The Lebanese Woman in the November Revolution

Lebanon, government and people, celebrated the anniversary of the revolution of November 22, which has entered Lebanese history as its most glorious page. Woman had a great share in it. Here we publish her word on this great occasion.

The Speech of Mrs. Rose Shahfa

The Lebanese Arab Women's Federation thanks the radio for including woman in this happy day, the feast of the independent Lebanese Republic, feeling as she does that she is the part that completes man; her weak voice is thus permitted to rise and mingle among the voices of the leading men — their presidents and their rulers — composing musical strains that sing the first anthem of the splendid memory of Lebanon's independence and its recovery of its sovereignty and its dignity.

In this season, three years ago, a cry went through Lebanon that awakened its men and its women, and amid the tempests they made a covenant together to build a new era and a glorious independence.

On such a day as this, man gave up some of his selfishness and affirmed that there can be no balanced music, no sweet strains to delight a man and enrapture the listeners — who acknowledge the beauty of their rhythm, their harmony, and their effect upon souls and hearts — if a single string is missing from them.

Therefore man and woman walked hand in hand, singing the song of independence and dignity, and raising the foundations for the building of a dear and precious homeland in which she has no partner but the struggle in the cause of freedom, so that the country should no longer remain common ground for every stranger; together they trace its great lines, that a true nationalism may stand forth, built upon the noblest morals and the loftiest values.

On such a day as this appeared the smiling hope of catching up with the nations of ancient standing; and the procession set out upon this teeming sea, guided by the hand of a skillful captain who steered it well and began by removing the barriers and the dams; and the ship sailed on, tossing in the sea's ebb and flow, until it drew near to arrival at the safe harbor.

And behold Lebanon, the proud mountain — after long being habituated to dependence, fettered in the chains of mandates and tutelages — suddenly sets itself free, exercises its right to liberty and to sovereignty, and takes the reins of its affairs into its own hands; and truly it carried off the prize.

On this day there stir in our heads currents of thought for which we have drawn pictures and scenes; a radiant hope and generous hearts spur us on to strive, as individuals and as groups, to bring back our ancient glory and our bygone splendor. And these currents of thought, shining in the sky of our hopes, trace for us a close cooperation in the building of modern Lebanon, joining our aims and our endeavors to strengthen this society and better it, for its good and its reform, and gathering our elements and our communities upon one plane, so that division shall not shake them; rather they are made to shine the brighter by this union in which our leaders and our people sing, our men and our women alike — yes, and the women too — for every work that does not rest upon the shoulders of both parties is a work cut short.

Was there not, three years ago, a magic in the ring of women's voices — and in their sense of duty and their wakefulness a cry — in whose wake the cries of the men burst forth, and the banner of struggle sprang up, swaying on the horizon of Lebanon, a banner that freed it from servitude and from wavering, so that it created for itself the banner of the free cedar, which has fluttered in every country of the civilized world, where its abode invites men to become acquainted with its attainments and its worth; where this band of men astonished the world by the breadth of its learning, its intelligence, and its genius; and where it joined its Arab sisters in solving problems, in delivering Lebanon's intellectual message, and in defending the usurped right of Palestine?

This feast is the greatest feast of liberty, which freed us from submission and surrender; we saw our country in our own hands and our homeland free like all other homelands, taking part in unriddling the world's knotted enigmas, dispelling the anguish of souls, and mounting to its loftiest place among leaders and chiefs.

And is there anything like liberty to set life in motion, so that the spirit stirs within it, gay and ample, with no enslavement, no aggression, no deception standing in its way? It is like water and air to mankind — they have no life without it. It may lie dormant in a people for overpowering causes that hold sway over it, but it returns to live and to flourish so long as its flame blazes in their souls; and they work by its true and defiant inspiration to reach its highest values and its lofty aims.

How much more, then, Lebanon, the wellspring of liberties and the cradle of religions and spiritualities — does it not befit it that peace should go forth from it, so that it may keep that unique spiritual character and that preeminence; that its lights may shine, and there may dawn upon the whole world a new religion whose rays crush the motives of division, gathering religions, elements, races, and colors into one all-embracing humanity and a unique universal union, which its own sons begin by embracing and by preaching?

