Your Opinion on Compulsory Conscription??

The compulsory conscription bill is one of the gravest measures the Lebanese government has laid before the Chamber of Deputies; and since it is woman alone who may rightly pronounce upon the good of this bill or its evil, The Woman's Voice throws the door wide open for woman to have her say. On a visit which this magazine's editorial secretary paid to Tripoli, she was able to hear the opinions of a select group of the ladies of al-Fayha. And on this occasion The Woman's Voice announces that it will continue publishing this series, and welcomes every new opinion on the question..

Mrs. Helena Jaja

... My first visit, when my feet touched the soil of Tripoli, was to Mrs. Helena Jaja, the doyenne of women of letters not only in al-Fayha but in the whole region of the North... Mrs. Helena has a not-so-distant past, rich in struggle in the field of teaching and the press; she has also to her credit patriotic feats of oratory of which people still speak with admiration and esteem!

... She smiles at me as I put my question to her: 'What is your opinion of compulsory conscription?' And she answers with the utmost frankness:
'I do not deny that, as a mother, I hesitate a little before rushing into an answer to your question — and I do not suppose you have forgotten that Raja is my only boy among four girls! But that fact shall not blind me to my patriotic duty, which is sacred in my eyes....'

'And what are Raja's feelings on this subject?'
'I still remember him coming into the house some months ago, fire flashing from his eyes, and this exchange passing between us with intense fervor:
"We are on strike from school today, Mama, in protest against the Zionist aggression upon the Palestinians!.. And we want to enlist and be sent to Palestine at once!"

"And how will you go, when you are not yet fifteen years old?"
"No matter — I am strong and brave, and I can bring down two sparrows with a single throw! Shall I then fall short of hunting men, who are so much bigger than sparrows?! And if they refuse to hand me a rifle because I am young, I will be their cook — will you deny my skill at cooking, especially for my brothers the soldiers?!"
... That is what Raja said to me months ago; his words still ring in my ears, and I remember that day as one of the happiest days of my life.'

Mrs. Rida Shammas

... A short distance away stands the house of Dr. Nakhle Shammas, and we have an appointment with his wife, Mrs. Rida.. It is mid-morning and she has only just risen from sleep... We apologize for our journalistic visit at the New Year, when the ladies are still asleep after a late night the evening before!
... Mrs. Rida too has an only boy among four girls!. The maid brings coffee, chocolates, and sugared almonds... and we talk, drawn close to the brazier, for the breeze is icy despite the sun streaming in on us!
'Yes, I read your article in The Woman's Voice on this subject, and I was pleased with what it said!'
'And what is your own personal opinion on the subject, quite apart from what my article said?!'
'If I speak from my feelings, it is very hard to give my frank opinion! But if we look to the building of the nation, then compulsory conscription is indispensable to the completion of that building on solid foundations, for the life of soldiering does much for the health of our sons and their toughening.'
'And since you are one of the faithful readers of The Woman's Voice, what is your opinion of it?'
'I am very pleased with the high level this magazine has reached in its latest year; all its material is good and delightful. But there is one suggestion I should like to offer in all good will... would that there were more tender poems than there are now!.. And pictures of children? Is it your intention to favor us with a new collection of them?!'
... And I thank Mrs. Rida for her observations, and promise her that we will give her suggestion our attention.

Mrs. Aliya Shawqi

... We move on to the house of Mrs. Aliya Shawqi, president of the Child Welfare Society... She receives us

with kindness and welcome, and then loses no time in launching into talk of the kindergarten project, which is a good sapling planted by her own hands... It is a great and noble work, realized four years ago by the efforts of this association..

... In the kindergarten this year there are 160 children, supervised by women teachers most of whom are specialists in the education of small children... In mid-January a party will be held for the kindergarten, at which Dr. May Saadeh and the poet Omar Abu Risha will speak, and the popular singer Omar al-Zeenni will sing.

