Quotas for women always make the news in this part of the world and in Beirut, they will be the talk of the town this week. The third annual New Arab Woman Forum will take place here on October 15 and16, bringing together regional and international participants and distinguished speakers to discuss the changing roles of women in Arab society. Participants anticipate lively debates about quotas for women’s political participation and other issues affecting women in the region.
If you think Lebanon is a complicated place, the state of Lebanese women's political participation should be no surprise. Lebanese women won the right to vote and to participate in national elections in 1952, 19 years before women in Switzerland. Yet, today, political participation by Lebanese women remains dismal at the national level.
Audette Salem was killed twice. The first time was when "they" kidnapped her children, Richard and Marie Christine, on September 17, 1985. The kidnappers were never identified, and the fate of her children never elucidated. Audette's life was put on hold that day.
Last week's decision by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to release Jamil al-Sayyed and three other high-ranking Lebanese security officials was a victory for the basic principle that no one should be detained for a lengthy period without charge.
Together with the US, the UK government should acknowledge its responsibility toward Iraqi refugees because of its military intervention in Iraq. But until now it has not even taken elementary steps to assist Iraq’s neighbours to deal with the crisis, nor to convince them to keep their doors open to refugees whose lives are in danger in Iraq.
Over a month ago, a French documentary, "Liban, Pays des Esclaves," harshly criticized Lebanese society and the authorities for their treatment of migrant domestic workers. But instead of being outraged by the behavior of their fellow citizens, many Lebanese expressed outrage against the filmmaker who dared to sully their reputation in France. One group even organized a petition against the documentary on Facebook, Lebanon's latest craze.
Franklin P. Lamb’s article “Is Human Rights Watch Caving to the Israeli Lobby?”, published on September 4, 2007, is full of broad allegations of bias that are unsubstantiated and unworthy of response. However, his challenge to the methodology and evidence in our report “Civilians under Assault: Hezbollah’s Rocket Attacks on Israel in the 2006 War,” merits closer scrutiny and a response.
A year ago today [July 30], in one of the worst incidents of its kind during the Israel-Hezbollah war, an Israeli attack on the southern Lebanese town of Qana killed 27 civilians. Since then, there has been remarkably little serious scrutiny of why Lebanese civilians died, in Qana or elsewhere. Israelis have done much soul-searching about the decision to launch a large-scale military campaign in response to Hezbollah's border attacks, and much questioning of the military strategy for the war. But when it comes to the question of civilian casualties, the debate has been remarkably superficial.
Quotas for women always make the news in this part of the world and in Beirut, they will be the talk of the town this week. The third annual New Arab Woman Forum will take place here on October 15 and16, bringing together regional and international participants and distinguished speakers to discuss the changing roles of women in Arab society. Participants anticipate lively debates about quotas for women’s political participation and other issues affecting women in the region.
Back in 2006, Israel's profligate use of cluster munitions in Lebanon caught the public eye, nowhere more so than in the Arab world.
If you think Lebanon is a complicated place, the state of Lebanese women's political participation should be no surprise. Lebanese women won the right to vote and to participate in national elections in 1952, 19 years before women in Switzerland. Yet, today, political participation by Lebanese women remains dismal at the national level.
Audette Salem was killed twice. The first time was when "they" kidnapped her children, Richard and Marie Christine, on September 17, 1985. The kidnappers were never identified, and the fate of her children never elucidated. Audette's life was put on hold that day.
Last week's decision by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to release Jamil al-Sayyed and three other high-ranking Lebanese security officials was a victory for the basic principle that no one should be detained for a lengthy period without charge.
Together with the US, the UK government should acknowledge its responsibility toward Iraqi refugees because of its military intervention in Iraq. But until now it has not even taken elementary steps to assist Iraq’s neighbours to deal with the crisis, nor to convince them to keep their doors open to refugees whose lives are in danger in Iraq.
Over a month ago, a French documentary, "Liban, Pays des Esclaves," harshly criticized Lebanese society and the authorities for their treatment of migrant domestic workers. But instead of being outraged by the behavior of their fellow citizens, many Lebanese expressed outrage against the filmmaker who dared to sully their reputation in France. One group even organized a petition against the documentary on Facebook, Lebanon's latest craze.
Franklin P. Lamb’s article “Is Human Rights Watch Caving to the Israeli Lobby?”, published on September 4, 2007, is full of broad allegations of bias that are unsubstantiated and unworthy of response. However, his challenge to the methodology and evidence in our report “Civilians under Assault: Hezbollah’s Rocket Attacks on Israel in the 2006 War,” merits closer scrutiny and a response.
A year ago today [July 30], in one of the worst incidents of its kind during the Israel-Hezbollah war, an Israeli attack on the southern Lebanese town of Qana killed 27 civilians. Since then, there has been remarkably little serious scrutiny of why Lebanese civilians died, in Qana or elsewhere. Israelis have done much soul-searching about the decision to launch a large-scale military campaign in response to Hezbollah's border attacks, and much questioning of the military strategy for the war. But when it comes to the question of civilian casualties, the debate has been remarkably superficial.