Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas submitted a letter on Friday requesting U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state. We’ll hear from The Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah who, in his recent article in Foreign Affairs magazine, called the bid for statehood “ill-conceived.” Also, over the weekend, women in Saudi Arabia were granted the right to vote. But as the Arab Spring uprisings reshape the Middle East and North Africa, women’s rights advocates are concerned that women are being sidelined from the democratization process. Liesl Gerntholtz, director of the Women’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, addresses these concerns.