Al-Madina WE were surprised by a Tweet of New York Times in Arabic language asking: "Are you a Saudi woman? We would like to know about your life and future expectations and your views on the Saudi society." Then the newspaper takes us to participate in a survey. Saudis have expressed their surprise and suspicion over the Times' survey and some of them have warned that the move was aimed to blackmail the Kingdom politically. They said participation in the survey would be tantamount to spying against the country with the support of foreign agencies and this is punishable offense under the Saudi law. The newspaper has already pointed out that it would have the right to provide the content of the survey to a third party as well as to edit and change the content. At the same time, the participant would not have the right to oppose change in the content, if he/she did not like it. All the above conditions provide the Times full right to use the content in any information and publicity media and the participant will have to bear all its legal consequences. The newspaper also holds the right to change the terms of agreement with the participant. Some Saudi women participated in the survey and opened their hearts to the newspaper. They said it gave them an opportunity to express their individual woes and issues. The newspaper was seeking separate tales of Saudi women and independent views of participants on different issues. Most Saudi social media activists expressed their stiff opposition to the Times' move to interfere in their country's internal affairs and defended the Kingdom. What does the New York Times want? The newspaper has written in bold letters on its website under the big headline: "Is there any change in Saudi woman's life? It has also mentioned that it has produced a documentary named "Ladies First" highlighting the experience of Saudi women in light of contesting elections to municipal councils. It was published in December 2015. What's the newspaper's intention by initiating this dialogue with Saudi women? No reply. We just read what they have written on its website: "We would like to hear from you and we would like to share your experiences with our readers. We would be contacting some of the participants personally to get more information." It is not clear what does the New York Times intend by this campaign. The documentary has already covered everything. One of the Saudi women respondents has said: "The Saudi woman's situation is not a military secret to hide." The survey then does not bring any new information as the Saudi women's situation is well known. The Western media does not want to find out the facts from its right sources and it tries to concoct information whenever possible. We know the dubious intent of the New York Times by conducting this survey, which asked simple questions after telling participants to write their names, addresses, telephone and city. It's followed by four main questions: What is the most wrong concept about Saudi women outside the Kingdom? Mention a single change in Saudi law or custom, which will have an impact on your life? Have you noticed any change in Saudi society during the past few years? Mention any newly allowed thing for women, which was once prohibited? How does the male guardian system affect your life? The magic word here is change. The connotations of this word would give participants the wrong impression that it would bring about speedy changes in their lives either by putting international pressure on the government or through political blackmailing. It instigates Saudi women to bring about change in their country. The New York Times wanted to provoke Saudi women by saying: Look around you. Your life remains stagnant and unchanged, the world progress and you remain in the same position, you are oppressed by laws and customs and there is no sign of lifting the restrictions on you, especially the male guardian system. The survey's objective is not to take but to send a dangerous message and press Saudi women to demand change at this crucial time. It also sends the message that they are not alone.
