015:117). In 2012, #SaudiWomenRevolution (Al-Jenaibi, 2016: 67). In 2016, #TogetherToEndMaleGuardianship, #StopEnslavingSaudiWomen, #IAmMyOwnGuardian. In 2017 the account @FreeKsaWomen (Alsahi, 2018:303,304). In sum, the cyber protests signify a window of change in Saudi society thanks to the different tools provided by new media (Khondker, 2011: 678).
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2 Literature Review
Previous researches have discussed the use of social media by Saudi women in order to advance their personal and political causes, and explored the role of Twitter in delivering these causes to the broader public. Many analytical methods have been employed to understand the implications of social media communications, on both societal changes and governmental policies. Several types of research highlighted the pervasiveness of Twitter in the Saudi digital sphere (Al-Rawi, 2014), its impact on public discourse and questioned whether it could affect the current regimes in the Arabian Gulf (Al-Jenaibi, 2016). Others have discussed the possibility for the platform to enable and sustain the feminist movement activities and if Twitter promotes any social progress (Chaudhry, 2014). Moreover, one of the articles has studied the use of social media by Saudi women for negotiating and expressing their identity (Guta & Karolak, 2015).
This thesis draws on such interdisciplinary scholarship to gain insight into the ways Saudi women have utilized social media platforms and navigated their affordances; specifically for debating their gendered issues in public. The following discussion examines the way users position themselves within the discourses they invoke in these debates. Through an examination of relevant scholarship, I will explore how Twitter has become implicated as a political tool in Saudi Arabia, and the ways Saudi women are participating in new public spheres by way of social media platforms. 2.1 Social media &Twitter in the Arab Region
Radical use of social media during the Arab spring in 2011 has been widely discussed in media scholarship. Social media had a pivotal role in the uprisings ‘‘but were not a consequence of, social media’’ (Rane & Salem 2012:109). The social media facilitated quick communication and the transfer of information. Moreover, it raised the awareness of the ongoing events to the local and global audience. Rane and Salem (2012) state that the protesters used the platforms to organize the demonstrations, ‘‘Social media also enabled protesters to function as citizen journalists by disseminating information about the protests and the responses of police and security forces and transmitting news, photos, and videos to mainstream media for wider dissemination’’ ( ibid.,103).
In her article, “The Twitter Revolution in the Gulf Countries,” Badreya Al-Jenaibi discusses the impact social media has on public discourse in Arab nations and how it affects regimes in the Arabian Gulf. She highlights the fact that ‘‘although there were no staged protests in these very conservative contexts, social media has been revolutionary in society” (2016, 62). She further states that even though Saudi Arabia now has the largest growing Twitter community of all the nations in the Arabian Gulf (ibid., 65), the new censorship roles in the country can restrict the use of the platform, ‘‘People should not make the mistake that the new communication freedoms are without costs. People who blog or post on Twitter are still taking risks if they go too far in their social criticism’’ (ibid., 66).
Al-Jenaibi credits social media role in the Gulf countries, asserting that ‘‘the social media, specially Twitter, became a main media role that delivers the public needs and discourses in the Arab countries. It breaks the limited public freedom in the Arab world’’ (ibid., 70). Her empirical data present that the social media in Saudi Arabia has allowed certain issues to be highlighted that would have never been discussed in traditional mainstream media. She
8 further states ‘‘Many young people in the kingdom feel like they finally have a voice, one that has some meaning’’ (ibid., 67)
Similar to Al-Jenaibi (2016), Chaudhry (2014) argues that among various social media platforms that can be analyzed, Twitter, ‘‘particularly in countries with strict media censorship laws’’ has the potential to promote social change through this social medium which also ‘‘can impact the political discourse.’’ (943,944). Chaudhry states that in response to that, several countries have begun to censor access to Internet technology; ‘‘Twitter’s power to mobilize citizens and demand social change worries other authoritarian governments who feel their reign also may be at risk of an uprising from their people’’ (ibid., 944). Saudi Arabia also attempted to regulate the activity of its people online. Chaudhry mentions that the Saudi authorities have increasingly become suspicious of online activity done by influential bloggers on Twitter and blogs. The kingdom considered some of the content written on these sites to be a deviant activity under the banner of the Saudi Internet rules (ibid., 949). As a result, she states that ‘‘the use of Twitter and other ICTs will have limited success in promoting change’’ (ibid., 956).
Ahmed Al-Rawi (2014) argues that the events of the Arab Spring led to several reforms in the Arab world and facilitated the creation of feminist movements which create a collective secular identity for the members of these movements (1147). In his study, he investigates three online feminist movements which published on Facebook and Twitter that are focused on Women’s freedom and supporting gender equality in the Arab world. All three movements are representative of how online social activism can attract wide public attention, gather support, and possibly lead to ‘‘offline’’ protests. Al-Rawi usefully frames this digital space of interaction as a ‘‘networked public sphere’’ that allows activists and others involved or opposed to these feminist movements to meet and interact (ibid., 1153). The results of his study also show that these movements sometimes face fierce resistance from Islamists who believe that their religion is under attack. 2.2 Saudi women on Twitter
Among those who are most vocal in sharing their experiences and networking their desires online are Saudi women, ‘‘who, for the first time in the history of the country, have a vehicle to voice their opinion on various issues’’ (Chaudhry, 2014:950). She also argues that some of the social advances for women are an indirect result of a number of online protests that emerged on Twitter, ‘‘placing local and global pressure on the Saudi Arabian government to reevaluate the treatment of women’’ (952). Chaudhry demonstrates an example of Twitter protest campaign #Women2Drive; granting women the right to drive was at the centre of the protest campaign and the trending topic. She further states that this campaign was symbolic of the general problems faced by Saudi women, such as the implication of the male guardianship law. This online campaign generated both local and global interest in the status of women in Saudi Arabia (ibid.).
Huda Alsahi argues that ‘‘Twitter provides alternative structures to absorb women’s mobilization efforts and claims that circulate through it’’ (2018:304). In the same article, she talks about the Twitter campaign that was launched in July 2016, which demanded the end of the persistent male guardianship system. Alsahi also maintains that Twitter could play a
9 critical role in the emergence and maintenance of women’s movements, including those that are in a state of abeyance;
‘‘Twitter-based ad-hoc abeyance networks could be used to mimic certain bureaucratic organizing functions, while serving as the connective tissue, binding multiple social actors who may or may not know each other in person […] nevertheless, they agree to circulate content and adopt discourses related to the issue at stake’’ (ibid. , 316).
Guta and Karolak (2015) have investigated how Saudi women employed social media to negotiate and express their identities and granting their voice and agency. They argue,
The internet creates a space where women have equal access, and they are able to contribute to the public sphere in ways that are not possible outside of the virtual world where they are always regarded as women, beings subordinate to men […] new technologies and new media brought new realities to women lives, especially in patriarchal societies (117).
Guta and Karolak’s study reveals that the freedom this platform gives to women can also be limited, ‘‘as this custom, which is applicable to virtually every aspect of public life, is also valid online’’ (ibid., 120). They further state that Saudi women utilize from the autonomy the platform gives to its users, the absence of gatekeepers/administrators and with Twitter protection of individual privacy, to negotiate the boundaries imposed on them by cultural and societal rules. Guta and Karolak state that Saudi women are able to make their choices and employ “tactics” to express themselves and negotiate their identity such as: using nicknames, concealing their personal images, using first names only and using multiple accounts is also popular among participants in order not to be identified by their family names (ibid.,115- 120).
Although scholarship discussing the spread of the new media technology insists that it has created a new public sphere for women’s deliberation, Philip Tschirhart (2014) further argues that it also provided insight into the emergence of what he terms “Saudi-Islamic feminism.” He introduces three vastly different forms of emerging Islamic feminist scholarship in the region: (a) secular feminists ‘‘contend that religion has no place in public life. Their struggle is mainly defined in political terms and the access to basic freedoms is a must’’ (4). (b) Islamist feminists ‘‘seek to redefine religious texts claim that feminism and Islam are redundant concepts within the 'true' Islamic paradigm. They believe that authentic interpretations of the Qur'an justify the fair treatment of women in society’’ (ibid.). (c) The Islamic feminists ‘‘are located between the leftist secular feminists and the conservative Islamists’’ (ibid.). Tschirhart highlights the fact that unlike feminist movements elsewhere, Saudi-Islamic feminism calls are not revolutionary, but are instead rooted in discourses of religious righteousness (ibid., 7).
Scholars claim that social media platforms can alter national and international political structures. They have long debated the effectiveness of the platforms to rise, transform, influence, and shape activism and movements across the Arab societies. Twitter, in particular, has allowed direct engagement of women in the Saudi public sphere. They have the tool to
10 advocate gender-equality and broader human rights. Accordingly, Twitter enables Saudi women to rework feminist discourses according to their own cultural and religious principles.
3 Theoretical Frame Work
3.1 Critical Discourse Analysis
This thesis will be studying emergency protest messages sent by a Saudi young woman on Twitter, and a selection of responses to them by other users of the platform. It, therefore, draws on Critical Discourse Analysis as both a theoretical framework and a method. This area of applied linguistics, which has variously been taken to be a paradigm, a method, and an analytical technique, was originally known as Critical Language Studies (Billig, 2003). Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is “a problem-oriented interdisciplinary research program, subsuming a variety of approaches, each with different theoretical models, research methods and agendas” (Wodak, 2011: 38). CDA has become one of the most influential and visible branches of discourse analysis since its emergence in the 1980s (Blommaert & Bulcaen, 2000). It is considered a social approach to analysis, as it is used exclusively to uncover patterns and messages in the discourse, which can thus lead to influencing human behavior (Pafford & Matusitz, 2017: 276). CDA became an important form of communicative analysis after the 1989 publishing of Norman Fairclough's Language and Power. Because of that, I derive my understanding of CDA mostly from the work of Fairclough, In particular, I take up and adapt his definition of Critical Discourse Analysis as ‘‘systematic transdisciplinary analysis of relations between discourse and other elements of the social process’’ (Fairclough, 2013: 10).
CDA has its origins in textual and linguistic analysis, and it necessitates a close and detailed analysis of texts. Fairclough defined the written form of the language ‘‘texts’’ as social spaces in which two fundamental social processes simultaneously occur: cognition and representation of the world, and social interaction (1995:6). Moreover, he also states that “Language use – in any text – is always simultaneously constitutive of (1) social identities (2) social relations and (3) systems of knowledge and belief” (1995b:55). This means that ‘‘any interpretation of discourse should be based on the text’s lexical and grammatical choices, which are placed and considered in the pragmatic context of the text. CDA aims to reveal the social, societal, political and economic assumptions in discourses and texts’’ (Vaara, Sorsa, & Pälli, 2010:688). CDA takes an interest in the ways in which linguistic forms are used in various expressions and manipulations of power. Wodak & Meyer (2001) argues that ‘‘Power is signalled not only by grammatical forms within a text, but also by a person's control of a social occasion by means of the genre of a text’’ (11).
Furthermore, CDA offers interpretations of the meaning of texts rather than just quantifying textual features and deriving meaning from this. It ,therefore, situates what is said or written in the context in which it occurs, and argues that textual meaning is constructed through an interaction between producer, text, and consumer rather than simply being ‘‘read off’’ the page by all readers in precisely the same way (Richardson, 2007:15). Additionally, CDA explicates how linguistic features of texts, political and media, on a micro-level propagate a certain worldview as common sense on a macro-level (van Dijk, 1998); or using Fairclough words, ‘‘the critical approach has its theoretical underpinnings in views of the relationship
11 between ‘micro’ events and ‘macro’ structures which see the latter as both the conditions for and products for of the former, and which therefore reject rigid barriers between the study of the ‘micro’ and the study of the ‘macro’ ’’ (2010: 31).
CDA consists of the terms ‘‘discourse’’ and ‘‘critical.’’ I will start by introducing what the concept of ‘‘discourse’’ means. From Widdowson’s perspective, texts can be written or spoken and must be described in linguistic terms and terms of their intended meaning. Discourse, as text in context, is defined by its effect. He argues that discourse “is the pragmatic process of meaning negotiation, and text, its product” (2004: 8). Fairclough defines discourse as ‘‘semiotic ways of constructing aspects of the world (physical, social or mental) which can generally be identified with different positions or perspectives of different group of social actors’’ (2010: 232). He further states that,
Discourse is commonly used in various senses including (a) meaning-making as an element of the social process, (b) the language associated with a particular social field or practice (e.g., ‘political discourse’), and (c) a way of construing aspects of the world associated with a particular social perspective (e.g., ‘neo-liberal discourse of globalization’) (ibid., 230).
3.1.1 The notions of critical, ideology and power
In what sense is CDA critical? CDA is naturally rooted within Critical Theory, a paradigm developed in the last three decades, ‘‘whose critical impetus originates in the Frankfurt School, especially Habermas’’ (Tenorio, 2011:187). Scholars who situate themselves within the CDA traditions often separate their work from other forms of “non-critical” discourses analyses by arguing that ‘‘their analyses move beyond description and interpretation of the role of language in the social world, toward explaining why and how language does the work that it does’’ (Rogers et al., 2005:369). Tenorio (2011) also states that the scope of CDA is not only language-based. Affirming that its ‘‘critical perspective’’ attracts scholars and activists whose concern lies with ‘‘unveiling patterned mechanisms of the reproduction of power asymmetries’’ (187). From the same regard, Fairclough asserts,
It is moreover a ‘‘critical’’ approach to discourse analysis in the sense that it sets out to make visible through analysis, and to criticize, connections between properties of texts and social processes and relations (ideologies, power relations) which generally not obvious to people who produce and interpret those texts, and whose effectiveness depends upon this opacity (2010, 131).
As noted, the relation between language, ideology, and power is quite significant. For CDA, ‘‘language is not powerful on its own, but it gains power by the use powerful people make of it’’ (Wodak & Meyer, 2001:10). This explains why critical linguistics often choose the perspective of those who suffer, and critically analyze the language use of those in power, who are responsible for the existence of inequalities and who also have the means to improve conditions (ibid.). This also corresponds with what Fairclough states,
Critical social research aims contribute to addressing the social ‘‘wrong’’ of the day (in a broad sense - injustice, inequality, lack of freedom, etc.) by analyzing
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their sources and causes, resistance to them and possibilities of overcoming them’’ (2010: 231).
In the case of this thesis and its research questions, the analysis of power relationships and the interconnectedness between language, culture, and religion present in discourse play an important role. The language use provides pieces of evidence to show identity, power, and social status. Accordingly, Wodak & Meyer (2001) provide their elaborations on the concept of power and language. They argue,
Power is about relations of differences, and particularly about the effects of differences in social structures. The constant unity of language and other social matters ensures that language is entwined in social power in a number of ways: language indexes power, expresses power, is involved where there is contention over and a challenge to power. Power does not derive from language, but language can be used to challenge power, to subvert it, to alter distributions of power in the short and long term (11)
Against this backdrop, ideology can also appear as closely related to power since power relations determine the nature of ideological assumptions. According to Burr (1995), the social practice is reflecting the attitudes and value systems of people and employed by them to promote a certain version of reality or ideology (2). Furthermore, ideology is also a ‘‘discursive or semiotic phenomenon’’ (Eagleton, 1991: 194); so discourses do ideological work (Fairclough et al., 2011). Fairclough (2010) argued that ideology continues to be a significant theme and category for CDA, ‘‘it is significant element of processes through which relations of power are established, maintained, enacted and transformed’’ (26). As well as, for CDA ideology is seen as ‘‘an important aspect of establishing and maintaining unequal power relations. Critical linguistics takes a particular interest in the ways in which language mediates ideology in a variety of social institutions’’ (Wodak & Meyer, 2001:10).
3.1.2 CDA in new media & Public Sphere
The thesis presents that Saudi women have harnessed the true potential of social media platforms to enhance their role in society and participate in the public debate. The platforms enable them to contribute to the public sphere (Guta & Karolak, 2015; Alsahi, 2018; Chaudhry, 2014). The concept of the public sphere remains a central analytical tool in modern society as it helps us to make sense of the relationship between the media and democracy (Iosifidis, 2011: 620). The functioning of the public sphere is understood as ‘‘a constellation of communicative spaces in society that permit the circulation of information, ideas, […] and also the formation of political will (i.e., public opinion)’’ (Dahlgren, 2005: 148). Fairclough definition of the public sphere is quoted here at length:
Public sphere is defined by on the one hand being based in a shared world, ‘‘a world in common,’’ and on the other hand by the emergence of ‘‘spaces of appearance’’ understood as both shared spaces and shared practices ‘‘whenever men are together in the manner of speech and action’’ (2010:397).
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The importance of the public sphere relies on the fact that it centers on the idea of participatory democracy. Accordingly, Fairclough argues that ‘‘the reconstruction of democracy as hinging upon the reconstruction of the public sphere.’’ From this regard, he asserts that the question of the public sphere is located at the center for critical social researches on politics (2010:394). Fairclough further states,
What CDA can contribute to these researches, is linguistically and semiotically sophisticated but still socially framed understanding of the properties of practices of public dialogue. This can help in evaluating existing practices and discerning potential alternatives from the perspective of the public sphere (ibid.).
3.1.3 Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis
Michelle M. Lazar (2007) combined Feminist Linguistics with CDA to form Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (FCDA). It introduces a nuanced analysis of the discourses that uphold a patriarchal social order that privileges men and disempowers women as social groups. As we have noted that the intention of CDA that it aims to ‘‘unravel different facets of power, social order, and its effects through text’’ (Caldas-Coulthard & Coulthard, 1995:15). Thus, the aim of feminist critical discourse studies, as Lazar states, is
to show up the complex, subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, ways in which frequently taken-for-granted gendered assumptions and hegemonic power relations are discursively produced, sustained, negotiated, and challenged in different contexts and communities (ibid.,142).
In light of the research topic, this thesis has been viewed with the lens of CDA and feminist theory. Accordingly, introducing the feminist critical discourse analysis will be relevant as it will also be taken into consideration throughout the process of data analyzing. The discursive practices appear in the responses to the tweets reveal more about the binary power relations (males/females, public/private). From this regard, the task then of feminist CDA is to:
[E]xamine how power and dominance are discursively produced and/or (counter-) resisted in a variety of ways through textual representations of gendered social practices, and through interactional strategies of talk. Also of concern are issues of access to forms of discourse, such as particular communicative events and culturally valued genres […] that can be empowering for women’s participation in public domains (Lazar, 2007:149).
3.1.4 CDA Analytical framework
According to the model of CDA proposed by Fairclough, processes of analysis are tied to three interrelated dimensions of discourse: integrating analysis of a text, analysis of processes of text production, consumption, and distribution, and sociocultural analysis of the discursive event (1995:23). Each of these dimensions requires a different kind of analysis, ‘‘text analysis (description); processing analysis (interpretation); social analysis (explanation)’’ (Fairclough As cited, Janks, 1997:329). The first textual level implies a close analysis of linguistic structures. While the interpretation in the second level brings the community and its behavior into play; ‘‘analysis of discourse in this respect is an analysis of what people do with texts.’’ Furthermore, the social analysis in the third level focuses on the broader context,
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‘‘how texts and discourses are used in situational and institutional contexts that they both index and construct’’ (Vaara et al., 2010:688).
