At The Woman's Voice Symposium

Despite the bright, joyful colors worn by those present, and the vase of white gladiolus standing in the middle of the salon, gloom hung over the atmosphere of this month's symposium and settled on the lips of the discussants. The forced smiles did not succeed in erasing the terror rooted deep in the eyes.

The Woman's Voice posed the problem, and long, heavy minutes passed. The silence stretched and grew... Those present made a mighty effort to ignore the roar of a nearby explosion. And then a wearisome unease crept into the hands of Mrs. Abou al-Jbein, and she clutched at her beautiful necklace, quieting in its beads the memories of

the Palestine catastrophe, which she had suffered and faced with courage. Then Mrs. Rihan's voice rose, cutting through this tedium:

What has woman done now, in the tumult of the disturbances?

All eyes fell upon the face of Mr. Khallat, awaiting the man's charge against woman for lagging behind in the battle...

But Mr. Khallat was searching for a box of matches to light a cigarette — and the silence went on holding every breath, so Mrs. Rihan hastened to dispel it:

— A delegation from the women's associations met with the highest officials, and woman called for concord, and love, and peace.

At that,

Mrs. Najjar stirred in her seat, and the idea of “calling” for peace, and love, and concord roused enthusiasm in her veins, and she burst out:

— We are tired of words. I believe woman has not proven her existence by a tangible deed: by an effective, positive step.

Mrs. Karanful nodded her head slowly in agreement with Mrs. Najjar. And Mrs. Rihan replied:

Personally, we believe that woman had no intervention of any kind to stop the disturbances or to lighten their tragedies: woman had no authority before the man in revolt and the man on the defense.

And Mr. Khallat held to his silence.

Those gathered stared at the floor, pushing away a scene of woman using her strongest weapon: “weakness.” In the mind of each of them an insistent question:

Has woman thrown herself upon the breast of her husband, or her brother, or her son, or her kinsman bristling with bullets and bombs and dynamite... imploring him — for mercy on her, on the children, on the family, on the whole homeland — to throw down his weapon and remain peaceably at home?

Did she do it, and he rebuffed her? But then, did she leave his breast and cast herself prostrate at his feet, holding him back by every means from leaving her alone to suffer widowhood, and poverty, and homelessness — and then... to scrimp on food and clothing because it was he who brought on the dangerous crisis?

And Mrs. Abou al-Jbein murmured, giving body to the thought as an admission of fact:

— Woman did not succeed in her mediation, because she did not use her “weakness.”

Mr. Khallat murmured:

— Perhaps she did use this weakness — and it is the strongest of her weapons and all her resources — and the man did not respond...

Here Mrs. Rihan hastened to finish:

— I am certain that every woman tried to turn her man away from acts of violence, but she failed, because in truth we are living through strange and difficult psychological and nervous states, and the specter of the economic crisis that will follow the disturbances throws the greatest responsibilities upon us women. What, then, are we to do?

It seemed at last that there was some movement among those present, and that the subject of the symposium had taken hold of their minds. Mr. Khallat proposed, in his capacity as an economic expert, that each member of the symposium begin by defining the causes of the economic crisis resulting from the disturbances in Lebanon, and he explained his proposal:

— In my opinion there is exaggeration in the fear of this economic crisis. Lebanon is a country that can bear a strain on its economic balance for several weeks.

Mrs. Najjar said: Work has stopped in the villages — but the Village Welfare Society made up for this lack and spent on the unemployed a sum of a thousand liras which it had set aside.

Mr. Khallat: In Beirut not all work has stopped...

Mrs. Rihan: (interrupting). The Beirut municipality, for example, has not stopped even announcing and carrying out contracts: lighting certain quarters of the city, and repairing the eastern entrance of Beirut...

Mrs. Karanful: Why have the sanitation workers stopped working?

Mrs. Rihan: The municipality has not suspended a single employee from work. It is only that such a worker cannot enter the isolated, dangerous districts.

Mr. Khallat: If some work has stopped, the cause of that is individuals, not the government. The road workers (in Tripoli, for instance) were Hauranis, and they departed.

Mrs. Najjar: That will produce a crisis in labor. In the Metn district a worker today asks (15 or 10 liras) a day.

Mr. Khallat: Then the worker will profit from the crisis.

Mrs. Abou al-Jbein: And the peasant will profit as well.

Mr. Khallat: How?

Mrs. Najjar: If Mrs. Abou al-Jbein means that the peasant will profit from the high price of fruit or vegetables, I should like to make clear that wholesale selling prices have not risen

much. The one who gains is the retail vegetable seller.

Mrs. Karanful: I believe the crisis will affect the life of every person.

Mr. Khallat: Let us first define the groups that have been harmed by the crisis. We must divide the country into two parts: the first — that which not all people are allowed to enter, and there movement has stopped completely; and the second — the quiet part — and most of the places here are agricultural districts.

Mrs. Rihan: So there is a single group of the population that has been affected by these disturbances.

Mr. Khallat: Yes — the group of those with large businesses. The class of the rich...

Eyes turned toward Mrs. Abou al-Jbein, who explained with a smile:

— Please do not look at me when you speak of the rich — the Palestine war did not leave a single family among us rich. And I hope the Lebanese question will be settled in peace, to save every individual in this bountiful, beautiful country.

She laughed, and those present laughed with her, repeating a silent prayer for the salvation of Lebanon. Then Mrs. Karanful said:

— If we want to name those who have suffered, they are the owners of: cinemas — restaurants — cafés — hotels — the port traffic — and the airport...

