By
Olivia Alabaster
BEIRUT:
Several hundred activists met outside the Interior Ministry in Sanayeh Thursday
to protest against unequal citizenship rights for women, led by the collective
“My nationality is a right for me and my family.”
Lebanese
women cannot currently pass their nationality on to their children, and
activists have been campaigning against this for years, in July passing a draft
law on the issue to Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
However
the approval two weeks ago by the Cabinet of a draft law which would grant
citizenship to expatriates with a Lebanese father or grandfather, even if they
themselves had not been born in the country, has further frustrated
campaigners.
Lina
Abou Habib, executive director of the Collective for Research and Training on
Development-Action, a Beirut-based regional gender equality center, which is
spearheading the nationality campaign, said that Thursday’s event “was prompted
by this shameful decision by Cabinet.”
“We
are protesting against these clearly sexist and patriarchal policies and the
complete exclusion of women from everything,” she said.
The
crowd was comprised of men and women of all ages, and included the actress
Carmen Lebbos, who told The Daily Star she was not confident of change any time
soon.
Omar
Abi Azar, a theater director, was there as he believes, “It is a completely
absurd law and it’s more than discriminatory. It’s saying that women are not
equal to human beings.”
He
said the law is a symptom of the political system, which, he added, needs an
entire overhaul.
“The
Arab region is living through a turning point right now. But whereas the
absurdities of the system were much more flagrant in, say, Egypt or Syria, here
in Lebanon we have been taught that they are just an inevitable part of the
system. So it will take longer here to overcome them.”
Born
in Lebanon to a Lebanese mother, 10-year-old Lynn Hornig attended the protest
with her American father Thomas Hornig.
“Here
today I feel 50 percent American and 50 percent Lebanese. But normally when
someone asks me about my nationality I just say that I was born here but I am
American. It’s easier now than when I was younger, but it’s still hard,” she
said.
“I
was born here, my school is here and my friends are here,” she added, holding a
banner which read “She gave me life, give me her nationality.”
Her
father, who has lived in Lebanon for nearly 20 years and teaches at the
National Conservatory of Music, said, “She is being denied her rights by the
government. It’s an issue of assimilation. She has lots and lots of friends at
school, but she does not feel 100 percent Lebanese.”
Talking
about change is no longer enough for Hornig. “Today is about believing that a
better Lebanon is possible, and we feel it’s about time ... I don’t believe in
defeat ... What kind of message are they giving to young people like my
daughter? We don’t want you here in our country?”
An ambulance was also
present at Thursday’s protest, giving people the opportunity to donate blood, a
symbolic gesture emphasizing that Lebanese men and women are the same, and thus
should be granted equal rights. Blood was donated to the medical charities
Secours Populaire and the Amel Association.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2011/Dec-30/158340-activists-demand-equal-citizenship-rights-for-women.ashx#axzz1kkzRRrWi
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