My Nationality is a Right for Me and My Family denounces Bassil’s racist rhetoric

My Nationality is a Right for Me and My Family Campaign denounced yesterday a statement by foreign minister Jibran Bassil in which he refused the naturalization of Palestinians and Syrians, restricting this right to “our children and communities abroad,” and warning that “should the Lebanese identity melt away, Lebanon will to.” Bassil made his announcement during the launch on August 24th of a national campaign to restore the citizenship of descendants of Lebanese “fathers and grandfathers” in the world. He considered that every Lebanese expatriate notwithstanding his sect should reinstate his nationality. My Nationality campaign issued a statement strongly condemning such positions and the avalanche of disrespect and ridiculing of people. "This is not the first time ministers, deputies and politicians impart such racist declarations, notably minister Bassil, who uses every opportunity to spell out his plan rejecting the right of Lebanese women to grant citizenship to their families,” the statement said. “As if Lebanese women, your excellency, do not belong here, neither do their children. If your standards for the country’s endurance and continuity is maintaining its identity, how then, your excellency can Lebanon survive if you disregarded its women,” the statement added. Lebanon weakens and decays with the continuous marginalization and deprivation of the rights of women to full citizenship which is substantiated by discriminatory and unfair legislations and laws, the statement went on to say. The campaign also stressed that rights include the rights of women with no exceptions, and this is realized by endorsing their rights to nationality on the basis of full equality between citizens, men and women, away from any discretionary attempts. “The priority must be for Lebanese women and their families before any descendent living anywhere in the world,” the statement concluded. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Hayat, August 30, 2016