Comments on: Lebanese Women And The Law

By: Dania

Dania — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:37:37 +0000

Hi Mustapha,
2 kids with barely a year apart is a lotta work, but I always keep check on your posts even if I dont comment(u guys were/are? expecting right?) thats just coz most times am too angry at the situation to stay polite on yr blog :)
Its not pessimism, am just being realistic. Women in Lebanon arent really fighting for their rights as they should. We definitely need an lebanese Ataturk… since u already have the “Mustapha” going, care to oblige? lol

By: Mustapha

Mustapha — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:57:44 +0000

Dania,

Long time! Easy with the pessimism, we never thought the Syrians would go out did we? But it happened :)

By: Mustapha

Mustapha — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:12:04 +0000

Thank you all for your comments..

Maya and Darine,

You shouldn’t thank me for the post. In-your-face injustices deserve to be written about. This is not a favor, this is a duty :)

Beth,

We can never tell unless we try right?

Dalila,

Thank you very much for your comment. I believe you’re one of the authors of the DS article. I just checked out your blog. Didn’t know you had one. I added it to my “Lebanese Bloggers” stream on the sidebar..

Delirious,

I guess the entire point of the post was to correct misconceptions people have about Lebanese conservatism and modernity..

Elias,

Amen to Ataturk, do you know that my grandfather was named Mustapha Kemal after him? When my turn came, the Kemal was dropped out :)

OH,

Even in beirut, she’ll have a very tough time competing against the Hariri-Aoun death match..

By: Dania

Dania — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:08:35 +0000

Too optimistic :(
Lady x will never get elected. Women arent standing up for themselves and continue to pay the price for it. The laws wont change with simply getting a woman elected. Women need to focus more on the civil society and work through associations in order to get things moving. But lets not kid ourselves, so long religious laws govern the personal status of lebanese citizens, injustices and inequalities will never cease.

By: OH

OH — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:11:07 +0000

I think it depends where she runs for elections. Such a candidate is electable in Beirut, but not Baalbeck.

By: Elias

Elias — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:07:31 +0000

The social change can come by educating capable mothers who are knowledgeable about life; giving freedom to women; a man can change his morals, thoughts, and feelings by leading a common life with a woman; as there is an inborn tendency towards the attraction of mutual affection.

—Mustafa Kemal

By: Delirious

Delirious — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:58:10 +0000

…and people actually have the nerve to get offended when Oprah says Lebanon is a ‘conservative country’ :)

By: Dalila Mahdawi

Dalila Mahdawi — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:09:31 +0000

I honestly think the majority of Lebanese women just don’t know about the discrimination against them. The amount of supposedly middle-class, educated women that have told me women have no problems here, or that discrimination is only a Muslim woman’s issue, is simply shocking! Many here still prioritize sectarian affiliation over political standing. The result is even if we have elections, we get stuck with the “old guard” whose only concern is to cling onto their position and power.
In my opinion, the problem with female candidates is that most often, they come from big political families and are likewise simply interested in perpetuating their family’s name and keeping their son/husband’s seat in parliament warm.

Women that don’t come from political backgrounds simply don’t have any money to run campaigns, because no one wants to “risk” investing in a woman they think no-one will vote for.

15 years on from the Civil War and where are we? We have the same names and faces in government, preaching to us about democracy and liberty, and the same sectarian divisions. It’s little surprise then, that women’s rights, or human rights in general, are buried under the rubble.

By: Bethany Kehdy

Bethany Kehdy — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:13:18 +0000

I have to agree with maya on both points. I think it’s too soon still, the mindset is still not developed. However, if we don’t start tackling these issues and bringing them out into the open then it will surely never be addressed and reform will never happen.

By: Darine Sabbagh

Darine Sabbagh — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:36:07 +0000

Thx for standing up for us :D

By: Maya

Maya — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:28:29 +0000

I would say it’s unfortunately too optimistic to think that a lot of people would actually vote for her… But talking about this is a baby-step… Thanks for this post :)