News Bits

February 2004

The month of January saw protests against the French ban of veil in public institutions and the execution of three men in Lebanon despite opposition from humanist groups and the European Union, with which Lebanon is linked through economic agreements.

In Beirut and Cairo, Muslim women – mostly instigated by men – took to the streets to protest the French ban. Their arguments had it that they were afraid on the fate of freedom of France in light of the ban, and that women should be veiled in order to decrease sexual offenses in the society.

At the same time, demonstrators in Baghdad protested the abrogation of the Civil Law. Several women took to the streets to protest what they considered as an infringement on their rights by imposing on them religious teachings in regards to marriage, divorce and other family regulations.

Away from the protests and the counter-protests, leftists in Lebanon held series of meetings to consider the establishment of a new leftist party, whose final shape, name and identity are still under debate.

Alternative learned, however, that a new party or movement that would bring the different independent leftist groups under its wing was scheduled to be created in the near future.

The month of January also saw an active “tourism” activity where Arab Gulf citizens flooded other Arab countries especially Lebanon, and enjoyed the fruits of high consumerism the Lebanese people has been enjoying for a while now.