... The talk of kindergartens had at last to be brought to a close, though I would gladly speak of it for days, not hours! And after a moment I ask her:

'And the subject of compulsory conscription, which occupies women's circles today — what is your opinion of it?'

'We blush for some of our mothers, who shudder in terror at the mere mention of this subject, as though it meant the killing of our sons! That is a grievous error, and no one is fitter than the magazine The Woman's Voice to set it right in the minds of our women; this work of yours is a noble patriotic gesture which we honor in you.

A vital subject such as this admits of no argument: no nation can be independent without soldiers; and in a small state like ours it is a national duty that all its young men be trained, in one single rank. And we have no hope of victory if we remain as we are — scattered in our creeds and our leanings, flabby, pampered in our living..'

... Here I notice her little boy Khalil, aged six, his eyes kindling as he listens to the conversation with delight, and I ask him:

'And would you like to become a soldier, Khalil?'

He answers me with a great nod of his small dark head!... And Mrs. Aliya assures me that the true patriotic spirit is among the foremost virtues of the kindergarten's children.. and Khalil is one of them... God bless that spirit, madam!

Mrs. Minerva Ghorayeb

... In the house of Mrs. Minerva Ghorayeb I remember once again that we are at the New Year, for the signs of the feast are in every corner of her several drawing rooms.. Here a bouquet of red roses winks its eyes in the middle of the room.. there slender green branches remind us of the lovely hope that accompanies us through our striving life... And Mrs. Minerva comes in, and I find myself before a thinking woman whose words carry weight.

... She opens by speaking of The Woman's Voice, drawing attention to the activity in this section and the improvement in that, and offering some useful observations; then we settle down to our main subject. I set it before her briefly, and she answers:

'You are addressing your question to mothers, and I am not a mother, that I should have an opinion to set among theirs... Generous nature has denied me that blessing, which no blessing can equal...'

'I am aware of that; but we should like to hear your opinion, in your capacity as a thinking woman and one of the workers in the field of humanity in this country.'

'Our country has been, and still is, prey to manifold passions. We have never known order, nor the first patriotic duty, because in our homes and our institutions we were not brought up to love of the homeland. And the compulsory conscription bill is the one thing that can plant in our young men something beautiful that we lack... order... and duty..

The division of the sects in our country is the greatest destroyer of this nation, and nothing can mend this state of affairs and fuse us in a single national crucible, and on a single plane, except compulsory conscription...'

And I reproached Mrs. Minerva for holding back from writing in The Woman's Voice, which always has need of women like her, and she promised me that she would write for us soon... and I am confident that she will keep her promise!.

Dr. May Saadeh

... When my old friend Dr. May introduces me to her husband, Dr. Abdallah Saadeh, I feel that I am in a patriotic, scientific atmosphere; for Dr. May and her husband are two patriotic physicians, working together with surpassing energy and zeal... No sooner had I put my question to Dr. May than anger showed in her black eyes, and she said:

'And who will direct the army? And who will guard its aims?. There is no use in compulsory conscription now, my dear, so long as the leadership

is founded upon sand; every leader who comes to power works for his personal ends and takes no account of the public interest. And when another succeeds him, he tears down what the first built and begins anew, building for his own interest...

The army is to the homeland what the roof-tiles are to the building — it shields it against sudden storms.. but what use are roof-tiles if there is no building?! The building must first be raised on sound and noble national foundations, before we think of compulsory conscription.'

... And I remembered that the lady I was speaking with is a poetess, so I reproached her for staying away from The Woman's Voice, and asked her to read us some new verse. She recited to us a stirring, magnificent poem of fervor which she had delivered some months earlier at the American School for Girls, on the occasion of the Zionist aggression upon Palestine. And no wonder — for the anger and indignation in Dr. May Saadeh's tone speak for every zealous patriot after the shameful result to which the Arab governments have brought us...

I did not leave Dr. May Saadeh until I had taken from her a firm promise that she would continue her patriotic poetry in the magazine The Woman's Voice...