Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Lebanese women wed to foreigners want equality
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Every year, Salha Solh spends half her small income of $3,600 just to keep her three sons and three daughters from being deported from their homeland.
Solh is Lebanese but her husband is Pakistani, and under Lebanese law she cannot pass her citizenship on to her children. They are Pakistanis in the law's eyes and need expensive annual residency visas, even though they were born and raised here and have never been to their father's country.
A few months ago, Solh's eldest son was picked up by police for not renewing his residence permit on time and imprisoned for three months until he got a new one.
Nearly every Arab country has similar laws, rooted in Islamic precepts that emphasize paternity as the source of identity. Women's groups have succeeded in changing such laws in Egypt, Morocco and Algeria and are leading campaigns elsewhere, usually against religious conservatives.
In Lebanon, reformers are finally gaining attention for the issue — through a series of small public protests like one that Solh recently attended, of 100 people, on Beirut Martyrs' Square.
"It is my children's right to have Lebanese citizenship," said Solh, who works as a cook and whose husband is unemployed after falling sick recently.
But in Lebanon, the opposition is not only religious but also sectarian and nationalist. Many Lebanese fear that allowing women to pass their citizenship to their children will upset the country's delicate sectarian balance, or open a backdoor for the large Palestinian refugee population to gain citizenship.
"Definitely there is sexism" in such worries, said Information Minister Tarek Mitri, who supports changing the law. "I fear that this might take a bit of time (to change)."
He pointed out that many more Lebanese men are married to Palestinians or other foreigners than the reverse, and no one sees their children as anything but Lebanese.
But in the eyes of many — not just the law — a Lebanese woman with children by a foreign father is seen as bringing foreigners into the country.
Lebanon's population of 4 million is divided between 18 sects, including Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Christians and Druse, and every community is highly sensitive to anything that tips the demographics.
Moreover, Lebanese of all stripes are deeply suspicious of the 400,000 Palestinian refugees who live on the country's soil. The Palestinians, who live in a number of impoverished camps, have not sought mass citizenship, fearing that it would mean permanent settlement in Lebanon.
Nevertheless, many Lebanese remain wary of giving them any foothold.
"The Lebanese constitution prevents all forms of settling Palestinians in Lebanon," said Christian lawmaker Naamatallah Abi-Nasr, who opposes changing the current law.
He said he would only support a change if Lebanese are given the same treatment by other Arab countries — a condition not likely to be met. "If a Saudi woman gets married to a Lebanese, he should be given Saudi citizenship," Abi-Nasr said.
Reformers face a similar situation in Jordan, home to nearly 2 million Palestinian refugees. Queen Rania has pressed for new laws to allow women to pass on their nationality, but lawmakers have resisted, fearing the move could open the way for Palestinian refugees to gain citizenship.
In Lebanon, activists and women married to foreigners have in recent months held conferences and sit-ins, including protests outside the prime minister's office and near parliament in October.
A draft bill to allow women to pass on their citizenship has been submitted to parliament, though it is not known when lawmakers will take it up.
"Lebanon is the least-advanced country in the region when it comes to this matter," says Lina Abou-Habib, executive director of the Collective for Research and Training on Development Action, a campaign leader.
It is not known how many Lebanese women are married to foreigners, but they are believed to number in the thousands. Many live abroad and are not registered.
Syrians and Palestinians married to Lebanese also don't register with authorities since Palestinian refugees don't need residency permits in Lebanon, while Syrians can stay up to six months without applying for a residency permit.
Without citizenship, husbands and children of Lebanese women are barred from government jobs and cannot own property or businesses. They must also renew their residency every year, each time costing around $300.
"We, Arab women, want our rights," Ikbal Doughan, a women's rights activists and the lawyer of the citizenship campaign, told a conference recently. "We are not asking for more."
By BASSEM MROUE
Solh is Lebanese but her husband is Pakistani, and under Lebanese law she cannot pass her citizenship on to her children. They are Pakistanis in the law's eyes and need expensive annual residency visas, even though they were born and raised here and have never been to their father's country.
A few months ago, Solh's eldest son was picked up by police for not renewing his residence permit on time and imprisoned for three months until he got a new one.
Nearly every Arab country has similar laws, rooted in Islamic precepts that emphasize paternity as the source of identity. Women's groups have succeeded in changing such laws in Egypt, Morocco and Algeria and are leading campaigns elsewhere, usually against religious conservatives.
In Lebanon, reformers are finally gaining attention for the issue — through a series of small public protests like one that Solh recently attended, of 100 people, on Beirut Martyrs' Square.
