Toward National Cooperation

Numerous instances in the various countries of the world have proved that a perceptible transformation has come over woman's life, carrying her from the narrow, confined sphere into many fields of fruitful practical life. That gentle, mild creature has demonstrated that behind her weakness lies a strength for plunging into the depths of sacrifice and struggle, and that the housewife weighed down with the duties of marriage or motherhood can bear burdens no less grave than man's; she equals him in thought and in management, and as she accompanies him as wife or sister or mother, she insists on sharing with him the hardships that cross their path together, toward the creation of a humanity sovereign and ordered, whose pains and hopes they bear alike. There is no doubt that the advanced nations have felt the greatness of the role woman has played, and so have given her the standing that befits her and smoothed before her the road to positions she had never known before. The view of those who upheld woman's right in this respect was that she knew how to defend her rights without slighting the rights of others, especially since she deals with delicate matters that may not greatly stir man's interest — bringing relief to the poor, protecting childhood, improving the condition of the family, lifting misery from the working class, and other such affairs in which woman's merit is abundant. My talk to my sisters, the ladies and young ladies of Lebanon, does not go beyond this sphere: the sphere of woman's renaissance and the effect of this renaissance upon our new life of independence.

When Lebanon became independent and shouldered the tasks and responsibilities that followed upon this independence, it felt the duty laid upon its shoulders and the difficulties it must endure to guarantee and safeguard that independence. And when we say Lebanon, we mean Lebanese men and women together, for woman, having equaled man in mind and learning, must equal him in work and sacrifice. With much satisfaction I say: the ladies and young ladies of my country have received, praise God, an ample share of native intelligence; this being so, they must not stand as spectators before the toil that weighs upon the shoulders of our men and the needs demanded for raising the level of our families, and of our public life in particular. It is to them that I call for cooperation, in the field of national unity and practical charity. National unity is the first element we lack; we still suffer from the mischief of certain propaganda that aims at dissolving and weakening it by dividing the ranks and dampening resolve. The woman who assists man in the kingdom of the home can also assist him in making firm the being of the homeland, consolidating its independence, and gathering all its sons beneath its beloved flag — and this shall be recorded to the Lebanese woman's credit with all pride and honor.

I address you, ladies and young women of Lebanon, and I send to your hearts a sincere Lebanese appeal: help forward unity and national cooperation, and be a supreme example in seeking reform and championing those who strive for it and labor in its cause, on the basis of the solidarity and mutual support which are two essential elements in the renaissance of every nation. There remains the second element, practical charity, which is the loveliest of woman's qualities and among the human virtues closest to her soul. To this delicate side of our national life I stir the zeal of all our noble ladies and young ladies, for it is the principal duty incumbent upon every Lebanese woman, to be performed with great care and reverence — and she should remain in constant touch with the organizations and associations engaged in works of charity and relief; for it is no secret that the charitable institutions of the country owe a large part of their progress and flourishing to a chosen elite of the most excellent ladies, who have consecrated their time and their efforts to good works: they have dried a flood of tears, bound up many a wound, and eased still more of the pain of orphanhood, destitution, and infirmity. In fulfillment of this sacred duty, and out of love for lightening the load of the weary among the members of the human family, I call you, madam, to enlist beneath the banner of the charitable associations and national institutions which the ladies of the capital foster; and they desire all Lebanese women to answer their call to share in the efforts being made for the revival of the country and for sound national direction. Come down from the mountain heights, gentle daughter of Lebanon, and visit the women's clubs spread through the quarters of Beirut. Come — the Lebanese Women's League, the Women's Union, the Lebanese Red Cross and the Child Welfare Society, the shelter and the dispensaries, and the other houses of charity and relief besides, open their arms to you, welcome you, listen to your counsel, and need to hear your opinion — for the relief of humanity, and for the honoring of the role of the Lebanese woman, who has played a great part in the nation's political life and desires to go on playing that same part in the life of charity and benevolence. Thus shall Lebanon rise.