WASHINGTON: The White House defended on Thursday the US First Lady, saying that she was appropriately dressed for her visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this week.

The Obamas visited Riyadh on Tuesday to pay their respects to the late Saudi King Abdullah but Michelle Obama did not follow the customs of this conservative Muslim country and arrived there without a headscarf or veil.

This annoyed some conservative Saudis who rushed to the social media to vent their feelings. They sent out about 1,500 tweets, mostly in Arabic, criticising the First Lady for ignoring their tradition.

Although criticised in the kingdom, the First Lady’s decision to wear a western dress praised across the US

Some of them pointed out that on a recent trip to Indonesia, she had worn a headscarf. Why not in Saudi Arabia?

Also read: Michelle Obama draws flak for going without headscarf in Saudi Arabia

But the White House rejected the criticism as uncalled for. “The attire the First Lady wore on this trip was consistent with what First Ladies in the past have worn,” said Principal Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz.

He pointed out that former First Lady Laura Bush, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wore similar dresses on their visits to Saudi Arabia, as did German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Women members of US delegations that visited the kingdom in the past also wore similar dresses, Mr Schultz said.

Although criticised in Saudi Arabia, First Lady Michelle’s decision to wear a western dress on the occasion was praised across the United States.

Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, tweeted: “Kudos to the First Lady for standing up for women and refusing to wear … mandated headscarfs in Saudi Arabia. Nicely done.”

“Michelle Obama doesn’t owe anyone a headscarf,” wrote the New Yorker magazine.

“Michelle Obama is an American woman, and can choose to forgo a head scarf or to wear one,” it wrote.

The magazine, however, explored another possibility: “Suppose, for reasons independent of politics, Michelle Obama liked the way a head scarf looked. Why shouldn’t she put one on?”

Mr Schultz said he would not respond to pro- or anti-Michelle tweets or comments. “I will say that the First Lady very much enjoyed her visit to both India and Saudi Arabia. She felt like she was warmly welcomed by the king there.”

He said that the new Saudi King and the US First Lady had a very good discussion that included catching up on their families, and also a new school that the King had built to help 60,000 women get educated.

The Washington Post noted that the response in the Arab world was not entirely negative.

Ahram Online reported that some Twitter users also defended Michelle Obama, saying that she shouldn’t be criticised too much as it was a short and impromptu trip.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2015

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