OUR eloquent minister of foreign affairs, Adel Al-Jubeir, has a high place in the hearts of Saudi citizens. He is always sharp, quick and composed. He expresses his ideas very clearly in short words. Jubeir came to the ministry to be the best successor to Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the mammoth of Saudi diplomacy. Since his first days in office, Jubeir showed courage, deftness and stamina in discharging his duties. He was never confused, stuttered or embarrassed by the ferocious media attacks against the Kingdom from various corners of the world. He was always ready to confront the journalists who wanted to fish in dirty waters. He would listen to them carefully and then silence them with his intelligent answers. He believes that his country is right so he expresses this belief clearly with transparency and vividness. Jubeir was convincing in all his answers to the journalists who tried to link Islam to terrorism and to others who tried to mix papers in questions about the war in Yemen. He was quick and sharp in answering the sugar-quoted questions about falling oil prices, the present condition of the Saudi economy, the war in Syria and others. Jubeir is capable of detonating any explosive question in the face of any wicked journalist with antagonistic intentions. However, an expected moment came. The hunter this time was not a foreign journalist or an Iranian diplomat. She was a girl from his very country. Najah Al-Otaibi, a Saudi female scholarship student, took her seat in the hall where foreign journalists assemble to attend the press conferences of the minister and ask him questions. While the minister was cleverly answering questions, Al-Otaibi entered into the line. She asked an old question, which was considered to be the most asked question in the country. It was about women driving in the Kingdom. We have been avoiding giving clear and convincing answers to this simple question for about half a century. Every time we answered that this was not the suitable time to ask this particular question and so it was not the proper moment for an answer. We have created this mine and resolutely put it in front of our feet. We do not want any one to ask: Why we did this to ourselves? This is our own chain and we are free to unchain the fetters or keep them on. Contrary to his nature and diplomatic attitude, Jubeir was not convincing in his answer to this interminable question. He resorted to the old flowery language and the ready-made justifications of making society the main culprit in not allowing women to drive in Saudi Arabia. The atmosphere became tense in the hall. It was as if the minister was telling the journalists that what the girl was saying was right but we had a society that still rejects this matter. Jubeir used all his acumen to dismantle the booby-trapped question but it was obvious that the tug was too wide to be stitched. He simply lost the battle. The best interpretation that journalists could get from the minister's answer was that our society is backward and is comfortably enjoying this backwardness. The journalists were of the notion that the government does not want to destroy people's enjoyment of their backwardness, which is mostly untrue. I salute Al-Otaibi even if we say the timing of her question was harmful. Every time we turn down the answer to this question on the pretext that the time is not ripe while in fact the time is always suitable and endless.