Figure1. Dimensions of discourse analysis. (Fairclough 2010:133)
The theoretical insights gained from the preceding sections provide the opportunity to examine the texts of twitters through the lens of CDA. In a patriarchal society like the Saudi one, the analysis of gender and power relation requires the category of ideology as it is the relation between thoughts and believes with the social reality. Then ‘‘the analysis of ideology requires analysis of discourse’’ (Fairclough, 2010:26). Considering the three-dimensional framework that Fairclough introduced, the first step to CDA is the production of the text found on the tweets. I will start by zooming in to the text level and examine the linguistic choices that are made do describe the person or the action in both the calls and the responses.
At the level of discursive practices, I will analyze the nature of these calls and the perception and social expectation attached to them which were exemplified in the responses. Given the historical background, cultural and social context of Saudi women, tweets reveal more than just a message being sent to a social network it can reflect ideology, dominance, social power abuse presented in the texts and found on the tweets. Accordingly, what makes CDA suitable for this study is that ‘‘it foregrounds links between social practice and language and the systematic investigation of the connection between the nature of social processes and the properties of language texts’’ (Fairclough, 2010:131).
3.2 Conceptual framework of public and private spheres
Different claims concerning the relationship between public and private realms are central to feminist theory as a whole. This debate has intensely preoccupied the women’s movement and feminist research (Wischermann & Mueller, 2004: 184). In the popular imagination the concept of the private is marked by ‘‘particularity’’ as it is associated with the home, the family, the indoor, being thought of as a space that is personal, exclusive, selective and not open to all. In contrast to this, the public characterized by ‘‘universal norms’’, as it is linked to the outdoor, and in particular to the state, conceived of as a collective body of citizens (Mahajan, 2009:134). Furthermore, the public domain has been taken to include the
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‘‘political’’ while the private domain which is associated with the ‘‘personal’’; ‘‘This omission has motivated feminists to highlight and challenge the assumed divide between the public and the private’’ (Pepper, 2014:57).
Within the framework of this distinction, women were placed in the realm of the private, while men as citizens were seen as members of the public sphere (Mahajan, 2009:138). These are defined as political–apolitical, public-private, and male-female. Such dichotomies construct the abstract public citizen as male in the sense that he performs traditionally masculine roles and has male characteristics. He is universal, rational, and is concerned with the public interest. In contrast, the female, non-citizen’s concerns are private and domestic and she is emotional, irrational, and weak (Lister, 1997).
From this regard, the contradiction between the two spheres has served to entrench the patriarchal system. Moreover, the separation of the public and private promotes a set of dichotomies which disadvantage women. As they are assigned to the private sphere, their lives and work are, to a large degree, made invisible, while their experiences, interests, forms of organization, and action are excluded as not worthy of politics (Wischermann & Mueller 2004:185); The political process is biased towards the public sphere whilst largely ignoring the private realm (Harmer, 2016:853). From this regard, Pepper (2014) states that ‘‘assuming the public/private divide, and taking the family to be a purely private institution, has the consequence of shielding familial relationships, including those characterized by violence and domination’’ (Pepper, 2014:57).
In her essay on public and private in Middle Eastern women’s history, Elisabeth Thompson presents several interpretations from feminist scholars about the dichotomous conceptions of public and private in the local historical context. One of the interesting interpretations, the scholar uses the term ‘‘segregation’’ instead of ‘‘seclusion’’ to emphasize the nature of the male-female divide as a spatial separation rather than a dichotomy of public/private sphere (2003:54). Other scholar states that the prominent religious scholars sought to ward off social anarchy by urging Muslims to maintain a ‘‘clear division between the public domain of men and private domain of women’’ since women were perceived as a sexual threat to male authority and social order (ibid., 55). Thompson concludes that the scholarship reviewed in her essay clearly demonstrated how public and private gender boundaries in today’s Middle East are as much products of transnational discourses, politics, and economies as they are of internal crises in state formation or class identity (ibid., 65).
Other researchers argue that the concept of the private and public sphere is one of the dissimilarities between the Western and Arab feminism. Treacher and Shukrallah (2005) have sought to open out a space for reflection on feminist thinking and Arab women. In their article, they present some aspects of Arab women’s lives that are related to the variation of the concept. They state that there is a difference in Arab feminists’ preoccupations on the politic concern while in analyzing and engaging with the public slides into personal matters ‘‘for example, democratic elections, or the necessary conditions for health and welfare’’ ibid.,154).
Among the examples presented in the article, Treacher and Shukrallah (2005) argue that the notion of ‘‘family’’ to Arab feminists and women is considered to be necessary. Their participation in the public sphere should not contradict with that notion in a way that their activities should not interfere with their family duties,
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‘‘the Arab feminists and women are struggling to forge a space outside of the private sphere have to reinforce the importance of the family continually. Arab society demands affirmation that the traditional role for women as wives and mothers will not be jettisoned. Women negotiate this injunction by asserting their roles as wives and mothers to legitimize their claims’’ (ibid.154).
Furthermore, Treacher and Shukrallah argue that from this perspective, the Arab women relationships to family and masculinity cannot be challenged explicitly nor conflict with them, ‘‘To challenge publicly such essential notions is to disturb the social order’’ (ibid., 155)
The inclusion of women into the formal public sphere, as politicians and voters, has also meant that the boundaries between the public and the private, and the political and the personal, have become blurred (Harmer, 2016:853). Among other reason that allowed the topics from the private to appear on the public is the Internet. Over the last decade a number of media researchers have pointed to the possibility that the Internet's decentralized communications can enhance the public sphere (Dahlberg, 2001:1). The Internet does not only play an important role in bringing private topics into the public sphere, but it also leads to new communicative settings in which private individuals can make their voices heard much faster and with less editorial control than in print and electronic media (Landert & Jucker, 2010:1423), especially in light of the absence of an open media and civil society (Khondker, 2011:675). Moreover, Petros Iosifidis (2011) argues that this new technology has allowed the formation of a transnational or global public sphere, ‘‘the space for public discourse and the formation of public opinion increasingly take place at a transnational context that crosses national boundaries’’ (623).
As discussed earlier in this article, Saudi women utilize social media as a medium to participate in the public sphere, particularly in the instances where their physical involvement can be restricted due to the religious element of segregation and power limitation to the males in a so-called public arena; ‘‘In the Saudi kingdom, a limited women’s presence indicates the nation’s obedience to Islamic law’’ (Al-Rasheed, 2013). Social media platforms became avenues for Saudi women to gain public visibility and to network amongst themselves (Jarbou, 2018:323). For them, the unequal status is no longer an option. ‘‘they have, therefore, turned to the media to address socio-economic, cultural and political inequality’’ (Odine, 2013:168). Accordingly, this thesis provides an example of the Saudi women participation in the public sphere (with all the restrictions and limitation) through the social media platform, Twitter.
4 Methodology
This thesis will analyze tweets written and broadcast by the Saudi teen, Rahaf Mohammad, who used Twitter as an emergency protest tool to reach the public audience. These tweets and the message of the response sent to them, represent my core data set. The data is approached by conducting Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) coupled with quantitative Content Analysis, ‘‘methods triangulation,’’ to increase the relevance and validity of research findings (Layder, 2013).
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Critical Discourse Analysis is carried out by following Fairclough’s framework that describes the method as ‘‘systematic transdisciplinary analysis of relations between discourse and other elements of the social process’’ (Fairclough, 2013: 10). Discourse is underlined by how particular cultures and people define meaning for their social existence. Understanding discourse is ‘‘a culture-specific exercise that attempts to unlayer the hierarchies of power that are invariably represented in how meaning is constructed’’ (Nagar, 2016:259). From this regard, the data has been analyzed pragmatically; the interpretation of the tweets is determined by their context: time, place and manner. Practically speaking, analyzing the linguistic pattern in Rahaf’s tweet will depend on her social situation while sending the tweets. At the beginning of the incident, the calls were for seeking protection for a life- threatening situation. Then later on, after she was granted the asylum in Canada, the calls were to seek social progress for the issues of Saudi women.
Content Analysis is one of the most important research techniques in social science. It acknowledges that society is enacted in the talk, texts and other modalities of communication and that understanding social phenomena cannot be achieved without understanding how language operates in the social world (Krippendorff, 2018: xii). Interpreting communication as texts in the contexts of their social uses distinguishes content analysis from other empirical methods of inquiry (ibid.). Accordingly, the method serves this thesis as it ‘‘uses a set of procedures to make valid inferences from text” (Weber, 1990). Hence, it can incorporate into this research design in conjunction with Critical Discourse Analysis that has the interest to offer interpretations of the meaning of texts. From this regard, combining the two methods helps to explore the influences on content, as well as to discover the content effects (Riff et al., 2013:33).
Content Analysis is an established social science methodology concerned broadly with ‘‘the objective, systematic, and quantitative description of the content of communication’’ (Baran, 2002:410). From this regard, Riff, Lacy & Fico, define Content Analysis as ‘‘the systematic assignment of communication content to categories according to rules, and the analysis of relationships involving those categories using statistical methods’’ (2013:3). Furthermore, it has been argued that approaching Content Analysis generates observations that are valid, rigorous, reliable, and replicable (Wright, 1986:125).
The method has the attractive features of being unobtrusive and being useful in dealing with large volumes of data. Considering the amount of material available on Twitter and would be used in this thesis, Content Analysis can provide an effective way to describe and summarize the content, since it remains an essential means of categorizing all forms of content (Riff et al., 2013:7). The goal of any quantitative analysis is to produce counts of key categories with a numerical process; a quantitative Content Analysis has as its goal a numerically based summary of a chosen message set (Neuendorf, 2017: 21). As well as, compressing many words of text, which have similar meaning or connotations, into fewer content categories based on explicit rules of coding (Stemler, 2001:8). Furthermore, the method involves a set of procedures that can be summarized in five steps drawing on Klaus Krippendorff book on Content Analysis (1980), which are followed in this thesis and can be seen in the following sections:
1) The researcher formulates a research question and/or hypotheses. 2) The researcher selects a sample. 3) Categories are defined for coding.
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4) Coders are trained, code the content, and the reliability of their coding is checked. 5) The data collected during the coding process are analyzed and interpreted. 4.1 Data Collection
For the type of data at hand, the unit of analysis most suitable for classification is the tweet, as it is directly related to the initial choice of topic and problem focus (Layder, 2013). Twitter allows users to engage in the exchange of 140-character messages known as tweets. The tweet can include images, videos, and texts, exchanging messages on Twitter includes the use of actions known as mentions, hashtags, and retweets. Users can also share the messages of other users in their account through an action known as a retweet. Users may also choose to follow users whose tweets will be delivered directly to their timeline. Providing Twitter characteristics in this stage is essential to understand the process of choosing the sample needed for this thesis.
The sample period starts from the 5th of January 2019 and ends on 11th of April 2019; this period covers all the aspects of the Saudi teen story from the first call for help until she was settled in Canada. The corpus of data consists of, randomly selected, 24 tweets of Rahaf Mohammad’s Twitter account, and the last 20 consecutive replies from each Tweet. After excluding retweets, tweets which have no texts (only images or emoji’s) and repeated tweets. All that is considered as a sample for analyzing; ‘‘researchers use representative subsets or samples of the population rather than examining all the members’’ (Riff, Lacy &Fico, 2013:46). The data is collected using the screenshots capture feature; I have extracted 504 texts from the Twitter account, which I compiled into an Excel document, each Excel sheet is organized accordingly to extract the needed data.
4.2 Preparing the data
4.2.1 Main Tweets:
The sample of data collected in this thesis covers the period between the 5th of January 2019 till the 11th of April 2019. The total number of the sampled tweets is 24 texts. The collected data covers the incident from day one from the story until she reached Canada and has granted the asylum and continued publishing in the account. All data extracted is registered in excel sheet that includes: (a) a column for the tweet (b) a column for the tweet number (c) a column for the datum and time (d) a column for linguistic terms and (e) a column for the tweet theme. In this thesis, the main tweets are identified by using the term ‘‘calls.’’ Furthermore, in the data analysis section, the tweets are referred to by giving sequence numbers based on their appearance on the appendix.
4.2.2 Tweet Replies:
The sampled 480 replies selected for analysis are only the texts written either in Arabic or English. I have excluded the replies written in other languages, replies with only images, any repeated text from the same user, the replies with only emoji’s, and the replies with only tagging. The replies texts have been extracted manually then compiled into an Excel document. Columns on the Excel sheet include: (a) a column for the main tweet, (b) a column for reply, (c) a column for reply number, (d) a column for the user name and ID; (e) a column for the datum and time (f) a column for the user’s gender (g) a column for user’s stance (h) a
19 column for linguistic pattern. For column (f) the gender of the users is identified according to the user’s name. In doing this, I checked how the Twitter users presented themselves in their accounts by looking at the names or ID, and bio. The accounts whose gender could not be identified are labeled as unknown. For column (g) the user’s stance is identified in responding to the main tweet by opposing it, supporting it, or neutral (unbiased). In this thesis, the tweet replies are identified by using the term ‘‘responses.’’ Furthermore, the users’ names are not mentioned in this thesis; they are referred to by numbers based on their appearance on the appendix.
5 Ethical considerations
All the data introduced in this thesis is approached objectively, trying to present the facts as they are without any personal intervention from the researcher or sympathy with any party. According to Collins (2010), ‘‘the researcher feelings and personal view of the world should not enter into the research’’ (42). Moreover, describing the methodology and the process of the analytical framework confirms the validity of the findings. The familiarity of the political and ideological discourse in the Arab region initiated from my ethnic and cultural background, which is along with being a native Arabic language speaker, have allowed tracing and understanding the detailed, in-depth textual analysis. Additionally, all these have simplified selecting the appropriate conceptual framework that corresponds with the Middle Eastern context approached in the thesis. From this regard, this proficient involvement with the research gives me the role of expert that Bliakie (2009) describes as the researcher who approaches the problem armed with the relevant related knowledge from previous research findings; add to that being familiar with the proposed causes. All these social scientific concepts and ideas influence the way the research problem and research questions are formulated, and the ways in which answers are sought (11).
Dealing and collecting data from a social media platform like Twitter present several ethical pointers. The platform has blurred the lines between personal and copyrighted content with the presence of social interactions that are going on, and content is being disseminated. According to Layder, all social research requires adherence to ethical principles that govern the conduct of researchers. He further states that those principles are instrumental in safeguarding the rights and well-being of research subjects (2013). Furthermore, in order for the research to result in a benefit, it must be conducted with the ethical practice that is often defined as ‘‘doing no harm’’ (Somekh & Lewin, 2004:56).
The sample of tweets collected for this research is captured from Rahaf Mohammad Twitter account, which is a public account (all published contents are accessible to the public). According to Twitter privacy policy (2018), Twitter is public, and Tweets are immediately viewable and searchable by anyone around the world. The policy also states,
Most activity on Twitter is public, including your profile information, your time zone and language, when you created your account, and your Tweets and certain information about your Tweets like the date, time [...] The lists you create, people you follow and who follow you, and Tweets you Like or Retweet are also public.
Therefore, based on these discussions and because of the public nature of Twitter, no informed consent is required.
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Alongside with the tweets produced by Rahaf Mohammad, my random data sample includes the texts published by public users replying to original tweets. They are indicated in this paper by numbers, as I prefer to make participants anonymous for the protection of their identity. The principle ‘‘doing no harm’’ is applied in this paper by acting and writing in a way that does not expose users for criticism, prosecution or mockery —Taking into consideration that the interpretations of what constitutes harm vary among the researchers and contexts.
6 Data Analysis
As stated earlier in this thesis, Fairclough (1995) argues that discourses should be simultaneously analyzed at three levels: textual (micro-level textual elements), discursive practices (the production and interpretation of texts) and social practice (the situational and institutional context) (23). Accordingly, all the collected data in the thesis is investigated at the level of textual analysis and discursive practice. Likewise, what is useful about CDA is that it enables the analyst to focus on the signifiers that make up the text, the specific linguistic selections, their juxtapositioning, their sequencing, and their layout (Janks, 1997:329). From this regard, the tweets and the replies are explored using three elements: (a) Stance taking, (b) Referential & Nominalization Strategies, (c) Predicational strategies.
Linguistically, digital media users use a variety of approaches to engage with readers/followers and to mobilize them to act. Accordingly, the proposed elements will help in detecting those approaches. Both Referential & Nominalization, and Predicational strategies will help to reveal the different perspectives found in the responses to the Saudi teen’s calls. The stance taking tool will assist in identifying the themes that emerged in those calls. To sum up, a grand analysis of all significant findings collected can help to focus on the role that discourses play, both locally and globally, in society (Fairclough et al., 2011).
Stance-Taking:
It is a linguistic tool used to convey emotion, reinforce validity, or evaluate knowledge, categorized respectively as effective, evaluative/judgment, and epistemic (Strauss & Feiz, 2014). The use of language in any single tweet leads to dialogic interaction between the participators. Any tweet creates a dialogue to present temporary stance, and the change of the stance leads to change in the reader’s perception and reaction. A stance, as defined by DuBois (2007) is ‘‘a public act by a social actor, achieved dialogically through overt communicative means, of simultaneously evaluating objects, positioning subjects, and aligning with other subjects, with respect to any salient dimensions of the sociocultural field’’ (220). Exploring the use of stance in the main tweet can provide a perspective on how the language is used to create emotional responses from users and assert the validity of claims.
Referential &Nominalization:
The referential strategy provides a basis for understanding the relationship between readers with other social actors who are referred to in the texts. Fairclough (2003) argues that the way that people named can have a significant impact on the way in which they are viewed. Referential strategies as part of discursive strategies identify “features or characteristics selected and foregrounded to represent the group and frequently involves negative
21 evaluation” (Blackledgeled, 2009). Practically speaking, this strategy enables me to know what lexical choices are used by users to refer to Rahaf, either as an individual, collectivized, as a generic type, objectivized, anonymized, or described by using new lexical terms.
Predicational strategy:
This strategy is an aspect of linguistics analysis, and it is used to know what traits, characteristics, qualities, and features are attributed to the social actor. Predicational strategy concerns with how a discourse producer uses ‘‘predications’’ to construct a positive-self or negative other-representation. This may be realized as stereotypical, evaluative attributions of negative and positive traits in the linguistic form of implicit or explicit predicates (Reisigl & Wodak, 2001: 45). Mainly, Predicational strategy realized by a specific form of reference, by attributes, by predicates or predicative nouns/ adjectives/pronouns, similes, metaphors and other rhetorical figures, by collocations, by explicit comparisons, by allusion, evocation, and presupposition/implication (ibid., 54). 6.1 The calls
The Twitter account for Rahaf Mohammad is still active until the date of preparing the thesis. Rahaf continues publishing in the account even after she was granted the asylum in Canada. From this regard, the current motivations for publishing in the account differ from the beginning of the incident when the calls were for the need for protection. Accordingly, I have decided to divide the 24 sampled tweets into two categories: the first category includes the tweets she posted before the asylum. The second category includes tweets after the asylum in Canada. Each of these categories includes 12 tweets. Dividing the tweets into two categories will help me to find the similarities in the texts, the lexical terms used in each category, and the stance applied in the tweets. With the help of the stance-taking tool, I identify the themes that have emerged from these calls. Later on in the thesis, I present how users are interacting with each theme.