"It is my children's right to have Lebanese citizenship," said Solh, who works as a cook and whose husband is unemployed after falling sick recently.
But in Lebanon, the opposition is not only religious but also sectarian and nationalist. Many Lebanese fear that allowing women to pass their citizenship to their children will upset the country's delicate sectarian balance, or open a backdoor for the large Palestinian refugee population to gain citizenship.
"Definitely there is sexism" in such worries, said Information Minister Tarek Mitri, who supports changing the law. "I fear that this might take a bit of time (to change)."
He pointed out that many more Lebanese men are married to Palestinians or other foreigners than the reverse, and no one sees their children as anything but Lebanese.
But in the eyes of many — not just the law — a Lebanese woman with children by a foreign father is seen as bringing foreigners into the country.
Lebanon's population of 4 million is divided between 18 sects, including Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Christians and Druse, and every community is highly sensitive to anything that tips the demographics.
Moreover, Lebanese of all stripes are deeply suspicious of the 400,000 Palestinian refugees who live on the country's soil. The Palestinians, who live in a number of impoverished camps, have not sought mass citizenship, fearing that it would mean permanent settlement in Lebanon.
Nevertheless, many Lebanese remain wary of giving them any foothold.
"The Lebanese constitution prevents all forms of settling Palestinians in Lebanon," said Christian lawmaker Naamatallah Abi-Nasr, who opposes changing the current law.
He said he would only support a change if Lebanese are given the same treatment by other Arab countries — a condition not likely to be met. "If a Saudi woman gets married to a Lebanese, he should be given Saudi citizenship," Abi-Nasr said.
Reformers face a similar situation in Jordan, home to nearly 2 million Palestinian refugees. Queen Rania has pressed for new laws to allow women to pass on their nationality, but lawmakers have resisted, fearing the move could open the way for Palestinian refugees to gain citizenship.
In Lebanon, activists and women married to foreigners have in recent months held conferences and sit-ins, including protests outside the prime minister's office and near parliament in October.
A draft bill to allow women to pass on their citizenship has been submitted to parliament, though it is not known when lawmakers will take it up.
"Lebanon is the least-advanced country in the region when it comes to this matter," says Lina Abou-Habib, executive director of the Collective for Research and Training on Development Action, a campaign leader.
It is not known how many Lebanese women are married to foreigners, but they are believed to number in the thousands. Many live abroad and are not registered.
Syrians and Palestinians married to Lebanese also don't register with authorities since Palestinian refugees don't need residency permits in Lebanon, while Syrians can stay up to six months without applying for a residency permit.
Without citizenship, husbands and children of Lebanese women are barred from government jobs and cannot own property or businesses. They must also renew their residency every year, each time costing around $300.
"We, Arab women, want our rights," Ikbal Doughan, a women's rights activists and the lawyer of the citizenship campaign, told a conference recently. "We are not asking for more."
By BASSEM MROUE
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Lebanese Underground Hacked!
The Lebanese Underground site was recently hacked and pictures of naked men were put on the news page.
They have issued the following statement on their site:
We hope u ll excuse us if u were shocked !
We need some time to secure the site many apologies...
We hope our gay hacker will stop playing with our site...
It seems that this gay hacker has understood Lebanese Underground as a place that can accommodate him and many others that don't fall into the mainstream category. I think that is a natural reaction when we live in a society that still has issues accepting ‘the other’ whatever his/her sexual, religious, etc. preferences might be. People must be allowed to live and love in honor.
(Lebanese Underground site)
They have issued the following statement on their site:
We hope u ll excuse us if u were shocked !
We need some time to secure the site many apologies...
We hope our gay hacker will stop playing with our site...
It seems that this gay hacker has understood Lebanese Underground as a place that can accommodate him and many others that don't fall into the mainstream category. I think that is a natural reaction when we live in a society that still has issues accepting ‘the other’ whatever his/her sexual, religious, etc. preferences might be. People must be allowed to live and love in honor.
(Lebanese Underground site)
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Middle Eastern Operators Endorse Customer Value, Choice
Dubai: One week until the 13th annual GSM>3G Middle East- Towards a Broadband World Conference which will be held on Dec. 15-16 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. It will be addressing convergence and new revenue streams and technological developments for operators in a market with high mobile penetration.
