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Lebanese law on swimming bans muhajabat from official tournaments
1-11-2018
Al Akhbar newspaper featured today the fate of the veiled Lebanese swimmers in the South who face religious hindrances and social rejection, in addition to logistic snags, like the absence of schools equipped with swimming pools, only few exist, according to couch Firas Yassin. Leila, 37, who wanted to become an Olympic swimmer, told Al Akhbar that the environment of the South is a religious and conservative one which rebuffs women’s freedom as allegedly contrary to its strict rules. Swimming from A to Z impinges on the laws and customs of religion, Leila cited her children as telling her. The newspaper wrote that, the South is not the only region hostile to female developing or growing hobbies, pointing out that, according to the Lebanese swimming law, the muhajaba cannot partake in the country’s Swimming Championship. On the subject, Al Akhbar spoke to one of the swimming instructors who is against depriving veiled women of their basic right to participate in official tournaments. “We challenged the law many times and visited minister Inaya Ezzedine who was responsive, but, so far, nothing changed, he said, noting that the international law on swimming allows veiled women to take part in tournaments. In conclusion, one female swimmer questioned the rejectionist stand of the Lebanese Swimming Federation if the female swimmer practices her religious commitment through the swimwear. “The Federation, it seems, believes that the veil is a threat to public safety,” she said sarcastically. (Al Akhbar, November 1, 2018)
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- العربية
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