6.1.1 Pre Asylum Calls,
This category includes 12 tweets that the Saudi teen posted before she was granted asylum. These texts cover the period between the 5th of January 2019 until the 8th of January 2019. The sampled data has been analyzed to identify the language used in this category. This can be interpreted in light of Fairclough’s idea that the language use provides pieces of evidence to show identity, social relation, and a system of knowledge and belief (1995b:55). Accordingly, the use of language in this category has been noted to be used by Rahaf to (a) describe her current status after escaping from her family, (b) reveal the consequences of the escape and (c) propose the solutions to save her life.
Examples of the tweets in pre asylum calls:
Tweet 2:
based on the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol, I'm rahaf mohmed, formally seeking a refugee status to any country that would protect me from getting harmed or killed due to leaving my religion and torture from my family.
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Tweet 8:
Hey I'm Rahaf. My father just arrived as I heard witch worried and scared me a lot and I want to go to another country that I seek asylum in But at least I feel save now under UNHCR protection with the agreement of Thailand authorities. And I finally got my passport back �❤�
Tweet 9:
For all countries that can help , we ask for urgent protection , only you can save my life. #saverahaf
Rahaf has used a set of linguistic terms in order to identify herself or to describe the emotional statement she is going through like ‘‘scared,’’ ‘‘forced’’ and ‘‘worried’’. The calls also show the repetition of using terms like ‘‘harmed,’’ ‘‘killed,’’ ‘‘tortured,’’ and ‘‘disappear’’ which are used to describe the consequences of her action and what would happen if she would be sent back to her family to Saudi Arabia. Moreover, to reinforce the veracity of these calls, Rahaf has stated that the only solution for her to escape this life threating situation is to be granted asylum. Accordingly, lexical terms like ‘‘Save my life,’’ ‘‘Asylum,’’ ‘‘protection,’’ ‘‘help,’’ and ‘‘UNHCR’’ can be seen 12 times in the tweets in this category. Rahaf, in this context, describes the reality of Saudi women when challenging the traditional ‘‘patriarchal social order’’ in the kingdom. This dialogue corresponds to Burr’s (1995) idea about the social practice that reflects the value system of people employed by them to promote a certain version of reality or ideology.
Moreover, in the tweets there were no direct mentioning of the status of Saudi women in general, giving an immediate declaration of her status in Saudi Arabia or stating what happened to her that prompted her to send these calls. In that way, she kept all the calls on an immediate and personal level, focusing on her own danger at the moment. Furthermore, the linguistic choice found on the calls has conveyed emotion and reinforced validity, and this leads to what Strauss & Feiz (2014) define as ‘‘the stance’’. From this point, I found that Rahaf took the self-defender stance. Besides, the theme that can be identified in the tweets is that the calls are considered for emergency protection and asylum. It is noteworthy here that Twitter community have reacted to the tweets in this theme and deploy the calls. This gives a proof about the role of the social media platform to bring the private topic into the public sphere and get them to be heard as it has been argued by Landert and Jucker (2010:1423), Dahlberg (2001:1) and Iosifidis (2011:623).
6.1.2 Post-Asylum Calls,
This category includes 12 tweets that Rahaf Mohammad posted after she was granted the asylum in Canada. Out of 12 tweets sampled, there were three posts with a direct mentioning of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi women with the accusation to the Saudi government of suppression of freedom. As in tweet (16), she states about ‘‘brutality and repression of the government,’’ and in the tweet (24) she argued ‘‘men in Saudi Arabia use their authority to ruin women’s lives’’. From this regard, she was also justifying her decision to leave her family like in tweets (18) and (20). These messages can be noted for the first time since she
23 made the Twitter account. Accordingly, Rahaf can be seen as representing the status of the Saudi woman who is oppressed under the applicability of the male guardianship law in Saudi Arabia. From CDA lenses, this discourse reflects the ideological assumption that is determined by power dominance, which also maintains the unequal power relations in the Saudi society, as seen by Wodak & Meyer (2001:10) and Lazar (2007:149) on the concept of power and language.
The rest of the tweets in this category indicate that the calls are sent to encourage the Saudi women to get their rights like using the words in tweet (14) ‘‘Fight and get your RIGHTS,’’ and in tweet (21) ‘‘You deserve to be happy. You deserve to live.’’ Moreover, in tweet (22), Rahaf has presented her support to the hashtag #Voting_with_their_feet, which was launched on Twitter to show rejection to the male guardianship law in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, in tweet (13), Rahaf has posted a response to one statement from the Saudi authorities about her where she has mocked that statement. The Saudi statement, found in the footage released by Thai immigration, shows Abdulilah al-Shouaibi, Saudi embassy charge d’affaires in Bangkok, complaining in a meeting with Surachate, Thailand’s immigration police chief, ‘‘When she arrived, she opened a new ‘Twitter’ account and her followers grew to 45,000 in one day,’’ he said in Arabic, ‘‘It would have been better if they had confiscated her mobile instead of her passport’’ (AFP., 2019). The use of language in these tweets and the choice of the lexical terms can be interpreted in light of Wodak & Meyer (2001:10) on how language is involved when there is contention over and a challenge to power, ensuring that language is entwined in social power.
Examples of the tweets in post- asylum calls:
Tweet 20:
“When injustice becomes a law, resistance becomes a duty”
Tweet 22:#Voting_with_their_feet
Image1. Tweet that launched the Twitter campaign #Voting_with_their_feet
In this category, calls have a more robust language; by declaring the reasons for the escape and including a direct accusation to the Saudi government of suppression of freedom. Moreover, the tweets include messages to raise public awareness on the Saudi women status in the kingdom. In sum, the choice of language in this category indicates how the linguistic features of texts on this micro level (the tweets) propagate a certain worldview on the macro level (Saudi society), seeing this through the eyes of Van Dijk (1998) and Fairclough (2010:31). In the post-asylum tweets category, I can find that the Rahaf here is taking the stance of online activist, and the theme that has emerged from those tweets identifies that the
24 calls are for emergency protest. Later on in the thesis, I will present how the change of the stance leads to a change in the readers’ perception and reaction. 6.2 The Responses
The corpus of responses consists of 480 texts gathered from the 24 tweets. The reactions of the users appear to be either in a supportive position of the tweets, opposed position, or have a neutral position. The linguistic choice that has been found in the texts indicated these positions. At that point, the use of Content analysis method, following the procedure of Krippendorff (1980), has facilitated categorizing the collected data, in order to create statistical forms from the total number of results. This section presents the distribution of users according to their position and gender. The results have indicated the different perspectives that the responses reveal about the calls and then they will be interpreted later on in the thesis.
17% 29% 28% 41% male Opposing female Supporting unkown Neutral 55% 30%
Figure2. Gendered Distribution Figure 3. Users Position
It can be seen in the diagram (Figure2), the percentage of users’ participation in the 24 tweets that had been sampled. From the 480 texts, 41% are male participators, 30% are female participators and 29% are unknown gender. The diagram in (Figure 3) presents the position of the users: 55% of the users are supporting the tweets that Rahaf had tweeted, 28% of the users are against and opposing the tweets and only 17% of the users have a neutral position.
Opposing Supportive neutral
22%
17% 16% 13%
8% 7% 6% 5% 5%
Male Female Unknown
Figure 4. Gendered position and distribution.
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(Figure 4) shows more detail about the gendered position and distribution. It illustrates the percentage of the participation according to the position. From the 41% male users were 13% of them opposing the tweets and 22% were supporting the tweets and the rest were neutral. The female users were 30% of the entire participators, and 8% of them were opposing, 17% supporting and 5% neutral. Lastly, we can find the unknown gender that consists of 29% of the total participators were 7% opposing, 16% supporting and 5% have a neutral reaction to the tweets.
Later on in the thesis, I will trace the users’ position according to the theme categories found on the main tweets. I use the linguistic tools suggested earlier to analyze how the Twitter calls have been perceived by the users who responded.
6.2.1 Responses to the themes
As mentioned earlier, tweets that Rahaf posted have two themes; pre asylum theme (calls for emergency protection /self-defendant stance), and post-asylum theme (calls for emergency protest/on-line activist stance). In this section, I will demonstrate the users’ reaction to each theme according to the stance that Rahaf had taken. Each theme category includes 240 texts from the responses.
Gender Male Users Female Users Unknown Users Theme pre post pre post pre post Opposing texts 13 47 3 37 5 30 Supporting texts 62 45 47 34 58 19 Neutral texts 17 14 15 9 20 5 Total texts 92 106 65 80 83 54 Table 1. Gendered position & distribution according to themes
(Table 1) illustrates the number of texts written by male, female, unidentified gender users in responding to the tweets that are posted in pre and post-asylum themes. The table also presents the total number of texts per gender in each theme.
For male users, it can be noted that they are more supportive of the pre asylum tweets, the total number of supporting texts are 62 texts then decreased to 45 texts. Moreover, they appear to be more opposing in the post-asylum theme, as the texts increased from 13 texts to 47 texts. The total participation for male users increased slightly in total participation. Also, male users participated more in post-asylum theme.
For the female users, the supporting texts decreased from 47 texts in pre asylum theme to 34 texts in post-asylum theme. What is interesting is that only three texts were opposing the tweets in pre asylum theme and then increased to 37 texts in the post-asylum theme. Female users participated more in post-asylum theme.
For the unknown category (unidentified gender), the supporting texts decreased from 58 texts in pre asylum theme to 19 texts in post-asylum theme. The opposing texts increased from 5 texts for the pre asylum tweets to 30 texts for the post-asylum tweets as well as the total participation decreased in the post-asylum theme.
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(Table 2) shows how much each group constitutes from the total texts coded for this study (480 texts). Moreover, (Table 3) presents the same results but by using the number of texts instead of the percentages. It can be seen that the negative users constitute 4% of the total texts posted in the pre asylum theme, then increased to be 24% in the post-asylum theme. The supportive users were 35% of the total replies that posted in the pre asylum themes then decreased to 20% for the post- asylum theme. The same applied to the Neutral users who participated in 11% of the total replies and posted in the pre asylum themes then decreased to 6% for the post-asylum theme.
Stance-taking Pre-asylum theme Post-asylum theme Opposing users 4% 24% Supportive users 35% 20% Neutral users 11% 6% Table 2. Percentage of Users’ position & distribution according to calls theme.
Stance-taking Pre-asylum theme Post-asylum theme Opposing texts 21 114 Supportive texts 167 98 Neutral texts 52 28 Table3. Number of Texts position & distribution according to calls theme.
Comparing (Table 1), (Table 2) and (Table 3) with (Figure 3), I can conclude that even if the majority of the responses, in general, are supportive, but this is because the majority of the supporting replies are to the calls tweeted in pre asylum theme. Likewise, the results show that the opposing responses increased significantly towards the calls in post-asylum them. In sum, the pre asylum theme gets more supporting responses, and the post-asylum theme gets more opposing responses.
6.2.2 Referential and Nominalization
The use of this strategy provides important elements in the study as they give a basis for understanding the relationship between the calls and the responses. The referential strategies are the way the people name or construct the target individuals and this way, following Fairclough’s idea, have an impact on how these individuals are viewed (2003). All this can expose the variations in the reaction that have taken up or negated the tweets. The findings reveal that the opponents have used negatives attributes when replying to the tweets, just as Blackledgeled (2009) has stated on referential strategy. Moreover, the reverse has happened in tweets from the tweets supporters.
The lexical terms found by the supportive group that are frequently used to refer to Rahaf Mohamad are: ‘‘strong,’’ ‘‘brave,’’ ‘‘warrior,’’ ‘‘heroine,’’ and ‘‘free’’. These terms have been used to praise her courage in escaping and admire the determination found in her calls. While the negative language found by the opposing group shows the frequency of use of similar lexical terms from different users to express a negative stance towards the calls and criticize the action. In their way of responding to the tweets, they refer to Rahaf by using metaphors, sarcasm, derogation, and irony words. The most frequently used terms are ‘‘immature,’’ ‘‘pathetic,’’ ‘‘cheap,’’ ‘‘trash,’’ ‘‘naïve,’’ ‘‘atheist’’ and ‘‘prostitute’’. In
27 analyzing these terms and looking at them from the FCDA viewpoint introduced by Lazar (2007), this referential language illustrates that these stereotypes as manifestations of the masculine hegemonic representation of women in Saudi society. Women are held responsible for the honor of their families. Family is considered as the central institution in society and a person’s social identity. Therefore, it is important for women to fulfill the expectations of the family in order to be accepted. And in simplest cases of non-compliance with the family rules and try to challenge them, women like Rahaf can be considered to be ‘‘cheap’’ ‘‘trash,’’ and ‘‘prostitute’’. It is noteworthy here that the negative Referential terms are used just one time in one reply written by a female user and the rest are by male users. However, the supportive Referential terms are used with the same frequency of usage between male and female users.
Example from the opposing group:
Tweet 16, user 310: أيتها الساذجة. يبيعون لك وهم الكالم. وبعت ألجل ذلك: عائلتك، وطنك، دينك. أكثر صفقة خاسرة ممكن يدخلها أي إنسان في عمره. Translation: You naïve. They sell you words of illusion. And you sold for that: your family, your country, your religion. The most lost deal a man can have in the entire life.
Example from the supportive group:
Tweet14, user 272:
You are the Heroine � ♀� and a model for all those women trapped by tradition and religion from North-West Africa to the Persian Gulf and beyond. Good Luck to You
6.2.3 Predicational strategy
Predication is considered as an important feature of textual analysis. To offer an analysis of this feature, each group has been analyzed separately. Following the idea of Reisigl & Wodak (2001:45) on the Predicational strategy, I have found that each group dealt with different themes that have been identified in the data and realized within the negative and positive traits found in the linguistic forms. This feature helped to see how the users have perceived the calls and described them. The Referential terms found earlier in the tweets facilitate the process of finding the predication messages in the tweets.
The opposing Group:
The study shows 135 texts with an opposing stance, 71 texts have assigned negative predication messages identified in three themes: Un-Saudi theme, non-religious (lack of faith) theme and conspiracy theme (see Table 4.). The predication messages are used more by male users. Moreover, it can be noted that 61 of these texts posted in response to the post- asylum tweets.
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Theme Un-Saudi Non-religious Conspiracy Gender Male Female Unknown Male Female unknown Male Female Unknown Total texts 9 7 6 14 9 4 11 6 5 Total 22 27 22 Table 4.Predication messages according to gender
The un-Saudi theme is the feature found by the opposing users to describe the act behind Rahaf’s calls. First, they define the claims that Rahaf sent about the oppression of women in the kingdom to be not accurate nor correct. Second, they consider the act of escaping the family and challenging them, like what Rahaf has done on public, to not commensurate with the Saudi tradition or religion. Therefore, they consider Rahaf as misrepresenting Saudi Arabia and Saudi women. Seeing this through the eyes of Fairclough (2010:232), these discourses reflect the traditional ‘‘patriarchal social order.’’ In which the Saudi women are expected to conform, keep the family together, and represent the country’s devotion to upholding traditional and religious values. Therefore, since independence means that an individual does not define themselves in relation to the group. Moreover, this theme also confirms the idea presented by Treacher and Shukrallah (2005:155) that ‘‘family’’ notion should not be challenged by women in the public sphere, as this can lead to disturbance of the social order.
Example of the predication message (Un-Saudi):
Tweet 16, user 303:
مفهومك للحريه من البدايه كان غلط كثير..توقفي عن انك تنشرين الكالم الكذب عن السعوديه حياتنا من افضل حياه الحمدهلل وامن غير عن كل الدول واالهم من ذا كله انهم دوله االسالم وتقولين وحشيه انتي وتفكيرك هو الوحشيه اهربي واخرسي عن السعوديه الترجعين بس التشوهين السمعه! Translation: From the beginning, you misunderstand the concept of freedom… Stop spreading lies about Saudi Arabia. Thanks god, we have the best life and more security than all other countries and the most important is that it is the Islam country. You are talking about brutality but the way you think is the brutality, Go away and shut up Saudi Arabia, don’t go back and don’t distort the reputation.
The second theme considers the calls to be contradicting with Islamic teaching. Twenty- seven texts from the 135 texts present the predication message as non-religious. For them, the protest calls are either non-religious act, have happened because lack of knowledge in religion or even can lead to sins. Some users explain their point of view that the alleged freedom is to escape decency and chastity applied by the religion to follow lust and desires. While others have seen that obeying the guardian is a religious duty and should not be challenged. Besides, verses from Qur’an found in some texts; this intertextuality is used to support their argument and give an authoritative voice to their position. From this regard, I see that the patriarchal patronizing tone was made clear in these texts, and it derives its masculine hegemony this time from the ideological religion system. The discourses surrounding the legitimization of guardianship law dictate certain power relations between men and women. I see that this can be understood in light of Wodak and Meyer (2010:10) idea about the ideology as an important aspect in maintaining the unequal power relations and that can be mediated in the language.
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Example of the (Un-religious) predication messages:
Tweet 14, user 266: لألسف أن ِت مكشوفة وحقوق المرأة والمظلومية مجرد شماعة لتبرير هروبك أن ِت هربتي من الدين أوالثم من المجتمع ثانيا ثم من العائلة ثالثا النهم وقفوا ضد هواك وشهوتك اللي ماقدرتي تضبطينها Translation: Unfortunately you are exposed Women’s rights and injustice are just a ploy to justify your escape You first want to escape from the religion, from the community, then from the family, because they stood against your desires and lust which you can’t control.
Tweet 14, user: 275
The third theme ‘‘conspiracy’’ found by the opposing group to cast doubts on the tweets legitimacy and intentions. They assume that the causes behind the calls on Tweeter are for inciting disruption and chaos in the country from the outside opposition that aims to destabilize the kingdom. The total number of texts with conspiracy theme is 22, and 18 texts of them were written in reply to the post-asylum tweets.
Example of the (Conspiracy) predication messages: Tweet 24, user 470:
اتمنى من السعوديين والسعوديات يحظور هذا الحساب وينتهي الشي اللي يحاولوا يوصلو له اللي هو لعب بعقول السعوديات Translation: I hope that the Saudi men and Saudi women to block this account to stop them reaching to manipulate the Saudi women’s minds.
Tweet 23, user 441:
البنت راحت ضحيه خدعه اسمها الحريه. اكاد اجزم انها تحت المراقبة واألقامة الجبرية ويتم استخدام حسابها من قبل الحكومة الكندية. لماذا التظهر للعالم وتقول هذا انا ادير حسابي الخاص بتويتر البنت مغيبة وتحت غسيل مخ بعناية والمؤكد انها حالياً تعيش ازمة نفسية صعبه ألن األمور تكشفت لديها. Translation: The girl is a victim of a deception called freedom. I am sure she is under surveillance and house arrest, the Canadian government uses her account.
