Lebanese women in a sit-in against discrimination: My Nationality is a Right for Me and My Family

My Nationality is a Right for Me and My Family Campaign staged a sit-in yesterday in Riad Al Solh, in downtown Beirut. For that purpose hundreds of participants converged to Riad Solh square from across the country, from the South, the North, Beqaa, Beirut and Mount Lebanon areas. The Regional Coordinator of the Campaign, Lina Abu Habib, stressed “rights are indivisible and are not subject to discriminatory considerations,” describing as pointless the political approach that withholds the rights of citizens in favor of narrow confessional interests. Reconstructing political life along the lines of citizenship, she said, is necessary to attain the rights of citizens. For her part, Member of the Campaign’s Coordinating Committee, Mariam Ghazal, spoke on behalf of the Lebanese mothers involved, saying that the only real gift for Lebanese mothers is to recognize their right in passing the nationality to family members. She added: “This right is not a favor from anyone; in fact it has been abducted.” Finally, she paid a tribute to mothers of martyrs of the Lebanese Army. Activists participating in the sit-in confirmed the need to turn the subject of the Nationality campaign into a public opinion case, like in the case of the law on the protection of women against domestic violence which saw the build up of a network of campaigning organizations, in which the media also played a leading role. Similarly, and in parallel, a second sit-in was organised by the “My Nationality is My Dignity” campaign at the National Museum, during which a young man tore in public his diploma after an unnamed university denied him a grant to follow up post graduate studies for the simple reason that he is a child of a Lebanese mother and a Pakistani father. During that sit-in, the nationality issue of stateless persons or persons whose statuses is under study was also raised. Coordinator of the campaign, Mustafa al Chaar, urged the government to emulate other Arab states who have granted women the right to pass their nationality to their children. In a similar note, the National Council of Lebanese Women (NCLW) issued a statement denouncing the fact that Lebanese mothers are denied the right to pass their nationality to their children based on a law dating back to the year 1925. The Council, officially entrusted with consulting with official departments concerned, urged the government and the parliament to lift this injustice on women. “This can be achieved by enacting a new nationality bill that makes all men and women equal under the citizenship provisions, notwithstanding the nationality of the women’s spouse,” the statement added. (Al Hayat, As Safir, Al Akhbar, An Nahar, Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, 21, 23 March 2015)