I Am Not A Tourist! 1. I Am Not A Tourist! Aysha Hawwari

Transcription

1 I Am Not A Tourist! 1 I Am Not A Tourist! By Aysha Hawwari

2 I Am Not A Tourist! 2 I Am Not A Tourist! Brief Summary: Lebanese women do not possess full citizenship rights as men. This is one of the most obvious examples of discrimination against women. Lebanese women still don t have the same equal rights as men. This inequality is revealed in their failure to gift their foreign youngsters and spouses the Lebanese nationality. One might underestimate the impact of this direct violation of women s rights. In fact, the woman s inability to confer her nationality to both her children and spouse makes their future questionable and uncertain. Therefore, prohibiting women from passing on their Lebanese nationality to their children and husbands creates many challenges regarding education, healthcare, employment and others. These series of problems created conditions and circumstances that Lebanese women could no longer withstand and called for many protests and campaigns aiming to change this unjust and unreasonable situation. This project aims to stress the point which states that granting Lebanese women the right to pass on their nationality to their foreign children and spouses should be a legal right. Because the government took no action, a campaign will be organized to mobilize the wider public in order to exert the needed pressure so that decision-makers would make the necessary changes to grant Lebanese women their full citizenship rights. Goals of the project: The goals of the project are to raise awareness of the Lebanese nationality law and to use social media and platforms to reach broad audiences and motivate people to engage in the debate

3 I Am Not A Tourist! 3 concerning this issue. While tackling this problem, others issues will be addressed indirectly such as problems of discrimination in education, inheritance, and healthcare and youth employment. Under this project, I will display a series of videos that present real life examples emphasizing the difficulties faced by Lebanese women married to foreigners. The main solution to this problem revolves around one key area which is educating people especially women about their rights and the importance of passing on the law that grants women civil equality. Material concerning this issue will be posted on social networks so as to achieve the awareness goal and to invite people to participate in protests and campaigns on this topic. Therefore, people will know about the problem, take action, and finally engage in resolving the problem. Meeting MEPI Priorities: By working on this project, both men and women will have an equal standing in the society where they will enjoy the same civil rights that are guaranteed by laws and regulations. Also, granting women their full citizenship rights will help their families become part of the Lebanese society which triggers diversity and helps them play active roles in the decision making process. Therefore, my project meets the objectives and priorities adopted by MEPI. Objectives: The main objectives underlying this project are rational and measurable. First, the project aims to enlighten residents about the discriminatory law concerning the Lebanese nationality which has direct and indirect effects on their lives. This objective is achieved through the use of social media and the presentation of a series of videos aimed at revealing real cases taking place in

4 I Am Not A Tourist! 4 Lebanon. Providing people with sufficient information to join campaigns achieves my second objective which is empowering citizens to take action. Therefore, the solution found will be a common solution that is locally invented rather than being enforced by outsiders. This objective is measurable as well and will be achieved by spreading news on online platforms, newspapers, Facebook, Blogs, and magazines. My third objective is to initiate a debate on this issue in high schools, universities, and other educational institutions. To make the debate more interesting, I intend to invite women celebrities, activities, politicians and others to speak out. This is done by contacting public and private schools in different area in Lebanon to hold a special event in UNESCO Palace in Beirut. This can be done through the help of AMIDEAST (ACCESS Program). All these things are done in order to serve the main objective which is building a knowledge base and a community of protestors who can mobilize the wider public to achieve a change in Lebanon. Publicity I have an important cause so why keep it a secret? People are always looking for positive change and for this change to happen; people should be involved in its implementation. Publicity will add benefit to my project by bringing it to the public. However, this publicity should be dealt with appropriately so that my story will captured properly and effectively. Nowadays, media is an indispensable tool to publicize any upcoming event. There are many television programs that deal with controversial issue such as the topic I am addressing. To publicize my campaign, I am intending to contact TV shows such as Akhbar Al Sabah on Future TV to map out the key messages and objectives of my project. This will help increase my audience and keep them close