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Why doesn’t she come up and say that this is her Twitter account, she is brainwashed and for sure she is living a severe psychological crisis after discovering what had happened.
The supportive group:
The Predicational strategy has presented how the supporting group describes the calls by introducing two themes ‘‘inspirational act’’ and ‘‘negative Saudi society.’’ These themes were identified in 25 texts from the total supportive replies. For the supporter, Rahaf’s escape is an ‘‘inspirational act,’’ and she is seen as a heroine and should be considered as a role model for other women in Saudi society. As the Predicational strategy proposes ‘‘representing positive self and negative others’’ (Reisigel&Wodak, 2001:45). The supporting replies present Rahaf as brave, free, inspiring, and in the same time attacking the Saudi society for the inequality in their system or the way they treat the women there.
From this regard, I found that these progressive discourses focus on subverting the male-as privileged discourse, and on demystifying the traditional stereotypes of women that the conservative discourses perpetuate when representing women as powerless. Moreover, it can be seen that the patriarchal system was often negatively evaluated and portrayed as unfair and oppressive. The language in this context was mainly drawn upon to express a desire for changing the existing patriarchal practices. This confirms the idea of Wodak & Meyer (2001:11) on how language can be used to challenge power to subvert it.
Example of the predication messages found in the supportive replies:
Tweet 13, user 259:
This is horrible, but you’re bringing attention to the awful behavior of others and shedding light on it for the entire world to see. You’re making a difference not in your own life, but in the lives of other women. Stay safe.
Tweet 6, user 102:
Saudi Arabia should change it's name to (women's kidnappers) as that is what they mostly do
Tweet 13, user 252:
Why are Saudi men so afraid of Saudi women that they cannot free them?
7 Discussion:
The collected data were analyzed through CDA examination of social change and ideological struggles surrounding it. The numerical data has been coded, categorized, and analyzed with the use of Content Analysis to present the findings in the form of statics. The data analysis covered several contextualizing features, including the stance taking element found in the tweets, distribution of responses written by male and female, their choice of language, and their position toward the calls. The findings presented in the thesis propose that the patriarchal discourse can be considered as the center of the debates — many of the tweets and
31 several replies present Saudi Arabia as a masculine society. Within the central discourse of patriarchy, the discourses about the subordinated status for Saudi women represent the flip side of the coin of those about male-dominance. The linguistic terms embedded within these discourses constitute rich interdiscursive resources for ideological positioning.
Through these debates, the study finds that the majority of the users, whether they are females or males, to be supportive of the calls and praising Rahaf’s participation in the public sphere. This reflects that the community is undergoing a sort of ideological shifting that can lead to social change. Moreover, the findings presented in this thesis open up space for more discussions regarding the Saudi women’s rights issues to reveal more extensive ideological conversation about the change. Accordingly, I will present in the following sections: (1) the position of the male users within these patriarchal discourses. (2) The discussion about the accusation of the tweets to be related to a political conspiracy.
7.1 Patriarchy strikes back
The total participation of the male users reached up to 41% from the total replies, and also they were more supportive of the calls. What was significant is that in the post-asylum theme, the calls faced fierce resistance and in more frequent cases, comments would support patriarchal or fundamentalist Islamic ideology. Out from 114 opposing replies found in the post-asylum tweets, 47 texts were written by male users. Even the use of the referential language and negative predication messages were found more often in the texts posted by male users who have engaged in negotiating the social origins of discourses, considering them as non-religious or not representing the Saudi women.
To challenge the notion of family and masculinity in public means disturbing social order (Treacher & Shukrallah, 2005: 155). So, this leads to the fierce resistance from who owns social power (the males). It is seen that whereas the male category appeared to be more supportive of the calls, they have appeared to dabble with conflicting desires for social equality and anxiety about how it might disrupt the social conditions they are used to. This findings also support the conception that the patriarchal structure has an impact on Saudi women’s participation in the public spheres or What Chaudhry (2014) argues ‘‘seem to be limited steps toward the inclusion of women in Saudi society’’ (956). Moreover, it appears in the referential languages, and the Predicational messages that individual men are also able to shape the development of feminist activism and they are also using the same social media platform to monitor and disrupt feminist activity online (Megarry, 2018:1070, 1071).
From this regard, a feminist approach to surveillance studies reveals how social media technologies can function as new weapons in men’s age-old war to control women. Given the continuing social and economic power of men, and their historical use of new technologies to coerce, frighten, violate, and ultimately control women as a social group, it follows that feminist activists who directly challenge male social power are also vulnerable to these tactics in social media space (ibid., 1077). 7.2 Hidden agenda
It can be seen in the findings a high frequency of the comments, despite being the minority, involve users trying to refute the existing Saudi religious and political infrastructure’s legitimacy. The data consisted of 11 replies with this Predicational message from the
32 supportive group. On the other hand, the opposing group defends the Saudi structure, and they believe that the calls present a real conspiracy against the kingdom. The users keep referring to Rahaf by terms like ‘‘ruled’’ and ‘‘controlled.’’ To look at these replies from macro-perspective, the users assumed that it is hard to see what the calls are going to achieve other than some political point- scoring for Canada over Saudi Arabia.
On August 2, 2018, the Canadian minister of foreign affairs, Chrystia Freeland, stated via Twitter that ‘‘Canada is gravely concerned about additional arrests of civil society and women’s rights activists in #SaudiArabia, including Samar Badawi. We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful #humanrights activists’’ (Freeland as cited in Law, 2018). In response to Canada’s criticism, Saudi Arabia expelled the Canadian ambassador and froze all new business with Ottawa considering the statement as ‘‘not be based in any accurate or true information,’’ and the kingdom went on to denounce the statements as ‘‘blatant interference in the Kingdom's domestic affairs ’’ (Saudi press agency, 2018).
Shortly after that, the story of Rahaf Mohammad emerged, pushing some of the users to link the incidents together. Rahaf arrived in Canada welcomed by Freeland who said ‘‘this is a very brave new Canadian’’ (Freeland as cited in Gillies, 2019). This statement caused some of the opposing responses to increase accusing the calls on Twitter to be based on fake demands. In the main while Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, brushed off a question as to whether Canada’s move might make it harder to repair ties with Saudi Arabia ‘‘Canada has been unequivocal that we will always stand up for human rights and women's rights around the world’’ (Trudeau as cited in Yuk, 2019).
7.3 Limitations of the Study & future research
This section presents the methodological limitations that were encountered after analyzing the data. All sampled texts cannot identify precisely the positions of the users from Saudi society, who are in direct involvement with the cause, in order to predict the obstacles hindering the Saudi women in obtaining their rights. Furthermore, the ability for the account owner to delete any reply from the tweet for any personal reason or consideration can affect the accuracy of results and the total percentage of supportive or opposing texts.
The findings of this thesis present a myriad of exciting options for future research of the same topic. There is potential for an ethnographic study that reaches out to the users with surveys and/or interviews to increase the relevance and validity of research findings. Thus, by selecting participants from Saudi society help to verify whether these findings hold out in their cognitive and behavioral day-to-day experiences. Furthermore, to gain insight into the motivation of using Twitter for sending protest calls then to check the motivation behind their responses. Another area for future research is the semiotic aspect of the tweets, which could not be tackled within the scope of the present thesis. It would be worthwhile to look at how memes, images, and videos may be employed to propagate a certain stance with the Saudi Twitter-sphere.
Furthermore, the study that has been carried out for this thesis calls attention to several subjects from a broader view on which further research would be beneficial. For instance, a study about the implications of Arab/Islamic feminist activism in social media platforms can
33 be approached. In this regard, a study about the development of Arab/Islamic feminism in the public field can also be applicable. Moreover, many studies have focused on Arab women’s rights issue discussing the ideological struggles in relation to power relation; this subject can also be approached under the theme of Islamic feminism. Additionally, comparative studies from the perspective of media and communication studies are also needed to discuss the differences between the Western and Arab feminism on the conceptualization of public and private spheres. Furthermore, the role of politic is vital in the development of social movement; therefore, it is recommended to study the effect of the political orientation of western feminism on the generalization of feminism in the Middle Eastern context.
8 Conclusion
In societies like Saudi Arabia where the culture of modesty and conservatism exists, alongside that, the patriarchy and devotion to religion are deeply rooted, can restrict the process for women to participate in the public sphere. Social media platforms open up space for a virtual escape from these restrictions. They proved the ability to facilitate the process of involving Arab women more in the public discussion. This thesis presents an example of how Saudi women using Twitter trying to gain control over the rules of cultural discourse in their society. The case of Rahaf Mohammad presents the way in which she has chosen to carve out a discourse of her own, adopting a form of resistance that is based more on the dialectic of protest and affirmation than on clear-cut opposition. In doing so, she poses a strong challenge to the dominant ideological forces in her society that can be seen in some of her tweets. Furthermore, the study also shows how Twitter has performed the role of a ‘‘bridge’’ between the virtual world and the real world, and that might even enable physical escape. So the virtual escape from the cultural conservatism becomes real in extreme situations.
The purpose of this thesis is to present the discourse themes which are seen throughout the corpus of the Saudi teen’s emergency protest calls on Twitter. As well as, the different perspectives revealed on their responses to Saudi women’s right. The study shows how Rahaf Mohammed has escaped the draconian punishments that she probably would have been threatened with at home. The emotional statements found on the first theme of her tweets ‘‘the pre asylum calls’’ have demonstrated the emergency need for protection. In the responses, Rahaf has received a wave of international solidarity in her bid for asylum. Moreover, the findings in the thesis verify that the majority of the responses to these calls were supportive of the cause than opposing it. These calls have drawn new global attention to Saudi Arabia’s strict social rules, including the male guardianship law. Also, they have shown that if any Saudi woman is caught running away from this system, she will be in a real danger that can even threaten her life. It worth mentioning that Rahaf’s quest for asylum comes as Saudi Arabia faces intense scrutiny over arresting of several women’s rights activists, which has renewed the criticism of the kingdom’s rights record.
After the asylum and the success of reaching the public sphere, Rahaf has taken advantage of the proliferation of her Twitter account. The calls she is sending after the asylum are to expose the systematic discrimination against Saudi women and even to encourage them to protest. The different stance Rahaf is taking now generates different reactions. In the main while, the world’s eyes have not stopped the conservative group from criticizing Rahaf’s calls. The replies to the calls in the post-asylum theme have appeared to receive more
34 opposing responses than supporting, as it has been noted in the first theme. The findings of the thesis show the fierce resistance to these tweets accusing them of being either not representing the Saudi women’s realities, contradicting with Islamic teaching or inciting disruption and chaos in the kingdom.
Rahaf’s plight is one that gives hope to other Saudi women with the same circumstances. In the time of writing this thesis, there is further news about two Saudi sisters who have taken to social media to plead for help securing asylum in a safe country. The pair posted photos of their passports using the Twitter handle @GeorgiaSisters. They claim to have been stopped in the small country of Georgia while attempting to escape the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They allege that they were trapped in their own homes and suffered verbal and physical abuse from their male relatives. The sisters blame the Kingdom’s guardianship laws for enshrining their abuse and protecting their abusers, and say that local authorities were unable or unwilling to help (Sidhu&Abdelaziz, 2019).
Now they hope to generate the same attention - and eventual outcome - as a similar case of Rahaf Mohammed, Who has entered the public archive through Twitter. Where others with a similar fate can also return to and see what is possible. However, the question that can be raised here and remain unanswered is if these calls on Twitter can promote any social progress for the Saudi women in their country or if the supportive responses will be the best scenario that can happen to them? However, what is visible in Twitter now is that what the Saudi women continue to do during the present phase is keeping the conversation going to create alternative discourses about themselves at the same time trying to moderate traditional ones for a new era of gender equity.
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37 o Nagar, I. (2016). Reporting rape: Language, neoliberalism, and the media. Discourse & Communication, 10(3), 257–273, DOI:10.1177/1750481315623900 o Neuendorf, K A (2017). The Content Analysis Guidebook, Second Edition. Sage, Los Angeles. o Odine, M. (2013). Arab women use media to address inequality, Journal of International Communication, 19:2, 167-181, DOI: 10.1080/13216597.2013.833537 o Pafford, A., & Matusitz, J. (2017). ABC’s Quantico: A critical discourse analysis of female superiority and racial stereotypes. Critical Studies in Television, 12(3), 273– 288, DOI:10.1177/1749602017717167 o Pepper, A. (2014). A feminist argument against statism: public and private in theories of global justice, Journal of Global Ethics, 10:1, 56-70, DOI: 10.1080/17449626.2014.894929 o Rane, H. & Salem, S. (2012). Social media, social movements and the diffusion of ideas in the Arab uprisings, Journal of International Communication, 18:1, 97-111, DOI:10.1080/13216597.2012.662168 o Richardson, J. (2007). Analyzing Newspapers: An Approach from Critical Discourse Analysis. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. o Reisigl, M., & Wodak, R. (2001). Discourse and Discrimination, Rhetoric of Racism and Antisemitism. New York, NY: Routledge. o Riff, D., Lacy, S., & Fico, F. (2013). Analyzing media messages: using quantitative content analysis in research. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com o Rogers, R., Malancharuvil-Berkes, E., Mosley, M., Hui, D., & Joseph, G. O. (2005). Critical Discourse Analysis in Education: A Review of the Literature. Review of Educational Research, 75(3), 365–416, DOI:10.3102/00346543075003365 o Strauss, S., and P. Feiz. (2014). Discourse Analysis: Putting Our Worlds into Words. New York: Routledge. o Somekh, B., & Lewin, C. (Eds.). (2004). Research methods in the social sciences. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com. Created from malmo on 2019-01-16 04:37:28. o Stemler, S. (2001). An Overview of Content Analysis. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation. 7. http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=7&n=17. o Tenorio, E. H. (2011). Critical discourse analysis, an overview. Nordic Journal of English Studies, 10(1), 183-210. o Thompson, E. (2003). "Public and Private in Middle Eastern Women's History." Journal of Women's History, vol. 15 no. 1, 2003, pp. 52-69. Project. MUSE, DOI: 10.1353/jowh.2003.0037 o Treacher, A., & Shukrallah, H. (2005). Issue 69: The Realm of the Possible: Middle Eastern Women in Political and Social Spaces. Feminist Review, 80(1), 152– 161, DOI:10.1057/palgrave.fr.9400218 o Tschirhart, P. (2014). The Saudi Blogosphere: Implications of New Media Technology and the Emergence of Saudi Islamic Feminism. Cyber Orient. 8. Online. o Vaara, E., Sorsa, V., & Pälli, P. (2010). On the force potential of strategy texts: a critical discourse analysis of a strategic plan and its power effects in a city organization. Organization, 17(6), 685–702, DOI:10.1177/1350508410367326 o Van Dijk, T. A. (1998). Critical Discourse Analysis. In D. Tannen, D. Schiffrin, & H. Hamilton (Eds.), Handbook of Discourse Analysis (pp. 352-371). Oxford: Blackwell.
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o Weber, R. P. (1990). Basic Content Analysis, 2nd ed. Newbury Park, CA. o Widdowson, H. G. (2004). Text, Context, Pretext. Critical Issues in Discourse Analysis. Oxford: Blackwell. o Wischermann, U., Mueller, I.K. (2004). Feminist Theories on the Separation of the Private and the Public: Looking Back, Looking Forward. Women in German Yearbook: Feminist Studies in German Literature & Culture, Volume 20, 2004, pp. 184-197 (Article) o Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (2001). Introducing Qualitative Methods: Methods of critical discourse analysis. : SAGE Publications, Ltd. DOI: 10.4135/9780857028020 o Wodak, R. (2011). Critical Discourse Analysis. In K. Hyland & B. Paltridge (Eds.). The Continuum Companion to Discourse Analysis (pp. 38-53). London, England: Continuum. o Wright, C. (1986). Mass Communication: A Sociological Perspective (New York: Random House, 1986).
9.1 Non-Academic References
o AFP. (2019). Saudi teen runaway in Bangkok is 'legitimate refugee'. Bangkok post. UN. 9 Jan. 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1608198/saudi-teen-runaway-in- bangkok-is-legitimate-refugee-un. Accessed May 19, 2019. o Chen, H., & Lin, M.M. (2019). Rahaf al-Qunun: Unpicking the tweets that may have saved her life. BBC News. 10 Jan.2019. Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46819199. Accessed May 19, 2019 o Gillies, R. (2019). 'A Very Brave New Canadian': Runaway Saudi Woman Reaches Her New Home. Huffpost. 13 Jan. 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2019/01/12/a-very-brave-new-canadian-runaway- saudi-woman-reaches-her-new-home_a_23641109. Accessed May 19, 2019 o Law, B. (2018). Putting the spat between Saudi Arabia and Canada in context. +The unexpected diplomatic feud between Canada and Saudi Arabia exposes the fragility of the latter's reform agenda. Aljazeera. 7 Aug. 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/putting-spat-saudi-arabia-canada-context- 180807091325074.html. Accessed May 19, 2019 o Rahaf Mohammed. (2019). Statement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFxX2O6uu0s o Rahaf Mohamad. Twitter account: @rahaf84427714 o Saudi press agency. (2018). Foreign Ministry: negative attitude of Canada totally false claims. SPA. 6 Aug. 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1793711#179371. Accessed May 19, 2019 o Sidhu, S. & Abdelaziz, S. (2019). Saudi sisters seeking asylum in Republic of Georgia go public in plea for help. CNN. 20 Apr. 2019. Retrieved from: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/19/europe/saudi-arabia-sisters-asylum-georgia- intl/index.html. Accessed May 19, 2019 o Twitter privacy policy. (2018). available at: https://twitter.com/en/privacy
39 o Yuk, P.K. (2019). Canada grants asylum to Saudi teenager. Financial Times. 11 Jan. 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.ft.com/content/9405c20e-15cc-11e9-a581- 4ff78404524e. Accessed May 19, 2019
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10 Appendix Tweet User number Main post Time number Comment Because I got nothing to lose 9:21 PM Be strong... you’re amazing... we all love you.. I’m going now to share my - 5 Jan 1 real name and my all 2019 Don’t give up we all with you honey �. information.This is a copy of my passport, Im shering it with 2 you now because I want you Stay strong. You are a grown woman. You should have the right to choose your own path in life. I hope to know I’m real and exist. authorities around the world move quickly to help you. Thinking of you and your plight. This is unacceptable in 3 a modern world. i just want you to know that everything will be alright. We are here to support and pray for you.. just don’t give 4 up ❤� ميالده 1420 وتبي تهج لحاله استغفر هللا بس 5 نصيحه ارجعي الاهلك لن تجدي مثلهم على وجه هذي االرض ومن قامت بتحريضك لن تنفعك بشي وانما تشجيعك حتى تقعين ومن ثم ستبحث عن ضحية اخرى ،،،،، ستندمين اكيد عودي سريعا 6
7 Call or go to Israel embassy. They will find a way to help you.
8 1@Mohamed_m1992 You got nothing to lose cause you lost all sense already and you have no more. This is crazy, @UN @Refugees please save this girl. Her blood is on your hands if you do not stop these people trying to do her harm in the name of their religion.
