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2019 Rafik Hariri University Job Fair

15-4-2019

The Rafik Hariri University (RHU) organized on April 12 its 2nd Job Fair 2019 on its Mishrif Campus. Around 20 Lebanese firms in the various disciplines participated in this annual event, including banking, engineering, marketing and advertising, graphic design, computer programming, in addition to non-government organizations. The exhibition is an opportunity for fresh graduates and students to explore employment prospects and connect and network with representatives of exhibiting companies. According to a statement by RHU, the job fair is part of the career services extended by the university that allow students to learn about the labor market requirements and clarifying the link between the university and work life. It is the duty of each higher academic institution in the country to offer its students with the best services and prepare them for a rapid integration into post-graduate work areas, the statement added. (Al Mustaqbal, April 13, 2019)

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Joyce Azzam conquers Everest summit at 5100 m

12-4-2019

Lebanese climber Joyce Azzam continues her journey on Mount Everest (8,848 m) (c.f: https://bit.ly/2X42IX6). After completing 6 out of 7 highest dream peaks reaching Mount Vison (4,897 m), Azzam made it to the 5,100 meters. Boasting to An Nahar newspaper the pride in conquering her aim, Azzam said she wants to inspire young people to chase their dreams. Azzam recounted to An Nahar the journey from the point of leaving Lebanese territory, to visiting the Nepalese minister of environment in Katmandu, and planting a cedar tree under his patronage. The second tree she said she planted in the outskirts of the city about 2 hours from the capital, at an orphanage in the Himalayas. On April 4, Azzam went on to say, she set on her trek to the world’s highest summit. “We took a 6-hour bus ride to Ramanchap in Nepal. The next day we flew to Lukla, an area whose airport is considered the most dangerous due to the rugged terrain, and from there we started to walk uphill. Each night we spent in a different area, until we finally made it to the 5,100 meters.” (An Nahar, April 12, 2019)

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First woman judicial inspector in Bahrain

12-4-2019

The Kingdom of Bahrain announced on April 6 the first ever appointment of a woman in the judicial inspection, the Bahraini News Agency reported. The advocate general, Amina Issa, has been assigned to the position which examines the work of prosecutors and assesses their performance, becoming as such the first woman for the post. The news agency said that the decision comes from a conviction in the importance of women’s empowerment backing them to play their role in line with their qualifications. Issa has previously held a number of positions in the public prosecution, including representing it before the court of cassation whose verdicts are considered final. The lecturer at the faculty of information, tourism and Arts, University of Bahrain, Dr. Samar Abioki, described the above move as important, hailing the achievements and the good governance of the King, Crown Prince and the prime minister. These accomplishments, Abioki noted, go beyond the standards of women empowerment to become an expert in this regard. To recall, in December 2018, the Bahraini Legislature elected Fawziah Zenel as the first House Speaker in the history of the Kingdom. (Sputnik, April 7, 2019)

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Lebanon welcomes Syrian decision to reduce transit fees

11-4-2019

In response to the decision by Syrian prime minister, Imad Khamis, to cut down transit tariffs on Lebanese trucks entering Syrian territory (https://bit.ly/2DaoLE3), the President of the Lebanese Industrialists Association, LIA, Fadi Gemayel, said it is an important step for Lebanese land export activity. LIA welcomes this reduction which facilitates the entry of industrial goods via Syria and speeds up their arrival to desired destinations compared to the time and cost of maritime shipping, Gemayel told Lebanon Files. Gemayel voiced hope that the initiative will be implemented soon and be followed by similar actions by Arab and GCC states. Likewise, the chief of the Bekaa Farmers Association, Ibrahim Tarshishi, said he hopes things will return to the time before the closure of Nassib Crossing in 2015. Then, the transit tariff barely exceeded USD 180 on the truck, but in October 2018 when the crossing was reopened, fees rocketed to USD 800, causing a drastic decline in land export, Tarshishi added. The reduction of transit tariffs on Lebanese trucks, he explained, could reduce the bill on producers, exporters and farmers. It can also increase the size of exported products to Arab markets, notably Syrian markets, given that Syria comes second after Saudi Arabia in the import of made-in-Lebanon agricultural goods. For his part, the vice president of the General Labor Confederation, Hassan Faqih, said the visit to Syria of agriculture minister Hassan Lakiss, has completely broken the unjustified boycott which was detrimental to Lebanon’s interests and the interest of sister nations in general. The Syrian decision is another proof that the fastest way to resolve our industrial and agricultural crises is through direct visits and relations between the two countries at various levels. (Al Diyar, April 11, 2019)

