Prince Alwaleed says it's 'time Saudi women started driving'

The Saudi billionaire compared driving to women's right to an education and a career.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is taking a stand for women's right to drive in Saudi Arabia.

In an open letter titled "It is High Time that Saudi Women Started Driving their Cars," posted on his Twitter account, Talal emphasized the importance of progress in today's world. 

Talal compared a woman's right to drive with her right to an education and a career. 

“Preventing a woman from driving a car today is an issue of rights similar to the one that forbade her from receiving an education or having an independent identity,” he wrote.

Talal said that a social stigma was previously associated with these two things. With time, these aspects of Saudi life have changed for women in the kingdom. 

The country "sought to adopt a patient strategy, allowing Saudi to evolve according to its own pace and wishes." 

Now, it is "high time that Saudi women started driving their cars, and it is high time that we turn the page on this issue the way we did on tens of other major ones," Talal wrote.  

A driving ban is in fact an "infringement on a woman's rights." 

There are more than one million Saudi working women in need of transportation to and from work every single day. Driving is no longer a "social luxury" but a necessity. 

Talal pinpointed the various financial, economic and religious factors associated with the ban. The ban has taken a toll on the national economy, as it undermines the productivity of the workforce.

The ongoing debate about women's right to drive in the kingdom has intensified over the past few years. Under the current law, there is no official prohibition on women driving in Saudi Arabia. But, officials do not issue driver's licenses to women. 

In April, two female council members expressed optimism about reopening the debate surrounding the issue. But in early November, the Shura Council refused to even study the issue. 

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that does not allow women to drive. 

Anti-Muslim Trump supporters have been energized by the Ohio State University attack

They brought back Donald Jr.'s Skittle analogy.

The Islamophobes and xenophobes on American Twitter have found new fuel after a Somali refugee carried out an attack in Ohio on Monday.

Abdul Razak Ali Artan was quickly identified as a "Muslim Somali refugee," and a disturbing discussion on social media about the acceptance of refugees and Muslims into the United States ensued.

President-elect Donald Trump strongly voiced his opinion that refugees are a threat to national security throughout his vitriolic presidential campaign. 

Artan, a student, injured 11 people at Ohio State University as he drove into a crowd of pedestrians before stabbing them with a knife. He was then killed by a police officer on campus. 

The 18-year-old and his family fled Somalia in 2007 to Pakistan before arriving in the US in 2014 as legal permanent residents.  

People on social media were quick to spread hate, prejudice and racism following the incident ... and they were definitely energized by Trump's presidency.  

"We must be allowed to vote for Trump twice"

Emphasizing "refugee" ... just to prove a point

"Trump was right"

Pointing fingers

Others countered the hate with support for the Somali community

Solidarity against hate speech

That's just how they roll

"President-elect Trump was wrong"

refugee + crime = let's rethink policy

Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr. compared refugees to "poisonous" skittles in the beginning of November. That analogy has been rehashed after the Ohio State University crime. 

Trump previously said Minnesotans have "suffered enough" from accepting Somali immigrants into their state. Nearly one third of Somalis in the United States live in Minnesota.

"Here in Minnesota you have seen firsthand the problems caused with faulty refugee vetting, with large numbers of Somali refugees coming into your state, without your knowledge, without your support or approval,” Trump said, according to Time

But, Minnesotans don't seem to agree with Trump. During the recent U.S. election, Minnesota elected Ilhan Omar, a female Muslim Somali-American former refugee, to the state legislature. Muslim Somali-American Halima Aden also just made it to the semi-finals of the Miss Minnesota USA beauty pageant. 

Both women made history and national headlines as they broke down barriers and challenged societal prejudices.