9 Absolutely crazy.. I am ashamed of religions doing these type of things, keeping people imprisoned. Disgusting. 1 انت عندك كل شي لتخسرينه ولكن من يشجعك الهداف فردية مرضية وجماعية خبيثة ال يملكون اي شيء ليخسرونه وانا متأكد أن عندك والد ووالدة من اشرف واطهر الناس 10
انتبهي من المنشار وارجعي ألهلك ولن تجدي أرحم لك من والديك الدنيا صعبه والتشرد للبنت سوف يجعل منها عرضه لكالب السكك ومن اليرحمها 11
12 Be strong! I wish You soon everything will be ok. �
13 you are super brave Rahaf..just do it we all with you �
لج خلق تحطين فلتر ععههه 14
اكشن المراهقات ذا مضحك تحسب نفسها بتهرب للجنه ! بترجع وبتعقل وبتقول يوما ما اني كنت مهبوله 15
16 I believe in you.
إذا حسيتي بالخطر روحي بريطانيا فهي تدعم الالجئات البنات العربية 17
18 Don’t lose your hope! � 1@anam_ahmed305
19 You should be careful. People can misuse information. Not always best idea. https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 14/status/108178266334480793
مواليد ٢٠٠٠ !!! من اسمها مبين انها من طرش البحر 20 7 based on the 1951 12:04 It's like saying HELP! I have nowhere to sleep, but could it please be a Marriott, Four Seasons, or Sheraton? Convention and the 1967 PM - 6 21 Protocol, I'm rahaf mohmed, Jan You'll be safe promise 22 formally seeking a refugee 2019 GOODLUCK, STAY STRONG status to any country that 23 would protect me from getting #nyc help this girl harmed or killed due to 24 leaving my religion and torture Try Saudi Arabia from my family. 25 وثقي كل شئ يصير لك وأرسليه ألحد تثقين فيه 26 This is a death or life case, PLEASE give it more recognition, please don’t ignore #Saudi women’s sufferings 27 as usual!! #SaveRahaf #GoldenGlobes� �� Stay strong girl, keep reporting, someone somewhere has got to step in and help surely, ❤�� � 28 Nobody has the guts all are funded by gulf money including liberal organizations which rise hue and cry when 29 it suits their agenda. The LORD says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my 30 salvation.” (Psalm 91:14-16)
2 31 Brave woman! I wish you all the best!
32 This is appaling. Bless you and keep you safe. Good luck. X
33 Don’t even think about Turkey
34 We can help in all way possible. Come to India 🇳
35 God bless you keep safe dear ❤
36 Your best bet at present happens to be #Qatar.
37 Praying for your safety .
38 Come pakistan we already hv 20 lac afghanis and couldless bangladeshi
عندما يجبرون شخصاً على ترك أهله ووطنه وربما دينه من أجل ان يتذوق طعم القليل من الحرية وتقرير المصير.. فتأكدوا حينها ان الحرية أغلى من الخبز ‼� 39 https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 14/status/108200512101632000 1 40 May Allah help u in this endeavour The world is watching. The world had enough of Saudi Arabia with Jamal Khashoggi’s case. Only a few hours left to take me 11:43 AM 41 #saverahaf and let her fly free to Australia. 3 back to Kuwait then Saudi by - 6 Jan I wish that you can try for asylum in Canada. I would love to offer you a home with my dad and me. We do not have FORCE. 2019 42 much but you would be safe.
41
43 Stay strong world and people will support you.... In terms of the 1951 Convention for Refugees articles Thailand's duties to #SaveRahaf are 27. provide her with identity papers if needed 28. issue her travel documents if needed 32. cannot expel her 44 33. cannot forcibly return or "refoul" her to the country she fled from Rahaf tell Thai officials that you want to apply for asylum. Tell them you do not want to talk to people from the Saudi Arabia embassy. Tell them you want your passport back. Pick up the phone now, phone reception and ask to speak to 45 Thai officials. Someone please from Bangkok: Get to that door with camera/s and start a live show from there, let @rahaf84427714 46 speak from the inside, stay there as much as you can, get her something to eat.
47 Come back to Twitter, front of your camera ask @UNHCR Thailand for the asylum and a lawyer. Would is watching !
48 I hope you will avoid this. crossing fingers. Do not give up!! Plane will not leave if ANY PASSENGER is standing¬ seated according to saf.regulations. Beg all passengers loudly 4 help in not sitting, since it is going to Kuwait and not SA there may be passengers willing. Then the captains most likely 49 option is 2 take you off. Buys u time.
50 you are really strong. I am crying for you here..
51 Hope everything finish ok. I will pray for you.
52 You have to escape and hide long enough until the plane has left
53 set up a livestream where camera wont be immediately obvious. Drink water. Just breathe.
54 Are you still blocked in the room?????? What’s going on?
الممثل اإلقليمي لحقوق االنسان هاتف: )662( 288 1496 فاكس: )662( 288 3009 العنوان: Building , 6th Floor, Room 0601 A UNESCAP, UN Secretariat Rajdamnern Nok Avenue، Bangkok 10200 , Thailand بريد إلكتروني: [email protected] http://bangkok.ohchr.org 55
56 @SushmaSwaraj India shall help her
57 They cant direct where you should go...there are dozena of countries where you can go to as a Saudi without a visa..
58 stay strong. You are all over the news. #FreeRahaf #SaveRahaf
59 No developments at all??? No help for you?? https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 14/status/108199962294660301 � Perhaps http://Alarmphone.org can help. It’s an emergency call for asylum seekers. Normally for boat people but it is
0 60 24h on and perhaps they have contacts in Thailand or an idea. Try to call +334 86 51 71 61
61 lol #Kuwait412 #saverahaf anyone who will take that plane please helps and anyone in the airport keeps an eye on it 62 please.
63 KuwaitAirways this lady is being forced onto your flight against her will. For tomorrow's Kuwait Airways flight #KU412 (departure BKK 11:15 a.m.): "If a passenger refuses to sit down, the plane is not allowed to leave." #SaveRahaf 64 http://www.gettingthevoiceout.org/how-to-stop-a-deportation/ … #SaveRahaf Apostasy is no crime. Detained in transit. Thinks her family intend to kill her if she's returned to them. Kuwait Airlines - don't accept her unconscious or against her will onto flight 412 (or any other). Please @rights_info https://www.itv.com/news/2019-01-06/saudi-teenager-rahaf-mohammed-al-qunun-trapped-at-bangkok-airport-fears- 65 family-will-kill-her-if-she-is-returned/ … via @rahaf84427714
66 Someone please bring that drone from Gatwick to close down this airport @KuwaitAirways you'll get more support from people if you stop this plane. Or the anger from our hearts will stop us 67 from ever booking a flight with you. I’m so sorry for you Rahaf.!.! It’s disgusting that young women can’t escape abusive families or countries without huge 68 trouble - I really hope pressure on governments will result in your freedom! Good luck!
ان ِت شجاعه وشخصيتك قوية أراهن انك بتخرجي من هذي المشكلة وتعيشي حياة حلوة تليق في ِك 69 4 Nobody can force you into any plane as you have not done anything wrong! There are cameras everywhere in the 70 airport! Can you use Periscope to send live video? .@KuwaitAirways Come on world. This airline is about to repatriate this woman from Bangkok to an uncertain future.
71 #SaveRahaf
72 Best you escape hotel Rabat. No law in Thailand allows an adult to force another adult on to a flight
73 They can’t force you to the flight!! You have to fight back! we are supporting you! The flight schedule to return me is flight Kuwait 412 74 go live on Periscope This is really frustrating, to see a scared girl calling for #help and no competent authority responding!!! I wish I could do something concrete for you �. https://www.flightstats.com/v2/ 75 It's good that you left that evil religion. flight- tracker/KU/412?year=2019&mo 76 We are calling for other passengers to disrupt this flight by standing up after boarding until you are offloaded nth=1&date=7&flightId=9858660 41 … please help me by step it 77 Put mattresses in front of the door... anything to stop them from leaving 78 I wonder if any of the passengers can help delay the flight. Anything, fake a sickness, something !
1:14 PM - 6 Jan 2019 79 .@BBCWorld @CNN @SkyNewsBreak please look into this young woman's plight, this is real news & urgency is needed! https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 1:14 PM - 14/status/108202252736530432 6 Jan Record a live video of a plea the same way we are retweeting we will do it with video and surely the relevant people and
0 2019 80 news channels will see it... prayers and hugs to you DO NOT get on the plane Rahaf ...Stay in the airport or wherever you are now. By 9 am I will call my lawyer and سوف يتم تسليم حسابي الرسمي الصدقائي . communicate with our government in Ottawa and will try by all meanings to help you. Stay safe and be strong 81 المقربين في حاله إختفائي، لكي يتم تحديث - PM 6:44 وتوثيق المعلومات المهمة، الحقيقية عن 5 عمرها ١٨سنة Jan 6 حالتي؛ ولكي يتم نشر األدلة الباقية ولكي ال وتكتب تويتات باللغة اإلنجليزية فيها مصطلحات قانونية وإعالمية متقنة. 82 2019 يتم دحض اصوات البنات ممن هم في مثل
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من يكتب للهاربة رهف تغريداتها؟! حالتي من بعدي. انها صحفية اسمها صوفي تعمل في وكالة أخبار ABC. المسألة أصبحت واضحة انها سوف يتم تحويل رهف إلى "سمر بدوي" جديدة لتستخدم ضد #السعودية ك ورقة ضغط. انتظروا خيانتها
ارجعي لبلدك ولو كنتي معنفه الكل راح يحميك قصة االكشن ودعم المتمردات لم ماراح ينفعك هللا يهديك 83
84 Kick! Scream! Cry! Fight! Let the world see you. Make putting you on that plane the most difficult task ever! Rahaf - Your story is #trending!
Right now, 28,000 people around the world are talking about #SaveRahaf and discussing ways to help you.
85 That’s a bright spot in all of this. The world knows!
ان شاء هللا يرجعونك ألهلك ويدقونتس ويعقلونتس وتتركين الخبال عنتس، كل اللي يعززون لك ماهم نافعينك يعززون لك ع خطاء 86
يارهف .. ابوك انسان متعلم ومثقف ويعتبر من الناس الراقية انا تعاملة معه شخصياً انسان جداً محترم ومتفهم مستحيل انه يتعامل معك بمستوي متدني او رجعي لذا كلي امل بان التتخذين قرار ممكن بان يجعل الوضع من سيئ الي اسوا وراجعي نفسك مع نفسك بعيد عن ضوضاء تويتر وباقي برامج التواصل االجتماعي 87 Somebody needs to seriously help this young lady. The threat to her life is very real. She should be offered immediate asylum instead of having embassies & world leaders dragging their feet. Having her physically deported to where her life 88 would be in danger is reprehensible.
في فرق يا رهف بين ظلم األهل و ترك الدين. نصيحة ال تتركي الدين بذنب اهلك او اي حد ثاني. ال تخلي الظروف الي مريتي فيها تحرمك سعادة الدنيا و اآلخرة! 89 سنتين من بعد هروبك وال تشوفين حولك احد من اللي حرضوك ، كأنك تهمينهم اص ًال !! ما جابوا خبرك مستغلينك لهدفهم االكبر اللي هو اإلساءه للسعودية 90 على ما يبدو هنا من كالمك، انه مدفوعة للقيام بما قمتي به. ُكـل جهودك و كالمك هذا سيذهب مهب الريح قريباً و راح ينسى امرك كأن لم يعرفك احد. و راح ترجعين لبلدك بعد تخلي كل الدول عنك! 91 رهف انا كنت مسيحية واسلمت واللي مريت فيه قصة تهديد وتعذيب حقيقية من اهلي المسيحيين. ما تمرين فيه أنا أتفهمه وهي تعكس عادات وتقاليد وليس دين.. ياريتني عملت اللي عملتيه عشان اورجي الميديا إرهابية المتعصبين المسيحيين.. يا ترى هل كان سيلتفت اإلعالم لي؟ 92
93 Stay strong ! You should try to Apply in Canada as refugee. Wish you the best for the future ! كلنا اهلنا قسو علينا ، محد حياته كامله يا رهف ، الكل عنده مشاكل ، لو كل واحد طلب لجوء وهج من أهله محد تم بالبلد ! بس صدقيني باجر بتكبرين وبتعرفين انه ما قسو عليج اال عشان مصلحتج وخوفهم عليج ، لو وين تطلبين لجوء ان شاء هللا تروحين القمر محد راح يحبچ ويخاف عليج كثر اهلج !! 94 �😭 ♀�
95 Keep strong. The world is watching. Dear Rahaf, good luck and fight for your right and do not forget that the whole world sees and supports you, stand by 96 your word.
هللا يتوب عليك ودايمن ادعي ربك اللهم يامقلب القلوب ثبت قلبي على دينك تذكري وراك حساب وعقاب من رب العالمين .. هذي دنيا فانيه 97
هل فعال تخليت عن الدين اإلسالمي وهل باعتقادك أن هناك حياه كريمه بال اإلسالم وماذا لو كتب هللا عليك الموت بعد أن أصبحت مرتده وهل هناك دعم من جهات صهيونيه لتشجيعك على ذلك كونك من بالد الحرمين الطاهره ليقولوا انظروا المسلمات مضذهدات في بالد الحرمين ارجعي إلى دينك والي أسرتك خير لك 98 التخافى أعوذ بكلمات هللا التامات كلها أن يحفظك ويساعدك على نجاحك فى عدم الرجوع نستودعك هللا الذى ال تضيع ودائعه أنتي بنتي ال تخافي بإذن هللا سيمنع سفرك 99 https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 14/status/108210557141803827
والدك شيخ معروف لالسف هربتي من بلدك من اهلك من الحضن الدافي بحجة الحريه اي حريه ستلقينها سوى التشرد في الطرقات حسبي هللا على من اشار لك 100 3 Because I was very afraid 12:23 You need some country’s to step up before, I forgot to mention that PM - 6 101 the Saudi Arabia's embassy Jan Saudi Arabia should change it's name to ( women's kidnappers ) as that is what they mostly do also said to the Bangkok 2019 102 في التعليقات حد كاتب عن سفاره النرويج airport if they don't flee me هللا يحميكي back to Kuwait they will 103 literally KIDNAP me. Kidnap? 104 Is this serious? Is this girl safe now? 105 You Sir should first know before fanning such stories. No way I will ever defend saudi regime. But this is totally different matter. The girl ran away not just from regime but infact she intends to harm #Islam by making false 106 claims. One most safest place for you is America you could apply for asylum due to extreme violence and your life threatened, but your family will pay money to Thailand they will send you back to Saudi Arabia. The Christians 107 may be able to help you. Honestly you are limited in help. يا ابنتي..بال هالقصص ..حقوق المراءة مضمونه بالمملكه انتي ليش تسوي قصه مزيفه.. ايش الي تبغيه بالضبط 108 Can you please film yourself live where you are at this moment. Just turn on your webcam to the world so we 109 see what's happening and how you are. https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 *picks up popcorn* 14/status/108200980474539622 I like real life drama
4 110 6 Saudi Arabia believe they can dismember a US citizen and Trump said there would be no consequences re sanctions. I'm sad to say your country has been taken down a peg by SA. I don't think they are going to listen 111 to him about this. Hopefully I'm mistaken.❤ مالذي تريدنه ولماذا تركتي دين اإلسالماالسالم ليس هو ابو منشار او ال سعود سوف تندمين طوال حياتك لو تركتي ابوك وامك وسوف وعشت بعيدة عنهم والسيما عندما يموتون يجب أن تتفهمي مع والديك والتكبري المسألة هناك ذئاب في الدول الغربية سوف تتربص بك فكري الف مرة بماتفعلينه 112 ما اعرفك ولكن نصيحه داخل المطار ارفعي صوتك وكوني بحاله هستيريا مستحيل كابتن الطياره بيقبل تركبين فيها
حاولي تكون كاميرا الموبايل شغاله على طول
اتمنى لك التوفيق الني عارف مصيرك اذا رجعتي ايش راح يكون 113 There must be lawyers in Bangkok that. Can help you 114 كلنا معاك يا رهف 115 People.. look how the world is changing!! Every hour she’s getting more than thousands of follower who are worried about her! 116 So how can @UNHCR can ignore her. NO WAY!! Are the Saudi officials around you? 117
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British Embassy Bangkok - 14 Witthayu Rd, Khwaeng Lumphini, Khet Pathum Wan, Krung Thep Maha 118 Nakhon 10330, Thailand افتحي البث خلينا معك 119 Please help her. It is her right to live freely. We are with you. 120
121 Dear Rahaf, my @refugees colleagues are at the airport now and are seeking access to you! A 18 Year Old fearing for her life. Please support support to end this violation of her human rights and Rahaf basic 122 Human Right for personal safety from oppression.
123 It’s trending in the US, hang in there! #SaveRahaf Fortunately, now Rahaf’s case is on top of the world’s biggest news agency, and world is watching! Hopefully, Saudi’s 124 money temptation doesn’t work this time for Thai’s government �� I'm sure more than 90% of Thai is on your side #SaveRahaf is trending in Thailand and most of Thai comment is support 125 you
126 .@UNHCRThailand rapid. Rahaf, I can’t imagine what you are going through. Stay strong. Stay calm. I read UNHCR is coming to talk to you at 5 pm. 127 Good luck sister. I’m rooting for you.
128 We’re with all the time, don’t give up Be brave and strong, try to stay positive @rahaf84427714 the world is watching on and making noise for you � 129 #saverafah #unhcr @Refugees Is anyone going to step in and rescue this girl? We talk endlessly about human rights but where are hers? Or is everyone 7 130 simply too afraid to get on the wrong side of the Saudis? 131 Could New Zealand provide asylum to this woman?
132 If you think it will not happen to you ... I am the female writer who gave a book to His Majesty the King of Thailand ... so
133 I'm on your side Rahaf. Good Luck to you.
134 Sending you so much support from central Queensland Australia x
135 @UNHCRThailand might sound strange, but try contacting her via Twitter and tell her what to do next ♀�
136 We are all behind you! The world is watching!
137 Rahaf, Saudi Arabia provides significant funding to the UNHCR... Mention their accounts! Then, EACH rt or fav you get will be a notification for them. That is how you REALLY get their 138 attention!