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My Nationality Campaign reaction to MP Ezzedeen law proposal

11-4-2019

The coordinator of My Nationality is A Right for Me and My Children Campaign, Karima Shebbo said the Campaign’s request is very plain and simple, equality in rights between men and women. Shebbo was responding to the draft bill submitted on Tuesday by the head of the Parliamentary Committee on Women and Child, MP Inaya Ezzedeen, allowing the children of a Lebanese mother from a non-Lebanese father to benefit from social and civic rights, with exception of political ones (c.f: https://bit.ly/2P3kZRR). “We do not want to manipulate the law. Simply we want to amend the Lebanese legislation set during the French Mandate, to play fair to Lebanese women,” she maintained. Shebbo considered that any relevant initiatives cannot be discussed on the same table with the Nationality Law, pointing out that Ezzedeen’s proposal came as a result of the deprivation suffered by children of Lebanese mothers from non-Lebanese fathers. The ideal solution should treat the problem from its roots, consequently, any injustices against these children will be removed, Shebbo explained. “We don’t want suppressants… This is our right in a full effective citizenship,” she said. When the Campaign met Ezzedeen last August and agreed to a joint work plan, there was hope, she recalled. All the unfounded concerns and fears are purely political, as no naturalization decree excludes a specific sect, and neither the wife of the Lebanese is asked about her religion, Shebbo stated. The approaches based on a political confessional principle cannot be but racist and debasing. The Lebanese woman is treated as a subordinate rather than a free entity, Shebbo concluded. (My Nationality FB page, April 10, 2019)

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‘My hijab is not against justice’

11-4-2019

Under the slogan, ‘My hijab is not against justice’, the students of the faculty of law staged a sit in yesterday in front of the Justice Palace in Beirut demanding the right of mouhajabat to enter the judiciary equally with other citizens as mandated by the Constitution. The move came after a veiled Lebanese woman, Amani Alji revealed that an unspecified ‘bylaw’ in the Justice department has prevented her from entering the Institute for Judicial Studies. Alji pointed out that one of the judges in the oral exam committee sarcastically asked her: “what is the story behind your hijab?”, adding, “you cannot enter the Institute with a veil on your head.” During the protest, the professor of human rights, Dr. Halima Qaaqur, said: “I teach human rights, and I believe that any protection of the freedom of belief is a public issue rather than a private personal one, whether you wore a hijab or not.” She stressed her support for the freedom of belief, equality and justice, on which the State should be built, as she said. The students, for their part, noted that the muhajaba is educated and has successfully reached the Legislature and the cabinet, and seized the highest public positions, hence, why should an internal custom prevent her from entering the judiciary. “This causes moral damage and therefore must be lifted,” they stated. (Al Akhbar, April 11, 2019)

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Syria cuts transit fees on Lebanese trucks

10-4-2019

The Syrian prime minister Imad Khamis issued yesterday a decision to cut down transit tariffs on Lebanese trucks entering Syrian territory. This follows a meeting with Lebanese agriculture minister, Hassan Lakis, which discussed cooperation between the neighboring states in agriculture, commerce, investment and reconstruction matters. Khamis underlined the importance of expanding agricultural coordination to cover various areas and the revision of previous agreements. In addition to the signing of new arrangements and consolidating collaboration in the transit transport and the marketing of agricultural products, and the facilitation of passage of products via border crossings. Lakis, who also attended the meeting of the joint agricultural committee, pointed out that his Syrian counterpart, Ahmad Qaderi, was responsive and it was agreed to develop relations in the interest of both countries and in the interest of farmers, traders and national economy. Meanwhile, Lebanese parliamentary tourism and agriculture committee convened yesterday under MP Ayub Hmayyid to study the draft bill submitted by MP George Okeis aimed to enforce stricter procedures to curb smuggling activity and intensify punitive measures and fines to protect the Lebanese farmer and producer. Noting, that said committee has sent invitations to the finance ministry and the General Customs but who did not attend the meeting. On the other hand, the ministry of industry issued yesterday a circular suspending production in the dairy factory Jano in the West Beqaa town of Ghaza, pending the release of a license at the industry department and improving production standards according to food safety specifications. (Al Diyar, April 10, 2019)

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Women in Moslem countries: early marriage, arrest, harassment and threats

