An Nahar daily will be launching an initiative called “Manbiton Lil Rijal wal Nissa’” to advocate for women in the revolution. Lebanese singer, Carole Samaha, was chosen to sing a redistribution of the national anthem by composer Jean Marie Riachi. The latter, in an interview with An Nahar, maintained his admiration and respect for the original version of the Lebanese anthem, pointing out that the issue is not the distribution of the original song, but its focus on the term ‘Nissa’ (women) in reference to the selected modification. Stressing the centrality of women, Riachi hailed the outstanding achievements of women in the current revolts, a scene, he said, he wants to recount to his children. “The women shield has really touched my heart with the genuine value it boasts,” Riachi said. For her part, Samaha lamented that as a mother of two, married to non-Lebanese, she cannot confer nationality to her own children. “I am a genuine Lebanese citizen,” she said, adding, “nothing is as powerful as motherhood.” “Yet the woman is first a leader, who faces leaders, unmasks conspiracies, and creates a different status-quo, is present at all the spaces and places of the uprising, is bold in defending the present, the future, equality, freedom, law and citizenship and all the national and cultural values,” Samaha concluded. (An Nahar, November 8, 2019)
