• Also from the news of Iraq: the Iraqi Women's Union held at its headquarters, on the eighth of last February, a memorial ceremony marking the passage of forty days since the death of the late Her Highness Princess Jalila. The ceremony was attended by Their Royal Highnesses the Princesses Rajiha and Sarra, and by most of the wives of Their Excellencies of the highest rank.
The ceremony opened with verses from the Holy Quran; then Mrs. Asiya Wahbi, president of the Union, called for three minutes' standing in mourning for the soul of the departed. Afterward Mrs. Wahbi delivered the Union's address, followed by Mrs. Nazik Sarkis, secretary of the General Arab Women's Union, who had come from Lebanon and wished to take part in the memorial. Then came in turn Mrs. Ma'ida al-Haydari; Miss Nisrin Muhammad Fakhri, student at the Higher Teachers' College (a poem); then Miss Sabiha al-Sheikh Daoud, whose address, for reasons of health, was read by Mrs. Izzat al-Istirabadi; after which was read a poem sent by a schoolmaster in Qal'at Salih entitled "To Queen Nafisa." The ceremony closed with verses from the Wise Remembrance.
The mourners then proceeded to Her Majesty the Queen Mother Nafisa, to whom they conveyed their deepest condolences.
• "Cultural Cooperation in the Arab Countries" was the title of the lecture delivered in the hall of the Ministry of National Education on the evening of Thursday, February 23, by His Excellency Dr. Mohammad Fadil Jamali, formerly Prime Minister of Iraq.
The lecture was given at the invi
tation of the University Women's Union, and the lecturer was introduced with a graceful address by the Union's president, Dr. Zahia Kaddoura, who set forth the earnest services Dr. Jamali has rendered to Arab culture over his long struggle. The lecture was as valuable as had been hoped.
• His Majesty King Hussein and Queen Dina were blessed, on the 12th of last February, with a baby girl, the firstborn of the two young sovereigns. Rejoicing swept the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and generous gifts were distributed to all the babies born on that day.
In preparation for the happy event, His Majesty King Hussein had brought over an English nurse to care for the awaited royal infant; and a week after the birth it was announced that the baby girl had been named "Alia," as a token of good augury after Her Majesty Queen Alia, mother of King Faisal II, God rest her soul. The naming ceremonies took place at a reception held on February 19 at the royal palace, to which the ministers and official personages were invited.
"The Woman's Voice" congratulates His Majesty King Hussein and Queen Dina, hoping that the coming of "Alia" will bring blessing and prosperity to Jordan and the Arab lands.
• And there is another bud that peeped out upon the world on February 11: "Nadim," firstborn of the sanitary engineer Fawzi Shahadeh and his wife, Mrs. Nadia Dagher.
It seems that little "Nadim" is a faithful portrait of his father — a true "gentleman" who never raises his voice, and awaits
his feeding times with patience and calm...
Our sincerest congratulations to the father and mother of Nadim Shahadeh!
• The Arab Youth Association at the general secondary school of the American University of Beirut, under the supervision of Mr. Musa Sulayman, continues to hold its delightful literary symposia in West Hall. On February 2, 1956 it convened a symposium on history in which Doctors Nicola Ziadeh, Zaki Nakkash, and Zahia Kaddoura, and Mr. Muhammad Makka, took part.
On January 25, in the hall of the Ministry of National Education, the League of Women's Organizations in Lebanon held a memorial gathering for the late Rose Shahfa.
It was opened by the League's president, Mrs. Laure Tabet, after whom there spoke in turn Miss Ibtihaj Kaddoura, president of the General Arab Women's Union; Miss Aminah Khoury Makdisi; the deputy Mr. Ghassan Tueni; and Mr. Jirji Niqula Baz; and the word of the departed lady's family was spoken by her son, Mr. Albert Shahfa.
All the speakers excelled in recounting the virtues of Mrs. Rose Shahfa and in paying tribute to her long struggle in Damascus and Beirut; and it was a kindly gesture on the part of the League of Women's Organizations in Lebanon to hold this memorial gathering for one of the first generation of women pioneers, who worked for the cause of woman in silence, and was sincere in her work.