5 I Am Not A Tourist! 5 by. In addition, I will be using social networks such as Facebook, twitter, etc those will be fast ways to spread my cause and promote my project to my network of friends and their friends as well. Facebook will be used for updates, questions, and stimulating discussions. Also, Twitter is a useful tool for strategic purposes since it is full with bloggers and journalists. Furthermore, I intend to make an influential video that pitches real life stories to trigger public support. In order to publicize my project, I aim to build relations with different NGOs that are concerned with women s rights such as Kafa, ABAAD (Dimensions)-Resource Center for Gender Equality, and Institute for Women s Studies In The Arab world (LAU). These organizations are interested in women s rights and can help spread the word and provide support. Moreover, talking to people will never hurt. I plan to take advantage of word mouth by visiting schools and universities to speak out my cause and motivate students who are the potential leaders of the future to take part of this change. Students who are interested in writing and journalism will be motivated to write articles and columns in the school and university newspapers, thus providing a wider publicity. A contest will be initiated where the winner will get the chance to publish his/her article in one of the well-known Lebanese newspapers. Another publicity activity will be a $1 campaign to motivate people especially women to donate $1 to throw a dinner where sponsors and public figures will gather to support this cause and inspire other people to be part of the ongoing activity. Last but not least, printing flyers, creating logos and hanging posters will increase publicity. This will be done in the Horriah Library (Beirut) where a graphic designer will be responsible for creating an eye catching logo that will be printed on the posters and flyers. In order to incorporate MEPI into this publicity, the MEPI logo will be printed on the flyers and

6 I Am Not A Tourist! 6 posters. Upon visiting schools and universities, a brief introduction about MEPI will be presented. Also, cards that contain contact information about MEPI will be distributed through the process. The team that will be responsible for marketing the project will be required to wear T-shirts that carry the project s logo I Am Not a Tourist alongside with the MEPI logo and other sponsoring logos. Activities: The project will be launched upon my graduation. During summer vacation I will be working on certain activities to try to implement this project. My activities are reasonable and measurable and can be implemented easily and at a low cost. Each objective will have specific activities. These include: Objective #1: The project aims to enlighten residents about the discriminatory law concerning the Lebanese nationality. Activity 1: Designing slogans, posters, T-shirts, etc this will be carried by Al Horriah library. Anticipated Completion Date: September 25 th, 2014 Activity 2: Creating a website and spreading news on online platforms, newspapers, Facebook, Blogs, and magazines.

7 I Am Not A Tourist! 7 AL NAHAR as well as Al Joumhouria newspapers will be contacted for further help. The website and the blog will be created by my colleague Mohammad Issa who is a computer engineering student at Beirut Arab University. Anticipated Completion Date: September 30 th, 2014 Activity 3: Group or mass petition will be placed in downtown Beirut near the Lebanese parliament where it will be signed by people who support the cause of the project. Anticipated Completion Date: signing the petition will start on September 30 th, 2014 and it will remain there until we get one million signatures. Activity 4: Women strike will be held near the Lebanese parliament where women will be holding the project s posters and symbols. Anticipated Completion Date: October 4 th, 2014 Activity 5: Presentation of a series of videos aimed at revealing real cases taking place in Lebanon. Anticipated Completion Date: This will take place every Saturday in downtown Beirut along with the weekly strike that will be carried on by Lebanese women.

8 I Am Not A Tourist! 8 Activity 6: Protestors will be asked to perform a symbolic public act that is to light a candle and perform a group prayer. Anticipated Completion Date: October 11 th, 2014 Objective #2: Empowering citizens to take action Activity 1: A mock funeral will be performed where a baby doll wearing a combination of the Arab flags will be circulating Beirut streets. Anticipated Completion Date: October 18 th, 2014 Activity 2: A public speech will be said in every strike. Anticipated Completion Date: every strike Activity 3: Music performances in every strike Anticipated Completion Date: every strike Activity 4:

9 I Am Not A Tourist! 9 Protest meeting will be held in order to discuss what further steps should be taken. Anticipated Completion Date: October 25 th, 2014 Activity 5: Sit-in which is a form of direct action that involves people occupying the down town area in Beirut, an area in Sidon, Sour, Tripoli, and Byblos for protests to promote the social change intended through this project. Anticipated Completion Date: November 1 st, 2014 Activity 6: A van painted with the project s slogans and posters will be circulating the Lebanese areas from north to south and a group of committed ladies will be responsible for knocking people s door to introduce the issue and invite women to strikes taking place. Anticipated Completion Date: starts November 8 th, 2014 ends November 9 th, 2014 Objective #3: Initiate a debate on this issue in high schools, universities, and other educational institutions. Activity 1: Public and private schools will be contacted in different areas in Lebanon. Anticipated Completion Date: November 6 th, 7 th, 2014

10 I Am Not A Tourist! 10 Activity 2: A visit to public and private schools will be done where a brief introduction about the topic will be said. Anticipated Completion Date: As soon as we get the approval to visit the schools. Activity 3: I intend to invite women celebrities, activities, politicians and others to speak out. Anticipated Completion Date: Prior to contacting schools and deciding on the visit dates. Activity 4: Special debate will be held in UNESCO Palace in Beirut. This can be done through the help of AMIDEAST (ACCESS Program). Anticipated Completion Date: as soon as we get approval from Amideast. Lebanon has always been perceived as a pioneer regarding women s rights. Lebanese women, compared to Arab women, were the first to occupy substantial social, political and economic positions in their society. Her full-time job as a mother does not prevent her from pursuing a leadership role in her society by working as a doctor, lawyer, teacher and manager. Despite all this glory, Lebanese women still don t have the same equal rights as men. This

11 I Am Not A Tourist! 11 inequality is revealed in their failure to gift their foreign youngsters and spouses the Lebanese nationality. DIFFERANCCE BETWEEN CITIZENSHP AND NATIONALITY Internationally, there are certain bases on which nationality can be transferred. First, despite of the parent s nationality, if the mother delivers her new born in a certain country, automatically this child will be granted the country s nationality. Second, if the parents are carriers of certain nationalities, the child will be inevitably a carrier. Third, nationality can be acquired through naturalization in the case of immigrants. Some countries embrace either position; most implement a combination of the first and the second conditions. Others apply the three of them. Granting Lebanese women the right to pass on their nationality to their foreign children and spouses should be a legal right. Women are the ones to endure and give life; therefore, it should be normal for them to pass on their nationality to their children. Alas, this God-given right has not yet succeeded in becoming a legal-given right. This project sheds light on the controversial topic of granting women their full equal citizenship rights. First, the paper discusses briefly international conventions and treaties concerned with this issue. Then, analysis of this topic will be based on the provisions of the Lebanese Constitution as well as nationality laws and regulations. Being a member of the United Nations, Lebanon is responsible for the ratification of the legal agreements of basic human rights that are well-suited with universal law. For Lebanon to be considered as part of international community, it needs to abide by the several treaties that

12 I Am Not A Tourist! 12 were signed. Some of these treaties are binding documents, which is obligatory. Others are nonbinding that only serve as recommendations for international principles. As for the binding documents, this paper will tackle the ones that directly related to the equality between men and women in terms of nationality. All the treaties that are mentioned are considered as a vital part of its national laws because they are ratified by Lebanon. The most important treaty is the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women - (CEDAW), This agreement establishes imperative values concerning women s independence and equal opportunities in the attainment and assignment of their nationality. Also, these values concern the consent of either spouse to discuss their nationality with their children. In other words, this Convention forbids discrimination in laws between parents. Another treaty is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948 which states all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. It also States that everyone is entitled to all of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966 declares that every child shall be registered immediately after birth. Thus, all children have the right to acquire a nationality.

13 I Am Not A Tourist! 13 Last but not least, the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), 1966 certifies the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social, and cultural rights. Therefore, everyone has the right to work. Lebanon ratified the Conventions mentioned above without any reservation. On the other hand, there are non-binding documents that are not imposed in Lebanon but are references for properly applying international principles. One convention is the Beijing Declaration, 1995 which endorses the pledge of countries to equal rights and inherent human dignity of women and men. This convention also stresses on women s empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society, including participation in the decision-making process and access to power as fundamental for the achievement of equality, development and peace. Furthermore, it declares that Equal rights, opportunities and access to resources, equal sharing of responsibilities for the family by men and women, and a harmonious partnership between them are critical to their wellbeing and that of their families as well as to the consolidation of democracy. Thus, it provides equal rights, prospects, and duties to men and women regarding their family. In 1995, Lebanon formed the National Committee for Lebanese Women which was responsible for the employment of the solutions taken by this Convention in order to achieve gender equality in Lebanon. After tackling citizenship rights of Lebanese women married to non-nationals from an international perspective, we continue discussing the issue from a national perspective. The Lebanese law prohibiting women from their civil right of passing on their nationality to their off

