Beyond the Veil| Saudi Arabia has arrested Manal al-Sharif, 32, one of the organizers of a budding protest movement among women claiming the right to drive, writes the NYTimes. Her lawyer Adnan al-Saleh says that the one of the leaders of a Facebook campaign promoting a collective protest scheduled for June 17 was detained Sunday for up to five days on charges of disturbing public order and driving twice to promote her cause.

Her Facebook and Twitter campaigns have been blocked in Saudi Arabia.

“Usually they just make you sign a paper that you will not do it again and let you go,” said Wajiha Howeidar, who recorded Ms. Sharif while driving on Thursday. “They don’t want anybody to think that they can get away with something like that. It is a clear message that you cannot organize anything on Facebook. That is why she is in prison.”

Saudi Arabia is the only country that bars women from driving. Saudi women are also not allowed to vote, or even work without their husbands’ or fathers’ permission.

The clergy in Saudi Arabia is not unified against women driving. Women drove donkey carts when the Qu’uran was written and — as noted by a television cleric — donkey carts are much more difficult to handle than an automobile.

Because a woman can’t drive, members of Saudi Arabia’s middle class are forces to employ about 800,000 foreign drivers at a monthly salary of $350.

The ‘We are supporting Manal Alsharif’ Facebook page is here.