Does Saudi Arabia practice religious and gender apartheid?

i heard that no non-muslim is allowed into mecca and medina, that christians can be persecuted for carrying a bible, that jews aren't allowed anywhere in the country, that women aren't allowed to attend concerts and sporting events or drive or vote (most men can't even vote).
is all that true? i know that muslims are allowed in jewish controlled jerusalem, in fact muslims are allowed everywhere in israel.
so does saudi arabia really discriminate so hatefully? what is their excuse for doing so?

rabbit, i'm sure people can get used to being oppressed. that doesn't make it right.

Hi, I'm a saudi 29-year-old women, and I'm going to tell you honestly how life is going there. In Saudi Arabia we don't have racism so strong as the west, but we have sex discrimination and gender apartheid to the extent of madness. We are not allowed to do anything in our own country :driving, going out the house with out the permission of man(husband or father),even education we can not attend college or high studies with out the permission of man. In fact many women hate their lives here and wish to go to an other country,, but we can't!!! because a female can not book a room in any hotel by her name, it must be a man's, and she can not travel out side unless she has a permission from her father or husband which they won't give her. A man is allowed to have relationships outside the marriage though they try to conceal it and pretend to be good people, but a woman if discovered doing so, she would be killed, divorced or hit so bad by her male relatives in the best case. Yes we have buses and taxis but we are not allowed to get out of the house any way unless with our (mahrams) the arabic word for a mad who in charge of a woman. The women who say they like it here, I'll tell you the truth about them! Since the girl is young, she is taught never to listen to the west because they want to get her out of her honour!!!if she disaccepts their values then she is not a good muslim and she'll go to Hell no doubt. A female must stays at home and obey. Any call for freedom and openness is a call for adultery and disgrace.We are taught since we are in elementary school that any call for women's rights is an evil conspiracy made by the west-to us specifically-to be like them.Ironicly,men are not included in such speeches from those extremists, they say-indirectly-a man can do anything he wants but women are the source of evilness and thus must be contained in homes. So women here are programmed to say no any call for their rights because they(believe) it is an evil call from the west to destroy their honor, and say they're happy because they are programmed to say so or they are disobeying God because it is God's orders!!! There is something everyone reading this should know about Saudi Arabia, The people here and these restrictions are not coming from religion, they are -90%- from traditions. In Islam a women can do anything own her own, have political, financial and social rights, but now we don't. I wish I could live in another country where women are respected, but I guess I'll wait a long long time till they permit women to go out the country without permission of (mahram).

You know, women's rights in Saudi Arabia is criticized by many foreign nations, but I've spoke to Saudi women, and many like things the way they are. I'm sure SOME want change, and certainly it might depend on the subject, but people get used to the way things are and they become comfortable with it. I don't know about the other issues.

exactly as Rabbit says.. what makes you feel your way of life is best for us Saudis... Also this is not an open country for non muslims to come to.. so theres no reason why one would want to go to Mecca unless just to oggle at it... If you dont want some stranger coming into your home uninvited just to stare at what you do.. Well neither do we.. What purpose have you to go to Mecca? Its just for us muslims. Its a very special religious right to us. ..
Oh.. there are many jews and christians living and working in this country and they are welcome to hold their own private religious meetings with no bother.. Just open propagation of religion is disallowed.. This is our country and our home, I wouldnt want a Jehovahs witness to come to my door spewing his way of beliefs on me, same in Saudi as a country whole wide.. But what the others do in the privacy of their own compounds and homes is fine.. Aramco oil company is a large community and houses many christians and jews as other faiths.. They are welcome to hold their services and no one bothers them.. They have their bibles also. no one conviscated them upon arrival. Women dont drive true.. but its not a problem when there are so many ways to travel anyways.. Taxis, busses, shuttles, trains, etc are all abundant. We live by religious values where men and women dont mix socially.. So there is no reason why we women would go to a soccer match and be oggled by men in close proximity... We can go to women events and do... If you dont like these ways,, then dont come.. simple enough.. We like it here.. The morals of this country are superior to any country.. low crime rate, low rape, low drug addictions, etc.. I value the fact that my children are raised in a good moral society...

"heard that no non-muslim is allowed into mecca and medina"
Yes that's true but you have to think about it...Mecca and Madina are holy cities for Muslims and only Muslims...
Jerusalem on the other hand is a holy city for Muslims, Jews, AND Christians!!

"jews aren't allowed anywhere in the country"
That is a false statement, they ARE allowed...

"that women aren't allowed to attend concerts and sporting events or drive or vote "
No they are not allowed to drive or go to MALE sporting events...The reason for this they claim is because it PROTECTS the woman...By being able to drive, some will take advantage of that and get alcohal(which is strictly forbidden) from neighboring countries..Atleast that is what i heard...but i agree woman SHOULD be given the right to drive and i believe that the king is working on that...Same thing for the sporting events and the other places, it is really just to protect woman and to decrease the interaction between males and females...
As for voting, um...like i just said, there is a king!! Saudi is a monarchy!

"so does saudi arabia really discriminate so hatefully? what is their excuse for doing so?"
Saudi does not DISCRIMINATE(that is not the proper word).
Saudi is a Muslim country and so it follows Islamic law....As for the answer above me...It's not true that woman are not allowed to go to high school or college!!!
since when are you not allowed to not go anywhere without your 'mahram'?
I have seen ALOOOT of woman out alone without their 'mahram'
alot of what she is saying is untrue
:O(

Well to wrap this all up, Saudi does not discriminate, I agree it is not the most free nation, but that doesnt mean it is practicing apartheid