14 I Am Not A Tourist! 14 springs is a direct violation of the international laws that are ratified by Lebanon. This discussion is done after reviewing the nationality laws and some parts of the Lebanese Constitution, which reveals the original cause of such discrimination. The Lebanese Constitution cherished the principle of equality among citizens. Paragraph B of the Lebanese Constitution offers that: ( ) Lebanon is also a founding and active member of the United Nations Organization and abides by its covenants and by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Government shall embody these principles in all fields and areas without exception. Also, paragraph C states the following: Lebanon is a parliamentary democratic republic based on respect for public liberties, especially the freedom of opinion and belief, and respect for social justice and equality of rights and duties among all citizens without discrimination. Regardless of all the legal provisions that inflict equality, women continue to suffer from discrimination regarding citizenship. As for the Lebanese Nationality law, this discrimination arises from the fact that the Lebanese laws restrict the bond by blood only to the father and deprives the woman from such a bond. Consequently, she cannot transfer her nationality to her children. Compared to a foreign woman married to a Lebanese man who is gifted the Lebanese nationality within a year after her marriage, prohibiting Lebanese women from granting their nationality to their children is totally unfair and discriminatory. Hence, the lack of inequality

15 I Am Not A Tourist! 15 within the Lebanese National law calls for the need for proper modifications of some regulations and protocols to aid foreign children having Lebanese mothers to enjoy their simplest rights. One might underestimate the impact of this direct violation of women s rights. In fact, the woman s inability to confer her nationality to both her children and spouse makes their future questionable and uncertain. These dual nationality families find suffering in the every-day activities exercised by a Lebanese citizen. According to Women s Learning Partnership (n.d.): Children and spouses are treated as foreigners and must obtain costly residence permits. Children are often excluded from social services such as social security, healthcare and subsidized or free access to education. In many countries, spouses and children have limited employment opportunities and are unable to own property. In terms of psychological impact, many women feel isolated and guilty because they feel responsible for the difficulties faced by their families, while children suffer from low self-esteem because of their second-class status. (para.4) Therefore, prohibiting women from passing on their Lebanese nationality to their children and husbands creates many challenges regarding education, healthcare, employment and others. These series of problems created conditions and circumstances that Lebanese women could no longer withstand and called for many protests and campaigns aiming to change this unjust and unreasonable situation. These campaigns were not held randomly. Actually, organizers of these campaigns were aware of the origin of this problem so as to address it properly. Many resources assured that the main underlying cause was the fear that Lebanese people would accept and naturalize huge numbers of refugees. According to Lebanese Women s Rights and Nationality Law, this naturalization disrupts the demographic balance and would harm Lebanon s higher interest. In fact, many statistics do not reveal this scene. The ministerial committee s report

16 I Am Not A Tourist! 16 included statistics related to the number of Lebanese women married to non-lebanese, including those married to Palestinian men. Figures showed there are around 76,000 registered cases of a Lebanese woman married to a foreign man, out of which 16,800 of these women married to Palestinian refugees (vs. 15,596 Lebanese men married to Palestinian women). So assuming that Lebanese women are finally allowed to pass on their nationality to their children, we would have roughly 30,000-40,000 more Lebanese which makes around 1% of the total population. Thus, this negligible and insignificant increase won t threaten Lebanon s higher interest and won t disturb its demographic equilibrium. Among the important campaigns that were carried out in recent years are the CRTD-A campaign and My Nationality campaign. According to Nationality Rights for All Lebanese Women (2009): In order to highlight the injustice Lebanese women must face when it comes to their citizenship rights, CRTD-A held on Tuesday afternoon yet another demonstration demanding that Lebanese women be given the right to pass on their nationality to their husband and children irrespective of the husband s nationality. (para.13) Furthermore, CRTD-A spoke with Labor Minister Mohammad Fneish from Hezbollah, Education Minister Bahia Hariri from the Future Movement, as well as Telecommunications Minister Gebran Bassil from the Free Patriotic Movement, all of whom promised to support the bill. Hence, the CRTD-A campaign achieved indispensable break-through regarding the number of people whom supported the cause and joined the sit-in protest that was held on November 25 th.

