With the Conferences of the General Arab Women's Union

The event of events in the world of the Arab woman last month was the conference of the General Arab Women's Union, held in the UNESCO Palace between June 7 and 13. Its news and its pictures filled the newspapers, and it won the attention of the Arab broadcasting stations, such as the Near East station and Radio Lebanon, which devoted round-the-microphone sessions to it, in which the Arab delegates from Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, and Lebanon exchanged their views on the conference's purpose and its chief aims — namely, the protection of the family, socially, economically, and culturally, and the studies, every one of them weighty, that branch out from this broad subject.

Taking part in delivering the general lectures and in directing the discussion circles were Mrs. Fatima Budayri, delegate of Jordan; Mrs. Wadia Khartabil, president of the Palestinian Union; Mrs. Asia Wahbi, Dr. Lam'an al-Damluji, and Dr. Rose Khadduri, delegates of the Iraqi Union; Mrs. Jihan Mawsili, delegate of the Syrian Union; Mesdames Laure Tabet, Laure Nasr Moghaizel, and Widad Maqdisi Cortas, delegates of Lebanon; and Mrs. Jamila Atiyya, delegate of the Egyptian Union.

The full and heated discussion circles gave proof of complete preparation, deep study, and comprehensive awareness, and they lifted from the Arab woman the charges of superficiality and indifference with which she had been branded by the reactionaries, those who doubt her capacities and her worthiness of equality.

Interspersed among the labors of the conference, for the refreshment of spirits, were excursions to the Cedars, Baalbek, Beiteddine, and Zahle; and banquets and official receptions were held in honor of the women's delegations and in celebration of them. The first was the dinner given by His Excellency the Prime Minister at the Hotel School, a marvel of splendor and taste; His Excellency and his wife received the guests with graciousness and warmth.

The Municipality of Beirut gave a sumptuous luncheon at Beirut International Airport, and the delegations admired its precision and order. Likewise His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Alfred Naccache, and his wife invited them to a dinner at the Hotel Saint-Georges, and the League of Women's Organizations also gave a dinner at the Hotel Capitol.

The Commission of Tourism and Summering took the greatest interest in the conference delegations, extending an invitation to visit the Cedars and the Qadisha grotto, which ended with a luncheon at the spring of Mar Sarkis in Ehden.

As for the private parties, they were so many that the delegates could hardly answer them all. The first of them was the luncheon given at her home by the wife of the ambassador of Iraq; then the sumptuous tea given at her palace in Yarzeh by Mrs. Laura, wife of Mr. Emile Boustani, and the one given by Mrs. Shafiqa, wife of Mr. Ali Salam, in the Ghadir gardens; and the party of Dr. Yusri al-Qirmani, chargé d'affaires of the Egyptian embassy, and his wife; and the charming family party of the house of al-Hayat; and the dinner of Mrs. Shafiqa, wife of Mr. Hussein Oweini, at her splendid palace; and the luncheon invitation at the head of the spring in Baalbek from Mr. Riad Haidar and his wife; and the invitation of the bureau of the General Arab Women's Union to dinner on the Berdawni in Zahle; and the invitation of Mrs. Anissa Rawda Najjar to the Fawwar of Antelias.

The closing party in Beirut was a dinner invitation at the home of the president of the General Arab Women's Union, Miss Ibtihaj Kaddoura. During this party His Excellency the Prime Minister, Dr. Abdallah Yafi, surprised the guests: he decorated Miss Ibtihaj Kaddoura with the gilded Order of Merit of the rank of Commander, and decorated Mrs. Ellen Habib Rihan, vice-president, and Nazik Jureidini Sarkis, secretary, with a decoration of the rank of Knight. This surprise had the happiest effect on every heart, in view of the devotion and self-sacrifice in the cause of the Arab woman for which these ladies are known.

Worth mentioning is that the members of the conference unanimously re-elected the officers of the bureau shortly before the close of the conference's work. And before dispersing they answered the invitation of the Syrian Women's Union to a luncheon at the Orient Club in Damascus.

The delegations of the Arab countries to the conference of the General Arab Women's Union met from Lebanon, government and people, the utmost warmth and honor, and they returned to their countries all tongues of thanks and gratitude, their hearts filled with love, understanding, and unity in work..