In a recent interview with Informa Telecoms and Media, Dr. Marwan Al-Ahmadi, CEO of Zain Saudi Arabia (participant in the conference), pointed to the opportunities created by the combination of Saudi Arabia's very low broadband penetration and its youthful, with 50% below the age of 15 and 67% below the age of 25. That is something that number two operator, Mobily, has capitalized on to achieve one of the largest HSPA customer bases in the world at the end of 1Q08, with an estimated 2.64 million subscriptions, according to Informa Telecoms and Media.
"It's a young nation," says Dr. Marwan Al-Ahmadi. "And these people, their consumption of information and telecommunication services is much higher than older people." Dr. Marwan Al-Ahmadi is scheduled to speak on day 2.
Another group involved closely with this year's GSM>3G Middle East Conference is Etisalat. As the UAE's leading telecom service provider, and an endorsing sponsor of the event, Etisalat has subsidiaries in markets including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt. Representing the group on the panel of speakers will be Nasser Bin Obood, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer and Ali Amiri, Executive Vice President Carrier and Wholesale.
A recent mobile market update by Informa Telecoms and Media found that although Etisalat's net additions were 4.8% lower than in 2Q07, they maintained their leadership with 6.8 million subscriptions by the end of 2Q08. Of these 1.9 million were 3G subscriptions.
A further addition to the speaker panel from outside the Middle East region is Anthony Corbett, Head of M&A at leading Russian mobile operator Vimpelcom. Vimpelcom has a long-established footprint across a number of less-highly penetrated markets across Central Asia and has more recently been active in SE Asia. Corbett is therefore well-placed to contribute to a roundtable discussion focused on the exploitation of further growth opportunities in emerging markets, joining co-panelists from Vodafone and Turkcell.
In a recent interview with Informa Telecoms and Media, Dr. Marwan Al-Ahmadi, CEO of Zain Saudi Arabia (participant in the conference), pointed to the opportunities created by the combination of Saudi Arabia's very low broadband penetration and its youthful, with 50% below the age of 15 and 67% below the age of 25. That is something that number two operator, Mobily, has capitalized on to achieve one of the largest HSPA customer bases in the world at the end of 1Q08, with an estimated 2.64 million subscriptions, according to Informa Telecoms and Media.
"It's a young nation," says Dr. Marwan Al-Ahmadi. "And these people, their consumption of information and telecommunication services is much higher than older people." Dr. Marwan Al-Ahmadi is scheduled to speak on day 2.
Another group involved closely with this year's GSM>3G Middle East Conference is Etisalat. As the UAE's leading telecom service provider, and an endorsing sponsor of the event, Etisalat has subsidiaries in markets including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt. Representing the group on the panel of speakers will be Nasser Bin Obood, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer and Ali Amiri, Executive Vice President Carrier and Wholesale.
A recent mobile market update by Informa Telecoms and Media found that although Etisalat's net additions were 4.8% lower than in 2Q07, they maintained their leadership with 6.8 million subscriptions by the end of 2Q08. Of these 1.9 million were 3G subscriptions.
A further addition to the speaker panel from outside the Middle East region is Anthony Corbett, Head of M&A at leading Russian mobile operator Vimpelcom. Vimpelcom has a long-established footprint across a number of less-highly penetrated markets across Central Asia and has more recently been active in SE Asia. Corbett is therefore well-placed to contribute to a roundtable discussion focused on the exploitation of further growth opportunities in emerging markets, joining co-panelists from Vodafone and Turkcell.
Kuwaiti Women Still Lag Behind: Watchdog
Kuwait: As Wednesday marks the 60th anniversary of the World Declaration of Human Rights, the Kuwaiti Society for Human Rights issued a statement on the occasion enumerating its achievements so far and outlining the challenges ahead.
The statement pointed out that the past sixty years have witnessed significant developments, including the abolishment of slavery, human trafficking as well as the empowerment of the masses to exercise their human rights without restrictions.
"In Kuwait, we have seen significant political and social changes, including the establishment of a constitutional system in 1962," the Society stated in a statement. The Society, however, affirmed that although Kuwaiti women have been empowered to exercise their full political rights, they still lack some of their basic rights, including the fact that the children of Kuwaiti mothers who are married to non-Kuwaitis can't attain Kuwaiti citizenship.
"In the labor sector, there are obvious restrictions on the appointment of women to senior positions," the society lamented, while citing divorce and custody constraints as other issues.
Meanwhile, the statement decried the fact that stateless individuals, commonly known as Bedoun, remain unable to attain their basic human rights, adding that the issue needs urgent solutions.