On this feast the hopes of woman are renewed; she prays that her wishes may be fulfilled and her capacities put to use, that with her spirit and her heart she may watch over this procession that is bearing her dear Lebanon toward liberty and peace — this procession which is half of her own self and a piece of her heart, and to which the Lebanese Arab Women's Federation offers its congratulations, raising them first to His Excellency the beloved President of the Republic and to his gracious government.

Long live Lebanon, free and honored, for generations and for ages.

(Read over Radio Lebanon)

Life and liberty are two words for one meaning in the understanding of man; and so we saw Lebanon shatter its chains, that it might be master and take its right to life. And behold, Lebanon stood embodied in its two halves — man and woman — on the field of struggle, and together they sprang forward to defend its usurped right and to restore its ancient glory. That was the most shining proof, the most eloquent argument, and the truest testimony that man and woman have in fact become equal in rights and in duties, and together acted for the dear homeland — whether the constitution so provides or not. It was a spontaneous, natural stand, created by a sincere patriotism and a blessed sacrifice crowned with success. It was a splendid spectacle before which the world stood, supporting and reverent.

And here we are, celebrating that immortal memory; here the esteemed Lebanese National Congress gathers us today to hallow the memory of that great event, the memory of dignity and independence — may the remembrance avail, and guide us rightly toward what is for the good of the nation and the sovereignty of the country. It is as though the Lebanese National Congress has seen that patriotism is not reserved to man to the exclusion of woman, but is a natural feeling and a legitimate right belonging equally to the children of the country, without distinction or exception; and so it invited me, as a citizen, to speak the woman's word at this free national celebration — thereby earning woman's appreciation and the nation's praise for doing justice to its children.

Honored fellow citizens: woman has a national right, a natural claim, and a legitimate possession in this country; do not make her a stranger in her own home, far from the paths of reform. Consider that she is the daughter of the country and the companion of the struggle, and fit to be the partner in rights as in duties. Are taxes not imposed upon her, and do the laws not extend to her? Is she not, in the eyes of the law, Lebanese? Why, then, is she remembered at one moment, denied at another, and at times neglected? And what justification permits depriving her of her rights, of the expression of her opinion, and of her share in the service and organization of the country?

There is in the world a blessed movement aiming at reform. Behold the United Nations — Lebanon being one of its members — enacting laws and framing statutes to safeguard the rights of man, directing the nations in a way that guarantees right, liberty, peace, and equality. Committees have been formed for this, and the countries, Lebanon among them, have been represented in that organizing, amending, and changing — all of it aimed at raising mankind to the highest degrees of perfection.

Will Lebanon, then, do its duty at home and deal justly among its children — amending its constitution and setting its affairs in order, keeping pace with the rising nations and abreast of the advanced peoples — and so affirm that woman is a citizen who has toward the homeland the same rights that man has, and owes the same duties?

I do not deny that woman has natural characteristics and household tasks, just as man has his characteristics and his daily occupations. But national rights — or what are called civil and political rights — do not prevent man or woman from carrying on their own particular work; and here we see man exercising his civil rights and going about his personal affairs in complete ease.

I do not say that woman should desert her home, neglect her children, and abandon her duties — for these are among the most sacred of duties and the dearest of them to me. I want only that woman should feel that she is the citizen whose existence is acknowledged, whose rights are protected, whose opinions are respected, who performs her duties — and that she should not live in her own country on the margin of life.

I want her to serve her country with whatever gifts, aptitude, and qualifications she has been granted; I want her to bear responsibilities and their consequences, and to feel that her being leaves its distinguished mark in the eye of appreciation or of criticism; I want her to occupy a station worthy of her — by competence and aptitude, by merit and desert, by awareness and understanding.

The Lebanese woman, in the nature of things, shares with the Lebanese man nationality, citizenship, and history. To deprive her of some of the rights of man is to deprive man of some degrees of progress and perfection, and to make the dear homeland forfeit moral forces of the utmost importance.

Will the sincere advocates of reform, the fair-minded men of the law, and the thinking leaders of opinion, then, do justice to woman as a citizen, making justice their beacon and competence the foundation for building the glory of dear Lebanon?

(Delivered at the celebration of the National Congress)