News updates

UNIFIL Civil Affairs’ Office and the Italian Battalian organized on February 13 a craft fair at the Shama’ headquarters, Tyre, with the participation of a number of charities and women associations from the Tyre and Bint Jbeil districts. During the event, UNIFIL Western Sector Commander, Italian General Diodato Abaniara, said the exhibition aims to build solid relations with the local communities and put the economic wheels in motion for the southern villages and towns. It attracts new clientele and helps support exhibiting charities and associations, he maintained, in addition to boosting interaction between local southern traditions and the multi cultures of the UNIFIL nations. (Al Diyar, February 15, 2019)
 

A number of women staged a sit-in yesterday in front of the Maronite Catholic Patriarchate in Bkerki in solidarity with Dolly Khabbaz who has been on hunger strike since February 12 protesting a religious court ruling depriving her of the custody of her children. To recall, the court ruling issued on January 15, gave the father the full custody of his two underage children, establishing the ‘invalidity of marriage’ (divorce as recognized by Christian communities). The alleged reason is ‘psychological’, in reference to the mother’s mental status, who, allegedly cannot commit to the basic duties of marriage, according to Law 818, Paragraph 3. On the text of the decision, Khabbaz attributed the reasons of ‘psychological nature’ to a female psychiatrist’s report that she has never seen or met in her life, stating that her attorney will appeal before the judge who released the verdict during 15 days. Khabbaz said she preferred to appeal in front of Bkerki itself, and refused to eat unless her boys were with her. She wanted to draw attention of the Patriarch to intervene directly on her behalf, as the issuance of a court ruling drags. According to Al Akhbar newspaper, Khabbaz who, until yesterday, was not able to meet Rai, addressed an open letter asking the Patriarch to repeal the decision himself. Meanwhile, Curial Bishop Hanna Alwan announced that Khabbaz ended her strike yesterday, noting that the only way to protest is to appeal the preliminary verdict, as Patriarch Rai by virtue of the law cannot abolish the rule. (Al Akhbar, Al Diyar, February 15, 2019)
 

In collaboration with NCLW, the Beirut Marathon Association launched on Wednesday its 6th edition of the women’s race to be held on March 31st within the Port of Beirut. NCLW president, Claudine Aoun Rukuz, wondered on the occasion how many years and decades “do we need to recognize women as full citizens, and how much effort ought to be exercised by women themselves to claim an equal position in decision making with their male peers.”? The race’s slogan, ‘Your path; your decision’, Rukuz explained, is one of many initiatives targeting and inspiring women to draw their own dream path, while nothing should impede them to realize themselves. The law, she stressed, is the quickest path to justice, requiring the adaptation of unfair legislations and the enactment of new ones to the end of protecting the rights of women on par with men. For her part, Zeina Kiriakos, representing Saradar Bank, said the race is more than a sports event. It motivates the woman to overcome all roadblocks to reach her goals. (Al Mustaqbal, February 14, 2019)
 

The 69th edition of the Berlin Film Festival devoted a large part for women, including the appointment of a woman to head the jury.  It also chose a film produced by Netflix to partake for the first time ever in the official competition. The reported rate of women participation this year is record, with 7 out of the 17 competing films  directed by women, that is nearly 17% against 14% and 5% in the year 2018 at the Cannes and Venice festivals. The head of Women and Hollywood pressure group, Melissa Silverstein, said that this standard participation at the Berlin festival is timely, particularly that not a single woman filmmaker was nominated for best picture or best director at the Oscars. Such festivals, she maintained, have a duty to ensure and increase gender diversity in the industry, for they open the doors to fame for those who take part where they get noticed across the globe. To note, during the 2019 round, the Berlin festival administration will ink a gender-parity pledge that has been already signed by other festival, including Cannes and Venice. (An Nahar, February 7 2019)