Women's Activity in the Arab World

"The literary Miss Naima al-Maghribi, secretary of the Syrian Arab Women's Union, has kindly answered our request by sending this word on the Union's activity in the social field."

The Syrian Arab Women's Union was founded in 1944 and laid down for itself a constitution providing for the service of Arab society in several respects: care for the raising of the Arab woman's standing, the raising of the level of the poor classes from both the cultural and the moral sides, the strengthening of the bonds of cooperation among the ladies of the Arab countries, and concern with national questions.

On the occasion of the recent French aggression it was able to perform the national duty laid upon it, drying the tears of the grieving and bringing comfort to the families of the martyrs, spending thousands of liras in the doing; and it met with such appreciation from the public as carried it on in its work and its endeavors.

Before the catastrophe and during it, it made daily rounds of the barracks of the gendarmerie, the police, and the volunteers, breathing into their souls the spirit of courage and steadfastness, and distributing among them all kinds of pastries and sweets. The visit of the Union's members to the valiant Banu Ma'ruf was a splendid patriotic demonstration at which rousing speeches were delivered. After the recent grievous events the Women's Union took an effective and organized part in bringing comfort to the stricken and to the families of the martyrs: it visited the stricken quarters — among them al-Samana, al-Uqayba, al-Amara, Jisr al-Saraya, al-Dhahabiya, and al-Suwayqa — distributing food to their people and caring for the wounded. During the bombardment of Damascus it visited the headquarters of the British command in protest against France's acts of aggression, and it sent telegrams of protest to San Francisco, to Mr. Truman, to Mr. Churchill, and to the representatives of the foreign powers in Damascus, and a telegram of thanks and support to the secretary of the Arab League. The Union's members would visit the injured in their homes, in the company of one of the notables of the quarter and the mukhtar of the neighborhood, and according to organized lists. The Union also founded, with the help of the mission of the Egyptian Red Crescent and the Muslim Brotherhood, a temporary hospital at the Tajhiz for the care of the wounded in those days. In the past year it held several great receptions for the missions of the sister Arab countries, which left a welcome echo in their souls; foremost among those receptions was one in honor of Mrs. Huda Shaarawi and the mission of professors and students of the Egyptian Faculty of Arts and the Muslim Brotherhood. On the amphitheater of the Syrian University it held a great oratorical gathering, attended by upwards of a thousand ladies, at which it called for the boycott of Zionism; telegrams of support from the Arab organizations reached it during the gathering, and in its course splendid samples of national manufactures were displayed on the said amphitheater.

More than once it visited the competent authorities and the consuls of the foreign powers to protest against certain matters touching the safety of the Arab world — we single out for mention the Palestine question — and it sent telegrams of denunciation, which cost it heavy sums, to the kings, presidents, and leaders of the Arabs and to the English and American statesmen on several occasions. The Union likewise took part in preparing the report submitted to the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry by the women's organizations. It lately held a cinema benefit, a quarter of whose proceeds it set aside for medical relief, and received a letter of thanks from the Directorate of Public Health; and it visited the Ibn Sina and Ibn Nafis hospitals and others, consoling the sick and distributing clothing and sweets among them. The Women's Union is now attending to the upbringing, education, and clothing of ten sons of the martyrs of the French aggression. The members of the Union and of its administrative body number 35, all paying the subscription; and the members of the associations of which it is composed number close to two hundred.

As for its expenses, they are many: spending on the poor and the sick in the seasons and on feast days; spending on the sons of the martyrs already mentioned; the hire of automobiles for trips to the villages and for consoling the sick; and other expenses that arise in their season, among them the charges for letters and telegrams. And it has no fixed revenues other than its members' subscriptions.

Among the chief items of the program it has laid down for the coming year:

First — the taking of a spacious club for its meetings, for lectures and literary gatherings, for the teaching of illiterate women, and for the giving of health lessons to mothers.

Second — the issuing of a women's magazine to speak in its name and to be the mouthpiece of the Arab woman.

Third — care for homeless childhood, and the founding of a shelter for children where they will be taught various trades, to save them from idleness and vagrancy.

Fourth — the issuing of periodical bulletins on various medical and social subjects.

Fifth — the setting up of a permanent exhibition in which the various national manufactures will be displayed.

Sixth — striving by every means to raise the level of woman and to stand between her and moral decline.

These are the chief items of the program that the Women's Union is thinking of putting into effect in the coming year; and it beseeches God to be its aid and its support.