10-4-2019

In Jordan
On April 8, the Jordanian Parliament amended the age of marriage, sanctioning marriage at the age of 16 in "special cases" provided it meets a number of conditions, including the judge’s approval and if the marriage proved to be needed, and secured the two conditions of consent and choice. Noting, that the age of legal marriage in Jordan is 18 years, and the introduced amendment comes as an exception (https://bit.ly/2G6KZY7).
In Saudi Arabia
Saudi authorities have arrested seven people, including two US citizens, over connection with women's rights activists. According to Saudi human rights group, ALQST, 6 men and one woman, a writer, were arrested, despite the latter’s pregnancy. The detainees, who are writers and bloggers involved in public and reform affairs, were banned from travel since last February. (https://bbc.in/2VAm2em). Also, Saudi Imam, Abdullah Rafidi, one of the leading Islamic scholars, said prominent Saudi woman, Ghada Mariri, a nano science specialist in the US, has trespassed Islamic sharia, especially after appearing on magazines and TV without hijab. Mariri has justified her attitude stressing that each attire has its purpose. (https://bit.ly/2X0lpLc).
In Afghanistan
In its issue of April 5, Al-Akhbar newspaper drew attention to the harassment and rape assaults against female Afghan football players by the president of the Afghan Football Federation and a number of sports officials. The latter were reportedly arrested following complaints by female athletes of sexual and physical abuse at a training camp held in Jordan last year. The incident, Al Akhbar wrote, has uncovered a series of incidents of sexual exploitation against female football players who remained silent in fear of repression by their families (https://bit.ly/2InyLx7).
In Brunei
On April 6, hundreds of people demonstrated in London in front of the Dorchester Hotel, a property of the Sultanate of Brunei, in protest against the country's practice of stoning to death for homosexuals and perpetrators of adultery. (https://bit.ly/2Z204TG). (Al Akhbar, Al Diyar, April 5, 6, 7 and 8, 2019)
 

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Draft law allowing children of Lebanese mother to benefit from civil and social rights

10-4-2019

The head of the Parliamentary Committee on Women and Children, MP Inaya Izzedine, submitted yesterday a proposal to the Parliament’s General Secretariat aimed to allow children of Lebanese mother married to non-Lebanese to benefit from civil and social rights. The latter includes the right to residence, travel, property, healthcare, work, social security and practicing commerce, as well as the right to registration and tax clearance, on par with children from a Lebanese father. One exception in the proposed draft is the right to political participation as a candidate or voter. Noting, that in the explanatory statement of the draft bill, the nationality law of 1925 granted the Lebanese man the right to give nationality to his non-Lebanese wife and deprived the Lebanese woman married to non-Lebanese of this same right. Since independence to date, the nationality issue in the country has been handled as a taboo, especially in relation to recognizing the right to nationality of children from a Lebanese mother. The above draft law is expected to alleviate the suffering of children from a Lebanese mother and a non-Lebanese father due to deprivation of their civil rights. This issue, to recall, has become a burden on the Lebanese society with relation to its social and security inclinations enforced by deprivation, particularly that many of these children are born, brought up and studied in the country and have not known any other homeland. On the other hand, the Committee on Women and Children discussed during a session on April 4 headed by Izzedine, the amendment to Articles 503 and 504 of the Penal Code to the end of criminalizing marital rape, but no decision was taken to allow deliberation after a review of the domestic violence law. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, April 5 and 10, 2019)

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VAW: Racist assault, death of Ethiopian migrant worker, child rape

9-4-2019

In the latest violence incidents against women, the first investigative judge in the North, Samaranda Nassar, issued an accusatory verdict in the case of the father molesting and raping his minor and adult daughters under threats of violence. The ruling found that that the acts of the father and the mother were to be considered as criminal offenses according to relevant articles of the Penal Code. The judge referred the case to the grand jury in the North for trial of the defendants befor the Criminal Court at a later stage. Recalling, that the defendant rapes his four daughters in Tripoli and sold them for sex with the knowledge of their mother (c.f: https://bit.ly/2Gb2cRD). On the other hand, Al Diyar newspaper today, citing Lebanon 24 website, reported a racist attack on a non-Lebanese girl, who took the bus in her return trip to Tripoli, and was assaulted by the driver. Also on April 8, NNA reported that an Ethiopian worker was killed after falling from her employer’s apartment in the 8th floor in Tripoli. Security forces rushed to the scene for investigation. (Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, April 9, 2019)

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