Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia

Al-Abdullah
Al-Salem Al-Sabah, had just returned to Kuwait with the hope that
war could be averted.
    When our son cried out that Iraqi troops were
advancing on Kuwait City, the seriousness of the attack was
evident. I wondered if the huge family of Al Sabahs would escape
with their lives. As a mother, my thoughts were with the innocent
children.
    I watched Kareem’s face across the crowded
room. Underneath his calm façade, he was furious. The Iraqis had
gone against their word; as a result, the leaders of our government
had played a role in minimizing the danger. His brown eyes had a
glow that caused a shiver to run down my spine. I knew that he,
along with other Al Sa’uds present, would soon leave for a hastily
called family conference.
    I had heard Kareem speak often of the
barbarity of the Baath regime in Iraq. He had said many times that
the Iraqis were by nature aggressive and prone to violence in their
private lives. He thought that might explain their national
acquiescence to a brutal police state.
    I myself knew little of the true politics of
the area, for Saudi news is heavily censored and our men reveal
little of their political activities to their wives. But Kareem’s
opinion was justified by a story I had heard from an Iraqi. Several
years ago, while dining out in London, Kareem, Asad, Sara, and I
had listened in complete fascination as a casual Iraqi acquaintance
bragged of killing his father over a misunderstanding about
money.
    The son had sent the father his earnings from
an investment in Paris. The widowed father had become enamored with
a village woman and had spent the son’s earnings on the purchase of
expensive gifts for his mistress. When the son returned to Iraq to
visit, he discovered that his money had been squandered. He knew
what he had to do, which was to shoot his father to death.
    With a loud shout, Kareem had protested the
unbelievable act. The Iraqi was surprised at my husband’s
bewilderment and disbelief, and responded: “But he had spent my
money! It was mine!” As far as the man was concerned, he had had a
reasonable cause to take the life of his father.
    His act was so unthinkable and repulsive to
Kareem that, departing from his usual mild manner, he jumped toward
the man and told him to leave our table. The Iraqi left in a rush.
Kareem muttered that such attitudes were not uncommon in Iraq, but
social acceptance of murdering one’s father found great doubt in
his mind.
    Kareem, like all Saudi men, revered his
father and showed him much respect. He would not think of raising
his voice or even presenting his back to his father. I had seen
Kareem leave a room backward on numerous occasions.
    Like most Arabs, I am sorry to acknowledge, I
am a heavy smoker, yet I was never allowed to smoke in front of
Kareem’s father.
    Kareem, as a member of an outdated monarchy,
was acutely interested in the movements of the Middle East that had
ousted royals from their throne. As Arab history unfolded, kings
were unceremoniously dumped, and quite a number had ended with
their bodies riddled with bullet holes. As a royal, Kareem felt
fear at the possibility of unrest visiting our land.
    In addition, like most Arabs, Kareem felt
great shame at the never-ending spectacle of Muslim fighting
Muslim. For the most part, we Saudis laid down our arms when our
country was bonded from the land of tribes to a kingdom united.
Bloodletting is not the manner our men chose to fight our enemies;
purchasing power is considered the civilized method of victory.
    But for now, our lives were erupting with the
insanity of the drama of real war. While our men rushed to intrude
on the momentous decisions of diplomacy, we women called for
Abdullah to bring his wireless radio to the sitting room. The news
was sparse, but appeared to be going from bad to worse for the
unfortunate Kuwaitis. Before we retired, we learned that Kuwait was
occupied; our country was being invaded by thousands of war
refugees. We Saudis felt ourselves out of harm’s way and gave no
thought to our personal safety or to danger for our country.
    The following week would shake our confidence
in our observations. As Saddam’s soldiers drew near to our borders,
rumors filled our country that he had in mind to swallow two
neighbors in one meal!
    Streams of Saudis joined the Kuwaitis in the
exodus from the eastern area of our country. We received frantic
telephone calls from nervous family members with the news that
Riyadh was crowded with