Lebanon's Parliament recently endorsed a draft law to protect women and other family members from violence. This draft legislation should be improved, especially in terms of becoming a law in force, and it remains a very small step forward for women's rights in Lebanon. The delay in rights for women from all sects reflects a tardiness by Lebanon, which claims to be modern when it comes to its society's openness to the west. Women continue to occupy a subordinate position in all sectors of civil rights, namely inheritance, divorce, marriage, etc. The biggest scandal is that a Lebanese mother does not have the right to pass on her citizenship to her children. It is said that this is because Lebanon wants to avoid naturalizing Palestinians in Lebanon, but many people have received Lebanese citizenship because of corruption, sometimes involving the paying of huge sums of money. It is surprising to find that the grandchildren of the late Lebanese minister Henry Edde, who held the education and public works portfolios in various governments, cannot obtain Lebanese citizenship, because their mothers, Delphine and Celine, married Frenchmen. The strangest thing is that they hold French passports and their parents live in Lebanon, but cannot receive Lebanese passports for political reasons. This unconvincing excuse should at least be studied on a case-by-case basis. Like many in Lebanon, Jean-Louis Henry Edde has certainly tried to obtain Lebanese citizenship, to which he is entitled because of his origin and his mother, but all of the attempts have failed. In many cases, the attempts to obtain citizenship in Lebanon involve paying money. Whoever wants to pay large sums to purchase citizenship can do so even if this is his right, like Henry Edde's grandchildren and others. The failure to study the cases that deserve the granting of citizenship is a scandal in a country that wants the best for its people. In Europe and the United States, there is a race to naturalize those foreigners who are professionally and vocationally successful. There is no hesitation to grant these people citizenship, even though economic conditions in the countries of the west make it difficult to obtain work permits and citizenship. However, the state looks at various cases and determines when it is in its interest to grant the country's citizenship to those who deserve it. However, Lebanon does not recognize the citizenship rights of Lebanese mothers married to foreigners, because their rights are less than those of their husbands. Changing this situation does not take place at present unless corruption and money are involved. Some officials, especially those who are involved in the issue, led by President Michel Suleiman, a patriotic person attached to Lebanon's values, should make up for the violations of rights on this front and look into the right of Lebanese mothers to give citizenship to their children. When it comes to divorce and custody, we have seen the examples of mothers deprived of their children in many cases when the husband separates from his wife. He takes the children and does not allow them to see their mother. There are many examples of this in Lebanon, from all sects, without exception. The conditions of women in Lebanon should be corrected; it is urgently needed to see society achieve progress. An advanced society is one that sets down modern laws, reflecting its progress. A country such as Lebanon should not have its laws and customs remain backward, as with old societies that did not keep up with today's world. Lebanon's civil society, with the help of the media, should push for these fundamentally-important reforms. Instead of their bickering and exchanging curses, politicians should put this issue at the top of their concerns.
