The veil shall fail

Yemeni women defiantly burned their traditional veils yesterday in protest of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's brutal crackdown on anti-government demonstrations. Thousands of women gathered in the capital, Sanaa, said witnesses. They carried banners that read: "Saleh the butcher is killing women and is proud of it" and "Women have no value in the eyes of Ali Saleh." They collected their veils and scarves in a huge pile and set it on fire - an act that is highly symbolic in the conservative Islamic nation, where women use their veils to cover their faces and bodies. It's the first time in the nine months since Yemen's uprising began that such an event has occurred, and if Saleh's reign of terror continues, it won't be the last. Tribes must understand they will not be respected by Yemeni women if they stay quiet while their women are being attacked by the Saleh regime. Tribes who ignore womens' calls are cowards and have no dignity. I won't be surprised if this starts happening in Saudi Arabia.