Ellen Rihan, in a faint tone:
This morning I saw the steamers crowding thickly together, waiting inside the harbor and out in the waters far from the shore, and the sight saddened me.

And the gloom returned, sorrowful this time, settling on the lips of the discussants. The photographer's hand stopped moving. The scent of coffee filled the air of the salon, and a sweet young girl appeared, bringing movement back to the lips. Then another young girl appeared: two fragrant flowers in the house of Mrs. Karanful.

Mrs. Rihan proposed that those present move on to examining the means by which the woman in the home could forestall the danger arising from the crisis on the economic side.

Mrs. Karanful: Woman must economize in buying clothes and shoes and in servants.

Mrs. Abou al-Jbein: After our exodus from Palestine my son's shoe grew too tight for his foot; I did not buy him a new shoe but contented myself with cutting off the toe of the shoe.

Mrs. Najjar: The Lebanese woman is known to be extravagant.

Mrs. Rihan: The rich woman in Lebanon, and in any other country, is the extravagant one; the woman of moderate means is more economical.

Mr. Khallat: When a woman decides not to shop in the market, she thereby contributes, without meaning to, to a financial deficit that strikes the shops — not to say bankruptcies. And if she does not employ a woman to help her in the housework, she may deprive a second family of its daily bread.

Mrs. Rihan: If we take the question of food, can we provide the family the same nourishment for a smaller sum?

Mrs. Karanful added: You have forgotten to mention that the salaried employee too has suffered a shortfall in these circumstances. The household into which no more than 250 or 300 liras enter each month must today buy, for example: a kilo of tomatoes at 75 piasters, string beans at 125 piasters, apricots at 100 piasters, bananas at 75 piasters, and an uqiyya of meat at 150 piasters... The important thing, as Mrs. Rihan said, is the food side of the household.

Mrs. Najjar: Some mothers believe that meat is the only element rich in protein, whereas most grains, cheese, and milk products yield the same benefit. Then too, our Lebanese households spend the largest part of their budgets on food.

Mrs. Karanful: True. And then, cooking is what takes the largest share of a woman's time among us.

Mrs. Abou al-Jbein: The housewife must follow a special system in her kitchen: a meal of lentils or chickpeas with one kind of fruit nourishes and suffices. Then a meal of meat and vegetables on a second day. Thus she must keep clear of extravagance and rely on variety. I have visited Europe and America, and the family there does not spend much on the kitchen, and yet they do not complain of any decline in their health.

Mrs. Rihan: Most of our illnesses, with us, come from “our stomachs.”

Mr. Khallat: The important thing is that the man consent to this rationing...

And when he sensed an attack coming from the ladies' side, he added by way of clarification:

Not giving one's whole attention to meals is a sign of a people's rising standard. The poor or simple class spends from 90 to 95 percent of its income on food. The middle class spends 80 percent. As for the rich or the thinking class, it spends no more than 25 percent of its income on food.

Mrs. Karanful: Woman must then join man in work: in earning a sum of money.

Mr. Khallat: A splendid idea, if she finds that work. But the important thing for our subject is that woman should not hold back from buying what is offered in the market. And if she wishes to economize, she should reduce or refrain from consuming everything imported from abroad and confine herself to national products.

Here Mrs. Najjar asked Mr. Khallat:

— But have we any national products?

Mr. Khallat: Yes, we have clothing, and shoes, and all kinds of foodstuffs.

Mrs. Karanful: First — will the seller of imported goods be harmed?

Mr. Khallat: His prices will inevitably rise a little after the crisis, enough to make up for the drop in income from the smaller quantity sold.

Mrs. Najjar: The Village Welfare Society will work to make use of our agricultural products, by preparing dried and canned products — vegetables and fruits — and selling them at reasonable prices to housewives. In this way it will find work for a number of people, and meet our need for such items as we now import.

Mr. Khallat: There is a sensitive side of the subject we have not treated — I mean the social side. If the crisis grows severe, and some industrialists dispense with their workers, and the doors of employment are closed in their faces, how will those families face the economic crisis?

Mrs. Karanful: That is the task of our women's associations.

Mrs. Rihan: Honorable families will go hungry, and at no price will they bring themselves to ask; so we must concern ourselves with these families of hidden need.

Mrs. Najjar: Woman must devote all her attention, in dealing with the crisis, to these families of hidden need.

Mrs. Abou al-Jbein: We have agreed that the housewife must adopt “moderation” in managing the affairs of the house. To this plan should be joined the setting aside of one day each week on which the family buys no fruit, the sum being collected to aid the family of hidden need — in every quarter, and street, and village...

Mr. Khallat: A splendid idea, if it is applied.

Mrs. Karanful: Applying it is easy, if in every quarter a league is formed to carry out the necessary contacts and tasks.

Mrs. Najjar: And the league's work is to strive to find employment for the men of the families of hidden need, to bring them out of the crisis.

Mr. Khallat: And with this we shall have treated the crisis with sincerity and realism, and preserved the good bond that ties the Lebanese family together to face every problem.

Mrs. Rihan laced her fingers one in another and murmured:

Finally, we must pray for Lebanon.

The gazes of those present fixed themselves on the floor tiles, and they murmured a prayer to God to illumine hearts, and to sow goodness anew upon the earth.

The specialists affirm that a state of disturbances in any country — especially if it lasts long — must be followed by an economic crisis. How, then, is the Lebanese woman to face this crisis, or soften its severity?