Concerning the expatriate workforce, the society urged concerned authorities to consider the plight of foreign manpower by ensuring that they attain their rights in accordance with labor bylaws.
The Society also called for the endorsement of a new Labor Act in order to insure he rights and dignity of expatriate workers, including domestic laborers.
(Original Source: Al Watan Newspaper)
The statement pointed out that the past sixty years have witnessed significant developments, including the abolishment of slavery, human trafficking as well as the empowerment of the masses to exercise their human rights without restrictions.
"In Kuwait, we have seen significant political and social changes, including the establishment of a constitutional system in 1962," the Society stated in a statement. The Society, however, affirmed that although Kuwaiti women have been empowered to exercise their full political rights, they still lack some of their basic rights, including the fact that the children of Kuwaiti mothers who are married to non-Kuwaitis can't attain Kuwaiti citizenship.
"In the labor sector, there are obvious restrictions on the appointment of women to senior positions," the society lamented, while citing divorce and custody constraints as other issues.
Meanwhile, the statement decried the fact that stateless individuals, commonly known as Bedoun, remain unable to attain their basic human rights, adding that the issue needs urgent solutions.
Concerning the expatriate workforce, the society urged concerned authorities to consider the plight of foreign manpower by ensuring that they attain their rights in accordance with labor bylaws.
The Society also called for the endorsement of a new Labor Act in order to insure he rights and dignity of expatriate workers, including domestic laborers.
(Original Source: Al Watan Newspaper)
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Leila Karam and Many Other Lebanese
Lebanon: Tuesday 2nd of December 2008, Leila Karam finally surrendered to death after a long period of sickness spent in the hospital. But Leila Karam's battle was not only with sickness but also with extreme poverty especially in her last days since she had to be seriously hospitalized. She spent her last days between hospitals and her wheel chair without any money to pay for her medication.
Her need for money to survive is the reflection of Lebanon's non-existing social security programs and the neglect and abandonment we endure daily as Lebanese. This country that not only saw the diaspora of most of its youth but also the slow death of all those who have decided to stay and fight.
Leila Karam was a long-standing actress that participated in many Lebanese and Egyptian movies from the 70's and 80's. She is the younger sister of another Lebanese actress Nabila Karam. Her famous role as 'Umm Melhem' with 'Abu Melhem' (Adeeb Haddad) made her a cultural/pop icon in every Lebanese household.
But that was not enough to ensure her a proud life, esp. in her old age, in a country she has served and represented for a very long time. That country has betrayed her and many other artists like her that were left for oblivion.
Leila's story reminds me and many other Lebanese of our responsibility to our parents and elders who have no one but us. Unfortunately, we do not live in a civilized country (as they proudly declare) and certainly don't have rich resources (like oil, etc.) to bail us out. All we have is ourselves and our will to fight and live.
Finally as Leila, in one interview, said: "They don't remember us except when we are dead, that is if they do, so why should we remember them or show our admiration."
Monday, December 1, 2008
Material for a film: A Tribute to Wael (work of Emily Jacir)
On Monday October 16, 1972, Wael Zuaiter left Janet Venn-Brown's apartment and headed to his apartment at No. 4 Piazza Annibaliano in Rome. He had been reading A Thousand and One Nights on Janet's couch searching for references to use in an article he was planning to write that evening. He took two buses to get from Janet's place to his in northern Rome. Just as he reached the elevator inside the entrance to the building of the apartment block where he lived, Israeli assassins fired 12 bullets into his head and chest with 22 calibre pistols at close range. Wael Zuaiter had become the first victim in Europe of a series of assassinations committed by Israeli agents on Palestinian artists, intellectuals and diplomats that was already underway in the Middle East.
A thirteenth bullet pierced his volume 2 of A Thousand and One Nights and got lodged in its spine. One of Wael's dreams was to translate A Thousand and One Nights directly from Arabic into Italian. He had been working on this project since his arrival in Italy in 1962. To this day an Italian translation from the Arabic does not exist.
In 1979, Wael Zuaiter's companion of eight years, Sydney-born artist Janet Venn-Brown published For A Palestinian - A Memorial to Wael Zuaiter. One chapter, titled Material for a Film by Elio Petri and Ugo Pirro, consists of a series of interviews conducted with the people who were part of Wael's life in Italy, including Janet herself. They were going to make a film, but Elio Petri died shortly afterwards and the film was never made.
Today, I am looking for others who can work with me to interpret Emily Jacir's installation 'Material for a film' into a short film.
This is a call for collaboration with people from diverse backgrounds...
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