I want UNHCR 139 .@NancySinatra @SpeakerPelosi help this girl!!!!! https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 1:23 AM - 14/status/108220603603808256 7 Jan I have contacted my friend who work for UNHCR, and he contacted his colleagues in BKK, i followed your case since
0 2019 140 yesterday 1 am .. be strong and be patient.. Hey I'm Rahaf. My father just 6:00 AM I Swear I’m Gods own sitcom arrived as I heard witch - 7 Jan worried and scared me a lot 2019 141 You may not realize this, but your struggle just became our struggle. and I want to go to another Pleased to hear you got your passport back. country that I seek asylum in 142 I hope you get to somewhere safe. But at least I feel save now Excellent news. Best wishes to you! under UNHCR protection with 143 the agreement of Thailand ولو رحتي بررا انا بقابلك وبشوف حياتك هناك وابي اصورك فيديو عن يومياتك وكم وظيفة رح تنطردين منها الن العنصرية شي متشبعين منه هم وانا عن authorities. And I finally got نفسي اشوف فيه كثير يستحقون الجنسية بدالك ألنك ماعرفتي تصونين هالبلد وتوفيله my passport back �❤� 144 I don’t understand how on earth can father and his family treat loving daughter like this. 145 I'm so glad. Hope everything will work out fine and that you will be granted asylum! Stay safe and strong! 146 Never stop believing!! You are so brave � � �You can be (study/learn) anything you want. 147 اكبر عقاب الي اب في الدنيا ) لو أنسان طبيعي مش حيوان( أن اوالده يهربوا منه بسبب احساسهم بالظلم والقهر 148 Stay strong Rahaf 149 Hope you get asylum soon I hope that all your dreams will come true! Wishing you all the best, ya ukhti! 8 150 اهال يا رهف نحن نصلي ليكي و ربنا يبارك حياتك... سالمات روالند من سويسرا 151 Good luck and I wish u safe always 152 1@BorisJohnson can you leave #brexit alone for a bit and get your size 10’s stuck into this. This brave lady needs
153 support from us all. الحمدهلل �❤�❤�❤�❤�❤�❤�❤😭 😭 😭 😭 154 1@WasayJalil
Congratulations، 155 You deserve more! Fight to the bitter end! 156 Congratulations 157 The world is watching. We pray you will be safe. 158 We wish you well. Stay resolute 159 https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 If they keep pushing you are welcomed in my country in my home. am in Africa as far you are not a felony 14/status/108227570133034598 9 160 If you have a day, try the Czech embassy at 71/6 Ruam Rudee Soi 2, Ploenchit Rd., Lumpini, Pathumwan, Bangkok 161 10330. Open tomorrow from 8:30 to 12:00 (your time).
I do not know what's wrong with you, but in Brazil the doors are open to all who need and are at risk, look for a Brazilian 162 embassy that you can get, we have many, many foreigners and refugees here, and they are very happy, good luck! ! 9 163 DO IT PEOPLE For all countries that can help , We all with you stay strong we ask for urgent protection , 10:01 PM 164 #SavaRahaf only you can save my life. - 7 Jan #saverahaf 2019 165 NZ is a safe country and welcoming @jacindaardern
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lawyers say she 'could be jailed for many years and be subject to human rights violations and torture' for 'insulting' her country and religion. This is not what islam teaches, the prophet and messenger of god teaches us to be kind and 166 forgive. She has done nothing wrong.
167 Stay strong, we are praying for you
168 My home is your home.. come to Paris 🇷 I’m Muslim and I’m free I pray because I want to I’m a hijabi lady because I want to ..no one forced me to do so . Hope 169 you find yourself and be a better version of yourself ❤� I hope. 170 God bless you sisters.
171 I wish my country could help, it probably has a treaty with Saudi and you would be taken back....
172 I hope UK does the right thing and offers asylum instead of showing cowardice.
173 A new problem has happened to you again, right? Save place in india 174 Come here fast... @rahaf84427714
175 please help this girl...if India could give her asylum... please make it possible
176 Contact our Embassy. I wrote about your situation to our Prime Minister. رهف ، سمعي مني رجعي لربك صدقيني يا رهف هللا تعالى يقبل توبة عبده في اي لحظه بمجرد تقولي يارب من كل قلب وضمير راح يفرجها عليك وراح يحنن قلوب اهلك عليك ال تخافي من شي 177 I was thinking, that you need to seek asylu in a country which does not buy Saudi oil, which does not sell guns to Saudi, 178 which is "close" to Australia -- as much as I want to suggest you to come into our country, I dont think it’s safe. It’s so near to Thailand in case ur dad comes here,plus our government does business with Saudi anyway like many other Muslim majority country. It’s best 179 you go to countries that doesnt. CALL these!! Ask for their Ambassador and give no info until you speak to them! https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 -- Embassy of Canada; Thailand, EMERGENCY: Telephone: +66 (0) 2646-4300 14/status/108251774930000281 -- UK embassy in Thailand: Phone: +66 2 305 8333
6 180 -- United States Embassy. Ambassador: Glyn T. Davies; Phone: +66 2 205 4000
181 You didn't need protection you need a real man to marry him
182 where’s the UN protection?
183 Stay in that hotel with the UN
184 Your story is global. I have my fingers crossed for you here in New Zealand. I urge the @CanadaThailand to provide assistance to @rahaf84427714 will our PM @JustinTrudeau help ? SHE is in real need of protection. SHE is in immediate danger. @JustinTrudeau must act now ! A LOT is at stake for this brave woman 185 #cdnpoli #inspiration #SaveRahaf
186 The world is watching @CanadaThailand @JustinTrudeau @Refugees @UNHCRThailand #SaveRahaf @GermanAmbTHA
طيب كلكم قمتم معها لكن اذا جاكم شخص سوري او مصري او يمني او أين كان يطلب اللجوء بسبب بالده وضروفه من حرب م كان عاملتوه بنفس الطريقه 187
188 @ScottMorrisonMP do something!!!!! Nobody on Twitter has any need at all to know where you are. Anybody who asks is committing an error. There is no need to respond to such a request. I’m sure you know that. I think you have handled everything brilliantly. I believe in 189 you. Thank you for your tweets on Twitter.
190 I'm ur fan, u r warrior 10 191 Stay Calm Mam .... Stay safe! I have seen on Twitter that as a citizen of Saudi Arabia you can travel to New Zealand for up to 3 months without a visa, and then apply for a visa. Having travelled to New Zealand numerous times please also consider that as 192 an option to explore! #SaveRahaf Believe you are already safe and the rest will come... Stay strong and stay positive. The world has a way of making things 193 happen.
194 Where are you @rahaf84427714 يارهف التخافين ارجعي لهلك دامها بيدك اللحين قبل تطلع من يدك وتندمين طول عمرك طيب مافكرتي الى متى بتظلين بال وطن الغرب واالجانب عمرهم مابغوا لك الخير التصدقين االعالم وارجعي الهلك ماتنفع الحريه مع التشرد .. 195
196 Stay strong. The world IS watching.
197 We love you . Stay strong 😫
You are the real power help me 198 You will be free to send my message, I need PROTECTION . 199 You are wonderful and courageous, I am so proud of you https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 10:03 PM 14/status/108251825694916198 - 7 Jan
بدون ربج ماراح تنفتح لج ابواب التوافيق والتساهيل ، هللا يهديج ويردج ألهلج 200 2019 4 Please livestream or post new photo/video for us! We just want to know you are definitely safe in your hotel room. Stay 201 safe #SaveRahaf
202 Canberra please represent our nation �🇺 This young woman appears to need help, send the Aus Consulate now!
203 Get into contact with Germany they want to help
204 Girl you gonna survive this���� � Replying to @rahaf84427714 205 Livestream
206 Plane has departed, but @rahaf84427714 isn't out of the woods yet! Stay vigilant! 11 207 THE PLANE LEFT WITHOUT HER!!!!! THANK YOU GOD #SAVERAHAF @ScottMorrisonMP @PeterDutton_MP @billshortenmp @HumanHeadline please can u help her. She had an Australian Now and immediately Rahaf 208 visa but authorities stripped it from her. If she gets sent back to Saudi she will be killed #ExMuslim needs protection in particular 209 I am told foreign ministry in canada is working. Keep the faith. We care deeply. #wearesisters #saverahaf from the following country Wish I could do something, but I've tried and I get no where. If I could board a plane now it would unfortunately be too European 210 late. Im sorry. countries/Canada/United States/ 8:45 PM - 211 Germany and Sweden have already reached out. Australia /United kingdom, 6 Jan please contact us! 2019 212 Horrible experience wish you good luck!
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213 The flight just departed!
214 Rahaf do a livestream please !!
215 Whats the website that tracks flights? For all the girls and women from Middle East never try to flee a Sunday because all organisations and embassies are 216 closed so better choose a early week day - Just an advice � @cafreeland this should be considered.
217 @JustinTrudeau @CanadianPM
218 Also try New Zealand for protection.
219 You don’t need passport to seek a assyulam https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 14/status/108213614290709708
8 220 @SwedeninTH please help her�.
221 As citizens, we will do our very best to urge our government to bring you to Canada. Its so sad to see you like this and none of world leaders have come forward to help....they get elected promising great things for world peace and humanity.....my foot !!!! 222 @JustinTrudeau pls show some concern and help her....
223 Please @Canada @CanadaThailand show your great humanity and save @rahaf84427714 @saverahaf CC @stephenharper Can you help??? 224 Rahaf we have a very impotent government in charge right now. I hope our former PM might do something. ..رهف انا كنت مسيحية واسلمت واللي مريت فيه قصة تهديد وتعذيب حقيقية من اهلي المسيحيين. ما تمرين فيه أنا أتفهمه وهي تعكس عادات وتقاليد وليس دين ?يا ترى هل كان سيلتفت اإلعالم لي بالطريقه نفسها ..ياريتني عملت اللي عملتيه عشان اورجي الميديا إرهابية المتعصبين المسيحيين 225
226 @Drake help her man Come on @Canada , do the right thing. Make this happen. This girl is an inspiration to all the others suffering the same. 227 #SaveRahaf #believe
228 Can you please DM me @rahaf84427714 .@JustinTrudeau "To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith.
229 Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada"
12 230 canada is good choice but dont go in usa, they deliver you back saudi-arabia It's better to cross the line and suffer the consequences 231 than to just stare at the line for the rest of your life. Keep fighting
232 As much as I'd love to vouch for my country (Australia), if you can get into Canada that could be your best bet.
233 Come thru with a solid �� Canada �
234 Canada loves you!!! Your life will be amazing here
235 I hope they do. It’s the best country I the world! �❤�� � I’d be happy to sponsor you xx If you make it to Australia, you can live with me-I have room & think you deserve the protection of our Australian 236 Government �Praying for you, Rahaf❣� كثير من االضتطهاد تتعرض له عدد كبير من النساء في الدول العربية والخليج بصورة خاصة.. لكن مع ذلك لم )يتركن دينهن(.. قد تكوني في ظروف واوقات قاسية جدا لكن ال يوجد مبرر لتتركي ديانة اإلسالم مطلقا. 237
تعالي اديك لجوء ف قلبي ❤� 238 I want Canada to give me requested Canada to grant her asylum, we used to live in Toronto,even though the weather was cold but people with asylum! 239 good/kind hearted. https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 10:28 PM 14/status/108252438466795520 - 7 Jan
0 2019 240 Let this girl come to our country, Canada!
تصريح مثل هذا يجعل المواطن يفقد الثقة في اي جهة حكومية وفي اي سفارة و قنصلية، وكأنهم عصابة واحدة تعمل ضد المواطن 241 So any future survivors trying to escape should take note and have spare phones hidden on their person, under their 242 clothes or in luggage or somethere safe... وش هالتصريح؟ هل هذا سفير!؟ "صادروا جوالها مو بس جوازها" باهلل عليكم يابشر، اال يجعلكم هذا النوع من البشر، تحس انك امام عصابة مافيا مو سفارة، يحسسك بفقد االمان. اتمنى من الشؤون العليا في السعودية تعفيه من منصبه المجرم. 243
244 Gang officially The Saudis really know how to let their world standing dip to the lowest of the low. Twitter has done some great things this week - and highlighting your plight is one of them. Without your phone, the truth could not have been told. Keep 245 going Rahaf.
النه مدرك تماما ان جوالها وثباتها في الموقف اللي خالها تتكلم بكل التفاصيل وتوصل صوتها هو اللي انقذها ..تصريحة هذا معيب عليه وخصوصا الضحك ! 246 427714 @murtazasolangi @djboych9 247 They are so smart as you Rahaf. Your phone saved your life.
دول العالم مصدومين من اللي صاير فهموهم ان رهف حاله وحدده من الف حاله زيها ويمكن اكثر يارب تفرجها ونرتاح 248 Why of course he wished they took her phone � question is would Rahaf still be alive today if they had ... I Think Not 249 ...���� 13 In the midst of the revolution that is @rahaf84427714 I feel for the Saudi men and women that are watching, reading and thinking ‘We are better than this.’ There may be even a slight hint of @monaeltahawy’s #fuckthepatriarchy Stand 250 up Saudis if you can hear us. Be the #change Please know that we are thinking about you and just want your happiness and safety!!! This must be incredibly 251 difficult for you, but stay strong, the world is watching and we support you!! Xxxx
252 Why are Saudi men so afraid of Saudi women that they cannot free them?
253 What is that
مافيا مو حكومة الوضع فع ًال مرعب 254
Saudi Arabia charge d’affaires in 255 Hey Rahaf, get a new phone with a new number if you can just in case if that’s possible Bangkok Mr. Alshuaibi said “they should have took her 256 If God is beside you who will be against you .Mission not yet accomplish, be blessed phone instead of her passport” Men with power think a young woman’s desperate plea to escape death is fodder for cracking jokes. #SaudiArabia ‘s regressive treatment of women is a disgrace. And #Thai officials were happy to hand her over if it weren’t for media Twitter account has changed the 6:12 AM - 257 frenzy. game against what he wished for 8 Jan "Twitter account has changed the game against what he wished for me" -- Love it! Cases like yours make me very very
me 2019 258 proud of being a humble inhabitant of this Twitterland of us �
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This is horrible, but you’re bringing attention to the awful behavior of others and shedding light on it for the entire 259 world to see. You’re making a difference not in your own life, but in the lives of other women. Stay safe. Rahaf. Remember why you had to run away. We do not know any of the details, but you do. https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 You know that physical and mental pain that you have suffered. 14/status/108264124369015603 Men will tell any lies to pretend it didn't happen, but you know it did - and we know you are telling the truth.
