I posted an inquiry to soc.culture.arabic and to soc.culture.saudi  in
respect to the question about Arab women nursing in public, and received a
response in email and a response on USENET from the soc.culture.arabic group.
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Response #1
Hello,
Thank you for your question. Since the subject is of limited interest, I
thought of replying by mail.
While it is true that breastfeding is encouraged, doing it in public
contradicts with the basic teachings on modesty, chastity and honor. It is also
contrary to cultural vales. It may hapen in front of other women or close
relatives, but not on the bus, in the park or the mall etc. If no private space
is available, a pacifier is used to stop the baby from crying or it could be
attached to a cow/sheep etc milk bottle (which is usually used as a backup in
every home with a baby).
Hope this helps,

Response #2
In article <[log in to unmask]> [log in to unmask] (Lois Patterson) writes:

>I am attempting to determine whether women can/do breastfeed publicly in
>Arabic/Muslim cultures, or the circumstances under which they do
>breastfeed.  I am aware of the fact that Islam strongly favours breastfeeding.

As far as I know, breastfeeding in public is not encouraged in the Arabic or
in Muslim cultures. I remember when I was young, in Libya, when we used to go
to parks, the women with babies had to find a semi-secluded place to
breastfeed. It's probably like that in most other Arab/Muslim countries.

>Thank you for your assistance.

No problem. I hope this helps. :)