The Women’s Union in Lebanon and Syria

Though the formation of the Women’s Union in Lebanon and Syria started taking shape in 1920-1921(1)Rita Stephan, “Four Waves of Lebanese Feminism,” E-International Relations, November, 2014, available at: http://www.e-ir.info/2014/11/07/four-waves-of-lebanese-feminism/ (last accessed 22 November 2017) , it was formally founded in 1924 to band together Lebanese women’s groups, associations, and activists(2)ʻAnbarah S.Khālidī and Tarif Khalidi, Memoirs of an Early Arab Feminist: The Life and Activism of Anbara Salam Khalidi, London, Pluto Press, 2013, p. 118. , in particular nationalists and leftists across Syria and Lebanon(3)Elizabeth Thompson, Colonial Citizens: Republican Rights, Paternal Privilege, and Gender in French Syria and Lebanon, New York, Columbia University Press, 2000, p. 98. It is also often referred to as the Lebanese Women’s Union; according to a plethora of sources documenting women’s movements in Lebanon, it was an active organisation with a social, cultural, and political focus(4)Hanifa Ali al-Katib, تاريخ تطور الحركة النسائية في لبنان وإرتباطها بالعالم العربي، 1800-1975, Beirut: Dar al-Hadatha, 1984,  p. 115-116. . It held conferences and conventions for women from across the Arab region, and was chaired by several pioneering women, including Ibtihaj Qaddoura. In later years (1928-1929), the Lebanese Women’s Union changed to become the Arab (Lebanese) Women’s Union(5)Emily Ibrahim Fares, الحركة النسائية اللبنانية, Beirut, Dar al-Thakafah, p. 102. . In 1946, the Union bifurcated to two separate organisations: the Women’s Union led by Ibtihaj Qaddoura; and the Lebanese Women Solidarity Association, led by Laure Thabet(6)Emily Ibrahim Fares, الحركة النسائية اللبنانية, Beirut, Dar al-Thakafah, p. 104 . The two unions reunified in 1952 to form the Lebanese Council for Women.