2 260 #SaveRahaf
اممممم الزم نسوي تمثال الحرية زي امريكا بس يكون لك ونحطه بالرياض 261
وقلب امك شخباره بعد كسرك له 262
263 You just broke your wings by your own hands. Getting your RIGHTS does not necessarily getting your best interest.
264 Use your voice to help others :) #FreeLatifa
265 Wings are only there so you can fly. Always believe لألسف أن ِت مكشوفة وحقوق المرأة والمظلومية مجرد شماعة لتبرير هروبك أن ِت هربتي من الدين أوالثم من المجتمع ثانيا ثم من العائلة ثالثا النهم وقفوا ضد هواك وشهوتك اللي ماقدرتي تضبطينها 266
267 Thanks for the inspiration
شيلي اسم محمد اللي هربتي منه هللا يعوضه خير يارب 😭 268
269 Current life is human being free So proud of you for fighting for your rights!!!! I pray that you are able to safely make it to the country that will take you. 270 I also pray for your safety! 14 271 Very soon god giving u free sky .. GOD BLESS YOU.. You are the Heroine �♀� and a model for all those women trapped by tradition and religion from North-West Africa to 272 the Persian Gulf and beyond. Good Luck to You. Viva @rahaf84427714
273 Because Of INDEPENDENCE Or FREEDOM Is Fundamental Right For All Nations! #SaveRahaf
274 True But Trust Allah Nothing can go wrong. #Rahaf
275 That’s what you wanted I guess rahaf
276 Wow !!!! You are God's gift to all of us. تعتقدين مساعدينك عشان سواد عيونك؟ اصحي ياماما اصحي بكره تعضين اصابع الندم لألسف مرفعين فيك عشانك ماده اعالميه دسمه يبون يستفيدون منها وبعد كذا بيقطونك على صخر 277
Don’t let anyone break your 278 But you just broke your wings With your own hands. wings, you’re free. fight and get your RIGHTS! 279 We love you . � https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 3:36 AM - 14/status/108296423361509785 9 Jan You are the hope for many voiceless http://women.In the world .you are doing good job.Congratulations on your hard-
6 2019 280 fought freedom. ليلة البارحة حينما كانت أبنتي الصغيره بين أحضاني وأعطيها الدواء كنت افكر في أمك اذا تذكرت هذه اللحظات ،، اآلن قدمتي لها الشكر بطبق من ذهب بتصرفك .. الأكتب هذا الكالم استعطافا الوهللا إنما هو تساؤل ، !!؟ هللا يصبر أهلك ويرد لك عقيدتك وعقلك 281
282 I'm happy for you. Stay strong, do not look back. اتخيل اني اترك اهلي وناسي ووطني وديني واروح هربانه من ديرتي عشان اصور صوره وانا مطلعة صدري واقول هاي انا حرة.....حمدهللا والشكر ويلعن الحريه الي رعرفونها فاهمينها غلط هللا يهديكم بس 283
"اللهم التؤاخذنا بما فعل السفهاء منا" 284 Think where you will be #Rahaf in a month in a year at most when this media frenzy is over and all pretenders are gone. U will be struggling all alone away from your family, your mother and all those who love you. Give that a thought before 285 u take the final plunge. This is so wild. We are all following an 18 year old person who none of us knew 3 days ago. And when she says “I’m 286 happy”, we are all HAPPY! @Reaproy هذه الصورة أول انجازات الهروب ؟ هذه الحريه التي بعتي الدين و األهل من أجلها ؟؟ تذكري يا رهف اذا هللا أعطاك عمر و نضجتي عقليا ً و نفسياً سوف تتمنين قساوة األهل وخوفهم عليك حضن أمك و فزعة أبوك على وحشية و أنانية و جرايم هالعالم الكبير 287
هللا يهديك وتاكدي ال تفرحي كثير ألن القادم يا الجئه سواد وجه لك تذكري كالمي نسيت انك ملحده ههههه فيلم اكشن اللجوء 288
289 And we're happy for you ❤❤❤
290 hope you can stay safe now :)
انت أجمل من كل شيئ في هذا الوطن المهترئ القبيح. 291
اقسم باهلل اني في مدينه واهلي في مدينه وماصدق يجي وقت اجازه واشوفهم واشتاق لهم وابكي لين اروح لهم يارب تحفظهم لي امي واخواني وخواتي وكل 15 اقاربي وهللا يرحم ابوي ويجمعنا به في الجنه وياشين الدنيا بدون اب ويارب تحفظ بلدنا من كل كائد وابن حرام وبنت حرام ودام عزك ياوطن 🇸� 292
سيبي العالم سيبي العنف سيبي حتى اهلك فكرتي في آخرتك؟فكرتي في عذاب هللا!!طيب ايش استفدتي فهميني؟انتي دستي تربية اهلك تحت رجلك،كسرتي قلب ا ُمك اللي تاعبه فيك ومستانسه!! هللا يهديك وبس.. "اللهم التؤاخذنا بما فعل السفهاء منا” 293
294 That's good but let's get you safe
ستذهب السكرة وتجيء الفكرة وتعرفين قيمة العائلة التي طعنتيها في الظهر. أما هذه الجموع الوهمية التي تعزز لك سيخفت ضجيجها ويعودون لعوائلهم. 295
هللا يجبر قلب اهلك في مصيبتهم 296
Come on everyone where ever you in the world- we’re not finished yet let’s make Rahaf ‘s smile even bigger and warmer. Keep supporting her by following her account @rahaf84427714 and inviting all others to do so too. 297 #SaveRahaf #FreeRahaf
ياهلل ياقسوة قلبك على اهلك بعد ماكبروك وربوك هذي جزاتهم بس صدقيني الدينا راحت تجازيك وراح تبكيك دم 298
هللا يعين ابوك وامك هللا يصبرهم Hey.. I’m happy ❤� � 299 https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 3:24 AM - حسبي هللا ونعم الوكيل استني بس فتره وتصير لهم الكحبه الي يدورن فيك شهواتهم سودتي وجيه اهلك حسبي هللا ونعم الوكيل خلي الفساد لك التفسيدين بنات status/108296124297993830 9 Jan/14
المسلمين الحمدهلل كلنا بخير وننعم بجميع الحريه في وطنا وطن األمن واألمان 300 2019 4 اه مبسوطه! العالم كلها عرفت عن وضع 16 السعوديات ماعطوك توكيل تتكلمين باسمهم راضين بحياتنا وعاجبتنا محد طلب رأيك AM - 301 5:33 المرأة السعوديه و عن وحشية وقمع
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Jan 9 الحكومه! رسالتنا يابنات وصلت❤ � I ال أعتقد أن امثالك يمثلوا ١٦ مليون فتاه سعوديه يعيشوا حريه سقفها السماء اراهم في لندن وباريس وواشنطن رافعات رؤوسهن ببلدهم ودينهم...انت مصيرك made it 2019 الشارع ستعرفين انك سلعه رخيصه 302 مفهومك للحريه من البدايه كان غلط كثير..توقفي عن انك تنشرين الكالم الكذب عن السعوديه حياتنا من افضل حياه الحمدهلل وامن غير عن كل الدول واالهم من ذا كله انهم دوله االسالم وتقولين وحشيه انتي وتفكيرك هو الوحشيه اهربي واخرسي عن السعوديه الترجعين بس التشوهين السمعه ! 303 جبر هللا قلب أمك وأبيك جبراً يليق بجالل وجهه . أقسم بمن أحل القسم أن النوم حارب عيني وأنا ال أم ُت ل ِك بصل ِة قرابة ولكن حبي لبنات مملكتي ومسقط رأسي ورأسك جعلني أحمل هم أبيك وأمك. رهف أي عقوق أرتكبتي في حق من لهم الفضل بعد هللا من طفولت ِك حتى ما وصلتي له وأصبحتي! 304
سنابات ياسر الفيصل فضحتك يا رخيصه 305
الحكومه مالها دخل هذا ديننا واحنا راضين عنه الحمدهلل واحنا اشرف من اننا نكون مشردين فبلد مو لنا 306
رسالتك خليها لك مانبيها بس ابي هللا يرضى عني وثم والديني انت خليك بنفسك انت واشكالك ،، والطيور على اشكالها تقع..فخوره وهلل الحمد اني مسلمة واشكر ربي على النعمه اللي انت فقدتيها واشكر ربي اني بنت من هذا الوطن اللي الكل حاسده واللي يكره السعوديه هذا غل وكره وحسد 307
كذبتي.. المراءة السعودية في احسن أحوالها وهي أمي وأختي وجدتي وعمتي وخالتي، عموماً ال تنسي المثل من خرج من داره قل مقداره.. الكنيسة بأستراليا رح تختبر ادعاءك انك غير مسلمة بإطعامك لحم الخنزير لتتأكد.. �
هللا يجبر قلب ابوك وأمك ويصبرهم في مصابهم .. لمثل هذا يذوب القلب من كمداً .. 308 قمع الحكومة؟! أنا مغتربة ولسة اليوم أتكلم عن دعم الحكومة ألبنائها واطرح نفسي كمثال. على فكرة بداية الحديث كانت قصتك. المرأة السعودية عدد كبير ان ِت ال تمثليه كله. ان ِت تمثلين فئة تشبهك فقط. 309 أيتها الساذجة. يبيعون لك وهم الكالم. وبعت ألجل ذلك: عائلتك، وطنك، دينك. أكثر صفقة خاسرة ممكن يدخلها أي إنسان في عمره. 310 الحمدهلل الذي عافانا مم ابتاله بها وفضلنا على أكثر خلقه تفضيال أحمدن هللا انكن مستورات في بيوتكن محد يستغلكن للحرام خلوها بتعرف انها غلطانه يوم تتناوب الكالب عليها وتمزقها ويلقونها في الشوارع كغيرها من النجسات لتكسب لقمة عيشها من الحرام هللا ينظف البلد منها ومن امثالها 311 "ومن أعرض عن ذكري فإن لهُ معيش ًة ضنكا" طبيعي تبحثين عن السعادة والتجدينها وتعتقدين انك مكبوته وراح تستمرين تبحثين عنها ولن تجديها اال في طاعة هللا إن أراد ل ِك التوبة والهداية ،، يامقلب القلوب ثبت قلوبنا على دينك 312 ُ َو َق َض ٰى َربُّ َك أَ اال َت ْعبُ ُدوا إِ اال إِيااهُ َوبِا ْل َوالِ َد ْي ِن إِ ْح َسا ًنا ۚ إِ اما يَ ْبلُ َغ ان ِعن َد َك ا ْل ِك بَ َر أَ َح ُدهُ َما أَ ْو ِك َالهُ َما َف َال َتقُل لاهُ َما أ ٍّف َو َال َت ْنهَ ْرهُ َما َوقُل لاهُ َما َق ْو ًال َك ِري ًما َوا ْخفِ ْض َله ُ َما َج َنا َح ال ُّذ ِّل ِم َن ال ار ْح َم ِة 313 أي بنات تتحدثين بلسانهم؟؟ ال يمثلون ١٪ من بنات السعودية! .. تراك صر ِت )أداة(يستخدمونك لمصالحهم من دون ماتحسين! أن ِت اآلن مثل السكرانةلما تصحين وتستوعبين وش أن ِت مهببة بتندمين أشد الندم! .. مافيه كرامة بدون الدين واألهل واالنتماء للوطن، أتمنى تدركين هالشي قبل ما يفوت الفوت! 314
هللا اليبتليني مابالك ويعافينا راح تندمين بس استني لك كم شهر 315 كنتي معنفة والحين قمع حكومة ؟؟ االن وضحت لي الفكرة � ع العموم العاق طول عمره مايتهنى بحياته اسال هللا سبحانه وتعالى ان يذيقك من الحزن الكثير والكثير 316
انتي احد امرين ) طبعا خالصين منها انك نقص ال اكثر وال تمثلين وال غانيه تشتغل بالرياض( االول : انك خراب لجيل مضحوك عليك او مدعومه وانو اوووه مرره واااو حريه وبالواقع من سوء الى اسوء .. الثاني : انك مريضه يرفع عنك القلم ويقفل عنك التغريده بنقطه .)الحمد هلل( 317
�☝ هللا اليوفقك في الدنيا واالخره حسبي هللا على كل وحده تشوهه سمعة السعوديه هللا فوق 318 امك وابوك بعد ماكسرتي قلبهم كيف حال حسبي هللا ونعم الوكيل ذي نهاية تعبهم وتربيتهم في االخير تكسري قلبهم وهللا لن تتوفقي ابدا 319 عنى البنات الفلسطينيات بسجون اسرائيل السويد ما سمعت عنهم؟!!! https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 ام ألنك تخطين خطاهم اآلن بيعرفونك؟!!!! غريب جدا ... باذن هللا ستدور دائرة األيام وسيكون مصيرك للبيع قطع لمن يحتاج status/108299364564762214/14
وباذن هللا وقتها سنرى إن غدا لقريب 320 5
Thank you @rahaf84427714 for giving another women in same situation a hope and chance to believe that everything 321 is possible ❤� All of you deserve a happy & FREE life. You are NOT SLAVES ❤�❤�
322 I know you will be happy and free here in Canada. Welcome!
Hey Rahaf, we surely were up until 4 am on the night when your Kuwait Airlines was scheduled and they were trying to 323 force u to board the aircraft but felt so relieved when you were able to miss that flight. Welcome to Canada �
324 Welcome to !
325 I’m so glad you are safe. Canada is a great country. Have a great life!
اليوم ذهبت الى كندا ولكن االكيد انها ستندم باالمس كانت ابنة عائلة غنية و عند والدها منصب في البلد 17 و اليوم الجئة ببراتب بخس ولن يمكنها اكمال الدراسة و العيش المرفهة بعد اليوم كما في السابق بل ستصدم بحياة صعبة جدا و هي فتاة وحيدة في عمر 18 سنة #رهف_محمد_القنون 326
327 Thailand. Wish you a happy new life, be strong at all time sister
328 Enjoy your new found freedom!
I would like to thank you people I sat up all night reading the messages and praying that you would be safe. I live in Scotland. Your story is all around the for supporting me and saiving 329 world! Wishing you love, luck and happiness in your new life ❤�❤�❤� my life. Truly I have never dreamed of this love and support Enjoy your freedom, learn to ski, go to uni, do exactly what you want. Many of us around the world are very pleased for You are the spark that would 2:04 PM - 330 you. motivate me to be a better 11 Jan person❤�❤�❤� 2019 331
48
Welcome!
Good luck @rahaf84427714. Hope you have a wonderful new life in Canada. ❤ 332 You are an inspiration �
333 Go shine like the beacon of hope that you are, dear Rahaf. We're all right behind you ❤�
334 Welcome to freedom!
335 Good luck in your new Life.
336 You're welcome ❤ So relieved and happy for you. Wishing you much strength and happiness in your new life in Canada. Bravo 337 @JustinTrudeau
َو َلن َت ْر َض ٰى َعن َك ا ْليَهُو ُد َو َال النا َصا َر ٰى َحتا ٰى َتتابِ َع ِملا َتهُ ْم ۗ قُ ْل إِ ان هُ َدى اهللاِ هُ َو ا ْلهُ َد ٰى ۗ َو َلئِ ِن اتابَ ْع َت أ َ ْه َوا َءهُم بَ ْع َد الا ِذي َجا َء َك ِم َن ا ْل ِع ْل ِم َما لَ َك ِم َن اهللاِ ِمن َولِ ٍّي َو َال َن ِصي ر 338 لن تسقط فتاة علي والدها متكئة ♡♪ شوفي الفرق ي خساره 339 https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 14/status/108384521534812979
2 340 Good luck in your new life dear Rahaf وهذا وعمرك ١٨ ومعلمينك أهلك اللغة ومسفرينك للخارج وماقصرو فيك وتبين حرية!!! وهللا ستندمين لكن فتره وستذهب الفغاره اللي أنت فيها مازلت قاصر لكن ستندمين ع تركك أهلك ووطنك 341 كالمك خطاء حديث رسولنا الكريم ال: ) َما ِم ْن َم ْولُو د إِالا يُو َل ُد َع َلى ا ْلفِ ْط َر ِة، َفأَبَ َو اهُ يُهَ ِّو َدانِ ِه أَ ْو يُ َن ِّص َرانِ ِه أَ ْو يُ َم ِّج َسانِ ِه .. اما انتي لقد ولدتي مسلمه وانعم هللا عليكي بنعمه االسالم وقد فرطتي فيها اسال هللا العظيم ان يردك الى دينه ردا جميال 342
هللا يهديك ويصلحك ويردك ردا جميال ، اوالدنا لنا وهللا يحفظهم والحمدهلل مبسوطين مع بعض التعممين 343 ولدي من صلب ظهري مولي اجل لمين للجيران عزهللا لو تكحي يطلع ضلع خنزير يعني انجب وارمي واذا مر من عندي مااعرفه اقوله وهبت من السماء استغرهللا يارب سامحني ونحنا نستطيع بالي يرضى هللا فينا وفي عيالنا وخذيني على قد عقلي آيات نزلة للوالدين وانتي تعرفي فمابالك لمن يتبرؤ منك 344 بالعكس انا وأوالدي وما أملك ألبي وأمي الغالية فهما مصدر إلهمي وسبب وجودي وتوفيقي في الدنيا فمهما اختلفت معهم فكرياً وثقافياً فلن يكون ذلك سبباً للقطيعة وجلب الخزي والعار لهما ) اللهم ارزقني برهما ( 345
يقول هللا تعالى: ﴿ َربا َنا هَ ْب َل َنا ِم ْن أَ ْز َوا ِج َنا َو ُذ ِّريااتِ َنا قُ ار َة أَ ْعيُ ن َوا ْج َع ْل َنا لِ ْل ُمتاقِي َن إِ َما ًم ا﴾
وقال تعالى: ﴿ا ْل َما ُل َوا ْلبَنُو َن ِزي َنةُ ا ْل َح َيا ِة ال ُّد ْن َيا َوا ْلبَاقِيَا ُت ال اصا ِل َحا ُت َخ ْي ٌر ِع ْن َد َربِّ َك َث َوا ًبا َو َخ ْي ٌر أَ َم ًال ( 346 صرتي تلقين خطب يادوار الشمس ومواعظ متى بينزل كتابك في مكتبة جرير ان شاء هللا ال ابنائنا جايبينهم عشانك 347
فكري في بعدين ال تفكرين في يومج هذا بس 348
هللا يعينك قدامك ايام سودا 349 رهف ان العائلة دفء ومحبه والقواعد أكيد لمصلحتنا ،رهف مهما كان الذي حدث فهو ليس اسوء من طفل شارد بال مأوى او بنت يتيمه بال اب او بنت مسكينه ال تستطيع شراء مالبس. رهف نضجت فكريا وتريد شخصية مختلفه هذا حق ولكن ال تنس حقوق عائلتك وبلدك واإلسالم . 350
هذه روءيۃ لمن يفهم. ثم منذ عقود نعيش في مجتمع مفتوح و أيضا مخترق بالثورة الرقميۃ في عمق البيت التربوي.. فالبيءة هي التي تربي و لها حصۃ أكثر و 18 طبيعي تأثير أكثر.. لربح المعركۃ التربيويۃ شيء ليس بالهين. و كما يقول أحدهم، يجب مدينۃ كاملۃ لتربيۃ طفل ، كما يجب شعب كامل لبناء مجتمع ! 351 ْ قال تعالى: َوأ ُم ْر أَ ْه َل َك بِال اص َال ِة َوا ْص َطبِ ْر َع َل ْي َها َال َن ْسأَلُ َك ِر ْز ًقا َن ْح ُن َن ْر ُز ُق َك َوا ْل َعاقِبَةُ لِلت ا ْق َوى. قال تعالى: ﴿ َوقِفُوهُ ْم إِناهُ ْم َم ْسئُولُو َن ﴾
وقال تعالى: ﴿ يُو ِصي ُك ُم اهللاُ فِي أَ ْو َال ِد ُك ْم(. 352 جعلس المرض ياربي هللا يذوقس القهر والعذاب قبل تموتين يالمرهله 353
.هي أيام. تستمتعي بها الدين وال أهل راح تعرفي معنا األسرة يوم من األيام rahaf84427714@ 354 هذي افكار اليهود والنصارى الحرية الزائفة وقد نسيت القران الكريم وتعاليمه الكريمة قال تعالى : ومن اعرض عن ذكرى فان له معيشة ظنكا...صدق هللا العظيم 355
صصححح Yess!!! � � � 356 متابعه تعليقاتهم االرهابيه والفكر المتطرف الذي يخلو من االنسانيه تجلعني افهم لماذا هربت هذه البنت الشجاعه الحره .. الجميع جلدها دون رحمه ودون فهم احتياجاتها االنسانيه التي ذهبت لتبحث عنها في بالد تعرف معنى االنسانيه واالخالق ..برافووووو رهف 357
دائماً البنت الضايعة تتمناء كل البنات يضيعوا 358 حققت حلما عن طريقهم وهم يحققون احالمهم عن طريقك لم يعبؤا بمشاعرك ولم يخفوا صورتك حفاظا على امنك أوالدكم ليسوا لكم" استخدموك ادآة الهدافهم أوالدكم أبناء الحياة المشتاقه إلى نفسها. بكم ال يعنيهم من أنت وماهي نهايتك .يأتون إلى العالم، ولكن ليس منكم رحم هللا حال أم كان اكبر همها دعوتك للصالة ونهيك عن االنحراف .ومع أنهم يعيشون معكم فهم ليسوا ملكاً لكم رحم هللا حال من حضنتك أنتم تستطيعون أن تمنحوهم محبتكم، ولكنكم فطعنتي قلبها ال تقدرون أن تغرسوا فيهم بذور أفكاركم، مااقسى قلبك 359 ".ألن لهم أفكا ًرا خاصة بهم https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 4:01 PM - تركتي كل شي، فكل شي قابل للتعويض ، اموال الكون كلها عدا )االسالم( ال تعوض خسارته فال تتركيه status/108713802933500723 20 Jan/14
نصيحة 360 2019 2
تسلقتي على حقوق النساء في السعودية واتخذتي من مطالباتهم ذريعه لك وهم أطهر وأشرف وحقوقهم مشروعه ومسموعه ذهبتي لحريتك المزعومه بكل كمية السقوط الذي شاهدنا رهف انتي لست الواجهة التي تمثلنا او تشرفنا رفقاً بوالدك الذي لطختي اسمه احذفيه من بروفايلك فهو أشرف من ان يكون خلف اسمك 361
19 شنو البنت بدون ابوهاوعزوتها واهلها يوم يمر بدون صوت امي اتضايق الزم كل يوم اكلمها واتمنى اليوم اللي اتخرج وارجع لحضنها هللا اليحرمني منهاانتي شنو هدفك بالحياه شنو الحريه اللي تبينها لو انك بنت سويه صدقيني كان اهلك عطوك حريتك هذا انا ادرس برا ولحالي واهلي واثقين وجعلني ماخيب املهم 362
اللهم ردها ردا جميال❤. 363 إذا لم ينجح الدين في تنظيف لسانك فهو -قطعا- لم يتمكن من قلبك - PM 2:28 Jan 22 هذا قراري. معي نفسي واستقالليتي وقوتي وإن كان همك الدفاع عن الدين فاعلم بأنك أكثر من أساء إليه منقول للفائدة 364 2019 وحريتي، معي كل ما أريده والحياة حلوه
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يارهف تصدقين عاد عندي اليقل عن 2مليون بحسابي ووظيفة براتب 23 الف وأقدر أروح ألي مكان في العالم وأشتري اللي أبي لكن وفاة أمي وأبوي وأخوي جعل الدنيا تافهه جدا وش فايدة المال بدون حضور األهل؟ يشهد هللا إني أستغرب كونك بنت عاقله وتعملين كذا أكيد فيه شي كبير وعظيم حتى أهلك مايعرفوه 365
اعيش خادمه تحت رجول ابوي وامي وال اعيش ملكه وانا محرومه منهم هللا ال يبالنا 😭 366
بكرا. حتندم يا جميييييل � 367 سقط المكياج ال جدوى بأن تستعيري اآلن وجه مفتعل اي شيء أن ِت جسرا للعدى للذباب االدمي نهر عسل 368
اللهم ردها ردا جميال 369
هللا يوفقك لكن الحرية طعمها احلى مع األهل و رضاية الوالدين في الغرب يساعدوك لكن تبقي في عيونهم السعودية المسلمة ال يرضوا عليك اال اذا تطبعت بطباعهم 370
قرارك خاطئ السبب الذئاب ماتتخلى عن عائلتها وفصيلتها وبيئتها وطبيعة الحياة الخاصة بها . سوأل لو طلع ذئب زاحف زي رهف وحاول يعيش مع األسود وش راح يكون مصيرة ؟ عاج ًال او آج ًال اكيد الهالك والموت طيب لو تراجع عن قرارة ورجع لمواطنة راح تقل الخسائر علية ويسلم بحياتة 371 انا هلل وانا اليه راجعون بعد ازمه قلبيه حاده تعرض لها والد رهف القنون توفى والدها اثر االزمه القلبيه هللا يرحمه احرقتي قلب والدك وقتلتيه قرأ 372
بعد سنه بالكثير نشوف اذا هالكالم صح او يمكن يطلع غلط� الحمدهللا على نعمة الراحة النفسيه والرضى والقناعه الحمدهللا على نعمة االهل والعزوه 373
