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