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Apple growers in Lebanon responded to the call last Saturday by the Lebanese Farmers Association and participated in the big "day of wrath" in several regions, namely, Fnaydik, Jebbet Bshareh, Tannurine, Kfarzebian, Beskanta, Barook and Jezzine famed for this agriculture. The move came as a warning to the procrastination by government in granting compensations to farmers and in salvaging the sector which secures the livelihoods of some 300,000 citizens. For his part, the minister of economy Alain Hakim emphasised the need for government to support apple growers similarly to wheat, barley and tobacco farmers. During the demonstration in Tarsheesh, the president of the Lebanese Farmers Association, Antoine Howayek, demanded the subsidization of the refrigeration services by 100%, compensations for apple grower in the tune of LBP 8000 for every box of apples, the facilitation of export or the full coverage of shipping costs, and finally the establishment of an agriculture credit bank. In Rashayya, farmers staged several sit-ins in various towns of West Beqaa and Rashayya warning to cut off all apple orchards and sell it as firewood if the authorities fail to find external markets for their products. In the Shuf area, farmers demonstrated at the agricultural cooperative association on Freidis-Barooq road blocking it with their apple production. Meanwhile, the Lebanese Forces Syndicate department warned the government in a statement on Saturday calling it to commit to the pledges through a fair coordination between the farmer and the apple dealer. likewise, the National Patriotic Movement Judges Committee launched a campaing to sell apples in Kfarzaaka in Koora caza, to encourage the Lebanese farmers. (An Nahar, Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, September 30, October 2, 2016)

 

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The second assessment conference on ‘the role of agencies recruiting migrant ‎domestic workers’ held last Friday at Monroe Hotel in Beirut was called on by ‎the labor minister Sajaan Azzi. Participants included, the owners of ‎recruitment offices from all the Lebanese regions, representatives of embassies ‎that have nationals working and residing in Lebanon, in addition to ‎representatives from the public security apparatus, the internal security forces, ‎and civil society, human rights and international organizations concerned. In ‎his opening address, Azzi “advised his would-be successor to keep to the new ‎protocol of regular consultation and dialogue” which he started between the ‎ministry and the said agencies. Azzi pointed out that the conference “seeks to ‎maintain the profession, boost cooperation, protect dignity and human rights ‎of all parties involved, particularly inside the households that boast their own ‎privacy,” as he put it. The labor minister spelled out that some agencies ‎working in the domain are in fact not operational or non-existent and ‎accomplish only 10 contracts per year. Other offices, he added, tend to lease ‎their working license or the signature, and even do transactions outside their ‎authorized responsibilities, besides agencies that bring in men workers, forge ‎papers and change the generic term or title of the worker. Warning that this ‎will not be acceptable from now on, Azzi revealed that as a result of the ‎screening and investigation, some 122 offices were shut down and 22 others ‎suspended. (An Nahar, October 1, 2016)‎

 

In cooperation with the Beirut Bar Association women’s Abaad organization ‎organized yesterday a national meeting with the theme ‘violence against women ‎and girls in Lebanon: between legislation and application’. A study prepared by ‎researcher Azza Charara Beydoun entitled ‘domestic violence: men speaking up’ ‎was presented to participants, which featured a sample of men divided across 2 ‎categories: 9 men convicted with violence and 2 men pleading for psychological ‎treatment to their brutality against their wives. The study has shown that all the ‎respondents were against beating their wives, and approving that the husband has ‎no right to restrain or discipline his spouse! What is more, they denied any act of ‎violence against their wives or said what they did was not worth mentioning, as ‎all husbands batter their wives, stated one of them. Besides, men covered in the ‎survey did not admit the existence of any economic, mental or moral abuse, and ‎justified their cruel act as a mere reaction to the act instigated by the wife. The ‎study has also indicated that in most cases, violence appears to be an instance ‎beyond the control of the perpetrator himself, as if it is coerced from outside, ‎befalling the wife in the same way it befalls the violent husband. Even more, the ‎wife is the one to bring violence upon herself or instigate it, hence rendering the ‎act of violence a compulsive or uncontrollable response, as simple as that. The ‎above study included implications for rehabilitation in line with one main ‎assumption: that “behind a violent husband there lies a serious gender identity ‎crisis”. Hence, some of the causes plaguing these troubled identities are not due to ‎the husband’s inability to understand his wife truly and really, but are related to ‎inherent perceptions and attitudes that are in conflict with the current reality of ‎the woman. These men were in total denial of the change in women’s conditions, ‎who now have their own physical resources, particularly the professional career ‎women, and no more in need of outside emotional or financial support. In ‎conclusion, the study pointed out that while men targeted in the survey were from ‎different ages, regions, religions, age of marriage and levels of education, this ‎confirms that violence is not as commonly understood restricted only to the least ‎educated people, Muslims or to rural disadvantaged areas. (Al Akhbar, September ‎‎30, 2016)‎

 

In partnership with the Swedish organization for international development, Diakonia, and in ‎collaboration with both the ministry of social affairs and the general directorate of internal ‎security forces, the association of Dar al Amal organized yesterday a seminar entitled ‘the social ‎re-integration of former women detainees’. On the occasion held at the Beirut Chamber of ‎Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, the head of the Prisons Department, Lieutenant Colonel ‎Ghassan Othman, described the state of women prisons in Lebanon as sad, painful and ‎problematic, pointing out that the harsh conditions were mainly related to overcrowded cells and ‎worn out buildings that badly require maintenance, in addition to the lack of space and ‎recreational facilities. Othman made clear that the ministry of interior has teamed up with ‎municipalities and the ISF to rehabilitate and develop the present conditions to keep up with the ‎modern standards of reformatory detention centers. In the same spirit, Diakonia- Lebanon Office ‎director, Rodolf Jibrayel, urged authorities concerned to cooperate in order to facilitate the ‎reintegration of freed women detainees through the provision of decent work opportunities. The ‎social rehabilitation and reintegration program implemented by Dar al Amal in three women ‎prisons was also outlined, and the role of civil society and the economic sector highlighted. To ‎close, two prisoners made live testimonies of their post-prison distressed life and the social ‎stigma and rejection by a community that does not give them the prospects of earning a decent ‎livelihood. (As Safir, Al Mustaqbal, September 29, 2016)‎