374 Have faith in yourself.. you will be absolutely fine.
انت جبتي لناس هسس في مخهم ههههه ماشيين يكلموا نفسهم بسببك يا عيني. مش مصدقة أن عمرك ١٨ بس. مخك يوزن بلد وهللا.♥� 375
ليس هناك حريه مطلقه في هذه الحياة. ال يوجد انسان حر كلنا خلقنا مقيدين ياعزيزتي فأن ِت عليك اإلختيار اما ان تكوني عبده هلل وحده الذي خلقك او عبده لمجموعه من البشر واالفكار المؤديه الى الهالك . 376
انا تعاطفت معك ما أنكر بس سؤال اإللحاد ليه؟ 377
ومعك العجوز الشمطاء ام شوشه حمراء 378
نهايتك حتكون وصخه زي وصاختك. 379 https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 14/status/108783945496073011
ال تعطوها أكبر من حجمها 380 7
بس حبيت امر اشوف ايش قصتك الي عاملة ضجة في االعالم، بس بتعرفي حتى متابعة صفحتك تضييع وقت تمردي و عيشي ايامك بس باهلل ال توزعي نصائح ... و شكرا 381
قريبا ستخبرك الدنيا أن قرارك كان ...... 382
كل يوم يمر...تقتربين من ساعة الصفر والكلشر شوك...انا اعرف انك من الداخل ضعيفة جدا جدا جدا...تدريجيا تتضح الصورة وتزول الغشاوة عن عينيك...والدليل ان نبرة كتاباتك تغيرت ...بلدك واهلك قلوبهم مفتوحة لك عندما تفكرين في الرجوع...انتظر ساعة الصفر يا رهوفة 383
384 U are not alone..
385 Absolutely true
هللا يصلح حالها وهللا كاسره خاطري الن ماتدري وش هو الغرب والتعامل معهم 386
387 Exactly.
عندما تكون الحرية بنظركم سيجارة حشيش و كاس خمرة وعري و كفر بما قاله هللا فبئس بحرية ترونها انتم تنتهي بيوم تجدين نفسك مرفوضة مكروهه او مرمية بدار عجزة او تعيشين بمفردك ال ابن يبر بك و يتمنى رضاك او تنامين باحد الشوارع لك حريتك التي ترينها ولنا ان شاء هللا حريتنا ورضى ربي 388
احذفي اسم محمد ،، ألنه اليتشرف بأشكالك ، أصبح ِت مقطوعة من شجرة ال دين وال أهل وال وطن قدس هللا اسم محمد عن فعلك !! 389
ام زقه تترجم لنا يعنني انا الي رحت كندا وصرت اعرف اتكلم انقليزي وهي مترجمتها من قوقل! ياماما ندري ماتعرفين تقولين جمله وحده باالنقليزي 20 صح مادري على شنو رايحه لجووء 390
دى ال زالت فى سن الطفوله ....يجب اال تؤاخذ على اخطائها ....يجب العفو عنها بعد ان تنفى ما قالته وتؤكد انه غير الحقيقه وانها غرر بها لتلك االقوال....المفروض يلتمس لها العذر 391
لكن ال يصبح الكفر واجبا .. 392
393 Marxism is also oppressive and made many innocent victims, but your quote is good. Succes and take care, cool Rahaf.
هذه الجمله رائعه وتحمل من المعاني والحكمه ماال يستطيع أي عبد تنفيذها... لكن التمثلك شخصيا يا رهف 394
395 Marxists have got a few issues of their own but so much truth in the quote!
جميل جدا ي رهف اصبحت تكتبين حكم وامثال باالنقليش ... وانت ال تتقنين االنقليش وال تتحدثين بها ... اعانك هللا ع االضطهاد حتى حساباتك يتحكمون بها 396
عندما تصبح المحنة التطاق يصبح الهرب َوسيلة الشباع الرغبات 397
لكل شئ في هذه الحياه حدود وقوانين اذا حاولت البحث عن الحريه فلن تجديها ابدا ....الحريه ال يقيدها الدين الحريه تنبع من الذات بالل بن رباح ي رضهللا عنه كان عبدا مملوكا لكن كان حرا طليقا من الداخل وهو االيمان الحقيقي باهلل عز وجل ّ...قوة االيمان شعور جدا مريح 398 “When injustice becomes a law نحن ال نعلم كيف كانت معاملة االهل لكي لكننا نعلم االوجاع والفضيحه والمهانه التي اوصلتيهم لها بفعلتك اعتذري الهلك يارهف اعتذري يابنتي resistance becomes a duty” 399, https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 7:40 PM - 14/status/108864274930017484 24 Jan
ربنا يوفقك ويسدد خطاك ❤� 400 2019 8
مين يعرف سنابها ؟ You deserve to be happy. You 401“ 21 deserve to live a life you’re 3:52 PM - A good life and a happy luxury for you in your new Canada country excited about. Don’t let others 4 Feb 402
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make you forget that.” 2019 From Sudan and I am following your trip I hope my country enjoys peace...
ي عالم خالص خلوها بقريح مقرقح متى م تبي بتفتح ذا المخ 403
الدنيا سجنل مؤمن و جنت الكافر 404 Rahaf mohammed I am so happy mubarak new centre kanada for you your new name rahaaf no chance rahaaf is good 405 and gold name رهف ما تعرف تتكلم انجليزي فكيف تكتب الحساب يتم إدارة من قبل من خطط له الهروب
يعني حساب وهمي له شكلنا فقط صورته موجودة والكالم المكتوب ال يمثل افكار رهف بل أفكار من لعب عليه بعدين تنتهي المهمة ويصير له ماله كرات النه ما أثرت على رأي السعودي فقط سواليف وتنسى 406
زبدة الكالم هللا يكون في عون ابوك. هللا يكون في عونه 407
اعطيتوها أكثر من حقها
خلوها تنقلع واللي مو عاجبته العيشه في البلد يتفضل المطارات مفتوحه . روح والقلب داعيلك وحساب التذكره عليه أنا .. 408
مثيره للشفقه 409
هللا يهديكي 410
الوطن اغال من الحرية 411
قسماً بمن رفع السماء بالعمد ستندمون 412
413 I Proud Of You Rahaf Really You Are A Strong!
Just saw a interview with you from Canadian TV. You are a hero and a true inspiration to men and women all over the 414 world. I wish you a happy and safe future in Canada �
Just saw your coverage on ABC news Australia and wanted to say that you're a very strong woman and you are so brave 415 for standing up for yourself! Sending lots of love and support from california!
416 Happy Valentine Day Replying to @rahaf84427714 417 Hi again from Seattle! How are things going for you so far? ✌
I hope you are happy here in Canada, dear Rahaf, and are making new friends. It’s pretty cold but spring is not that far off! If you can, come visit Muskoka to experience winter’s beauty! I think you can build a wonderful life here! 418 ❤��
أجمل ما في الدنيا طاعة هللا ثم الجلوس مع الوالدين والبقاء في الوطن حيث تشعر باألمان والراحة النفسية ...والسعيد من اتعظ بغيره .. والشقي من اتعظ به غيرهTranslate Tweet 419 السعاده بالرجوع لالسالم والعفه والطهر قبل ضياع الوقت .. https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 الحول والقوة االباهللا status/109257166363864678/14
هللا يحفضك ويهديك ان شاهلل 420 4
مهما كانت ديانتك، الوالدين لهم قيمتهم يا فتاه 421 شجاعة..لكن في الباطل ذكية ...لكن في السوء مقدامة... لكن في الخزي والنهاية...تنتهي الدراما وتلقين نفسك لوحدك..ما تقدرين تحملين مالبسك اللي عليك من شدة البرد...
السعودية حضن دافئ باهلها وطيبها وعالقاتها ووصلها.
اتمنى تصحين قبل فوات االوان. 422 راح تندمين كثير على قرارك هذا اصبري شوي الحين انتي مبسوطه بها االضواء واالعالم والحريه المزعومه اصبري سنه وشوفي انتي دمرتي نفسك كثير وراح تعضين اصابع الندم انتي الحين مجرد ماده دسمه لإلعالم االوربي وبعدها بينسونك وتصيرين ذليله تدورين لقمه تاكليناها 423 أحنا بنات السعودية 🇸�بنات الشرف والطهارة. اذا انتى إنسانه تبغين الحرة والصياعة في لعنة الى تلعنك احنا بلد الشرفوالحق واحنا ما تشرف بعينتاكم الوسخة خلو حياتكم الى بتصير شرب خمر ودعارة لنها قدركم��عشات السعودية وعشا بنات السعودية المسلمات الطاهرات🇸�🇸� 424 Two more young Saudi women trying to escape oppression are trapped in Hong Kong. They are hoping to be granted 425 asylum. They fear they may be deported if they aren’t granted asylum by Feb. 28th.
426 Asa wow I'm glad you are safe happy and free!!! The Dudes that post the hateful things they do to you must love it over there where things are setup so no one can fight 427 back. It's not like that here so let them talk all they want. Bet they don't say that to my face here
فكي نفسك اول � 428 22 429 Scotland is with Canada and Rahaf.
امتى انا اشوفك يا كامل واشوفك متى متى قلي باتسمح ظروفك انسى اسى الدنيا ساعة ما اشوفك قلي متى قلي يا سيد المظاليم قلي متى قلي با تعطف و تاتي يا طيف احالمي واحلى ذكرياتي يا زين احبك اكثر من حياتي قلي متى قلي يا سيد المظاليم 430
هللا يحميك رهف.. خلي بالك من نفسك.. وراجعي نفسك ال تنسي هللا يغفر الذنوب ولو كانت كزيد البحر 431
رهوف بطلي اليف بيرسكوب 432 رهف محمد Rahaf Mohammed رهف عندي حساس انك راح ترجعين وهللا أعلم بس اغتمني الوقت قبل ان يرحلو والديك من هاذه الدنيا الحياة وال حريه بدون العائله ضحكت والدك وحضن والدتك تسوى اروبا باكملها هللا يهديك ويحفضك rahaf84427714 433@ Following Following @rahaf84427714 9:26 AM - 434 Enjoy the life sweet rahaf❤� More 16 Feb #Voting_with_their_feet 2019 435
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السعودية حضن دافئ للرجال( أول مرة أراها في الكتابات وأسأل هللا المولى أن ال أرى هذه الكتابة مرة أخرى والسالم على من اتبع الهدى وشكرا)
ما هو شعورك حيال العيش في كندا؟ 436
Hi Rahaf!! I just watched your story from your hotel room at the Thailand airport. Wow!! I am in a city just 4 hr drive from Toronto and I want to say welcome to Canada � 437 I’m so happy for you and will pray for you!! Much love from one free woman to another!!!!
438 @rahaf84427714 Miss rahaf you opened the way for millions women in would to be free. Thank you for that . أعلم يقيناًأنك لس ِت وحدك بل أصبح ِت ضمن أنضومة تعدها الحكومة الكندية لتكوني أداة رخيصة بيدأعدائنا ،، أين هم عن المظلومين والمقهورين في شتى المعمورة !؟ وأن ِت ومن معك همكم إسقاط الوالية ،، عجباً لنف س أرخصت نفسها في حب بريق مؤقت زائل ،، غداً الساسة يلتمون وتتعرين أن ِت ومن مع ِك،، 439 https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 14/status/109682324292755046 Hopefully you're successful flight can give some hope to others who didn't even consider it a possibility. It's just a shame
5 440 people have to put up with such a messed up system :/ البنت راحت ضحيه خدعه اسمها الحريه . اكاد اجزم انها تحت المراقبة واألقامة الجبرية ويتم استخدام حسابها من قبل الحكومة الكندية . لماذا التظهر للعالم وتقول هذا انا ادير حسابي الخاص بتويتر البنت مغيبة وتحت غسيل مخ بعناية والمؤكد انها حالياً تعيش ازمة نفسية صعبه ألن األمور تكشفت لديها. 441 First birthday being free of principles, responsibilities, ethics, belongingness and family!, just eating and drinking with fake and materialistic people .. I hope that there will be somebody who can wash your body and bury it and pray for you 442 when you pass away one day!!.
443 Happy birthday , i wish you many years of happiness ♥�
444 We love you Rahaf, just stay safe and enjoy your New life ! Wish you all the best
445 Many happy returns of the day Rahaf. I hope Canada is taking very good care of you. ��
446 Happy Birthday, @rahaf84427714. Hope this new life will blossom in all possibilities.
447 Glad you are happy in your new world. Best wishes from Brighton UK. العزاء الحقيقي هو األلم الي تعانيه والدتها ويعانيه اخوتها واقربائها شي يدمي القلب )فتاه مسكينه ولعبه في يد من يكرهونها ( ياهلل ياهلل صبر اهلها وكون معهم وهديها 448 ٰ ٰ الا ِذي َن آ َت ْي َناهُ ُم ا ْل ِك َتا َب يَ ْتلُو َنهُ َح اق تِ َال َوتِ ِه أُو َلئِ َك يُ ْؤ ِمنُو َن بِهِ ۗ َو َمن يَ ْكفُ ْر بِ ِه َفأُو َلئِ َك هُ ُم ا ْل َخا ِس ُرو َن )121( 449 23 450 Happy birthday sweetie❤�❤�❤�❤�❤�❤�❤�
451 Wish you Independence #HappyBirthday
حياه سعيده يملئها الحريه 452
453 Happy birthday
454 Happy birthday! Very nice you feel good!
455 Happy birthday Rehaf have great year ahead❤❤❤
456 Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday Rahaf! Hope you always feel free and live free every single birthday for a hundred years :). “Sto lat”- 457 “(may you live a) hundred years” is the traditional birthday wish where I live, hence the number :)
458 Happy birthday Rahaf! Stay free, be awesome! I’m born again in this life. Sending you smiles for every moment of your special day…Have a wonderful time and a very happy birthday in your new first birthday being free� 459 world of freedom (Canada the great). https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 14/status/110516104721890918 Replying to @rahaf84427714 @Triplejay58
4 Mar 11 460 Good luck, always
اووف متابعينك من ١٢٢٠٠٠ ال ١١٤٠٠٠ باين احترق كرتك هللا يكون في عونك . الوحدة قاتله . 461 You pretending that you advocate the women rights while you cannot release your own account from those who pretending your friendship. 462 Regards
ماشاء هللا تعلمتي عنقليزي مسرع خلي الي يكتبلك يلحس انتي حره الحين حسب تفكيرك مالك ومال السعوديات 463
ليش ماتساعدي البنات الي ساعدوك تكوني هناك بكامل الحريه ترا حتى هم يستحقون بليز منشنيهم !!! 464
النك رخيصه ما تسوين قرش ربع لاير هههههههه 465
بعد كم سنه تتوقعين نلقاك بالبحرين؟ ههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههه 466 نحن نعلم جيدا أن رهف التملك صالحية الكتابة في هذا الحساب وأن من يديره غيرها يكفي كذبا ويكفي خداعا احموا المشردات من بالدكم اوال ومبروك عليكم رهف ومن على شاكلتها 467
احسنتي يا ام عبد الرحمن 468
469 Rahaf now you are Canadian and you can talk about their affairs not Saudi' affairs
اتمنى من السعوديين والسعوديات يحظور هذا الحساب وينتهي الشي اللي يحاولوا يوصلو له اللي هو لعب بعقول السعوديات 470 24 كلي زق يالعاهرة، انا ابغى اعرف الوقاحة اللي فيك ذي من وين، روحي انتحري يشيخة يا زبالة يا قذرة، يا خائنة 471
امثالك السعوديه تنقص شرف بهم يا خنزيره 472 رهف تبين تقهرين السعودية والكل يسمعج ومايتكلم . بس تكلمي عن قضية البدون في السعودية اقسم باهلل راح الكل يحبك صدقيني. الن هناك ظلم كبير في هذه الفئه القبايل ي النازحه. ومعاناة ال يعلمها فقط هللا وأين الحق وحقوق المرأة والتمييز بين المواطن والبدون 473 رهف.. أنا أستاذة في اللغويات وأد ّرسها بالجامعة، وحتى أمهر وأذكى طالباتي ما يوصلون للتم ّكن اللغوي اللي تغ ّردين فيه إال خالل سنتين تقريباً. سؤالي: كيف تغرّدين باإلنجليزي بهالفصاحة وأن ِت متوسطة الذكاء وما صار لك في كندا اال كم شهر؟ 474 If you understand Arabic, dear account, answer مايخربون حياة اال اللي تستخدمها في الشي الغلط . السعودية العظمى فيها ١٠ ماليين فتاة ليش كلهم مايطلعون ويدعون الظلم و القهر ؟؟؟النهم في السعودية معززين مكرمين بالرواتب متساوين مع الرجال و باالجازاة هم افضل من الرجال . اما الشواذ مثلك ايتها الشمطاء فقليل و بكل بلد حتى كندا فيها كذا 475 Every country in the world there is Positive things and negative ،Why do not you show the beautiful side of the women of #SaudiArabia 476 🇸�🇸�❤� Why do men in Saudi Arabia use ياشيخة روحي محد درا عنك ال انتي وال كندا..!؟ مين قال احنا نبي نطلع من السعودية ..؟! their authority to ruin women’s 5:05 PM - 477 كيف تبي تقضي رمضان هذي السنه ونتي موعند اهلك وصدقيني غير تشتاقي الجمعه وقت المغرب ولصباحية العيد وهللا انك فقدي احال االشياء هللا يهديك بس lives? like nothing can stop 11 Apr بتذكري كل ذا اذ شفتي مسلمين بكندا يصلون التراويح them!!! 2019 478
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مانسمح لنسائنا ان يكونو سافالت داشرات مثلك هذه هيى الحريه شفنا ماذا فعلتي من العار والتبرج وشرب الخمور فاهمه الحريه غلط 479 https://twitter.com/rahaf844277 كلنا بخير دامك طلعتي من السعوديه الحمدهلل اذا ارخصتي نفسك ال تفكرين الكل مثلك خلك عندك وفكينا منك ال تسوين فيها انك المتحرره من القيود ترا الجنه status/111649258693014732/14
تبغى والنار تبغى 480 8
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