17 I Am Not A Tourist! 17 Another critical movement relevant to the issue was the My Nationality is a Right for me and My Family. According to My Nationality is A Right for Me and My Family (n.d.), the campaign had several goals among which: Promoting and strengthening active and inclusive citizenship Advocating for Arab women s full access to and enjoyment of nationality and citizenship rights in 6 Arab countries: Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, and Bahrain. Mobilizing interest and concern in women s right to nationality Reforming nationality law in Lebanon (para.7). The above mentioned campaigns are among the major efforts taken on by the Lebanese civil society to try to resolve this conflict in a peaceful manner. Other individual efforts were taken on by Lebanese minsters who tried to lobby for equity. One of the Lebanese minsters who took on a leadership role in issue is Mr. Ziad Baroud. According to Nationality Rights for All Lebanese Women (2009): In any case, the most faithful activist within the government for this campaign has proven to be Interior Minister Ziad Baroud, who has closely followed the issue for the last five years, and, according to Saturday s issue of As-Safir, proposed a draft nationality law to the Cabinet about two weeks ago. Being the Minister of Interior, one of his priorities aside from the elections and the security of the country is the nationality law, says Masri assuredly. (para. 13) Not to forget the most important contribution that was carried by the Lebanese themselves after acknowledging the importance of granting Lebanese women their natural right to pass on their nationality to their children and spouses. Both genders, men and women, agreed that now is the time make a stand and change the existing situation. No matter how much minsters and NGOs

18 I Am Not A Tourist! 18 lobby for this change, it is the people who should have faith and believe in the cause so that the changes would be effective and embraced by the Lebanese population. In order to turn this simple dream into reality, many recommendations should be taken into consideration by the Lebanese government. These include: 1. Integrate the CEDAW reservations in the Lebanese domestic law 2. Comply with the international treaties approved by Lebanon and carry on the proper implementations 3. Provisions of the Lebanese Constitution calls for fairness and equity among all residents, thus, lawmakers should accept these provisions 4. Remove articles mentioned in the nationality law that discriminates based on gender, thus, carry on the necessary modification to this law 5. Approve the Optional Protocol of the CEDAW 6. Apply the green card project adopted by industrial countries The Lebanese Constitution calls for equality, refusing to accept a law that enables women to grant her nationality is contrary to what our Constitution mandates. If Palestinians are only reason behind such discrimination, both genders should be deprived from this right. However, this is another form of injustice and discrimination. Therefore, the reason behind this issue is unjustified and should not be taken into consideration when deciding on passing this law. Hopefully, this law will be implemented.

19 I Am Not A Tourist! 19 In conclusion, in order to deserve being a pioneer of reforms in the Arab Countries, especially pertaining to women s rights, Lebanon should reconsider the nationality law and make necessary amendments to grant women their full civil rights that include the right to confer citizenship for their children and husbands. Rejecting such a right is a total denial for the existence of women as independent residents. Such denial affects both women and their families and deprives them from their rights to have self-respect and freedom. Also, this act is a direct violation of human rights that are protected by fundamental international laws as well as the Lebanese laws and Constitution. Hence, it is indispensable to acknowledge nationality as bedrock for the identity of humans. Moreover, no matter how hard activists, people and organizations work; nothing will be achieved if no legal law is passed on. This traditional system that is based on gender discrimination should be redefined to harvest more equality. `

20 I Am Not A Tourist! 20 References I. International Conventions: Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR); UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICPCR); UN International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); Beijing Declaration II. Laws: Lebanese Constitution The Law on Lebanese Nationality. Modified by regulation N160 dated 16/07/1934 and regulation N122 L.R. dated 19/06/1993 III. Electronic References: protest

21 I Am Not A Tourist! wlp@learningpartnership.org