Already caught up in the intricate web of questions on citizenship, religious identity and sectarian politics, civil society’s efforts to legalize the right to civil marriage continues to disappoint – even though Lebanon remains the only country in the Middle East to acknowledge civil knots tied outside its borders.

Not surprisingly, the recent ministerial statement failed to mention anything on either the issue of civil marriage or the deeply unpopular nationality law, which does not allow Lebanese women to pass on their nationality to their children if their husband is not Lebanese. The Collective for Research and Training on Development Action (CRTDA), the NGO that has been spearheading the nationality campaign and that organized a sit-in this July outside the Grand Serail, expressed its dismay on this absence.
 
But the news is not all bleak. The campaign to allow civil marriage has been uploaded onto Facebook, the “social networking website” phenomenon that has given young Lebanese activists a powerful platform. “All for Civil Marriage in Lebanon” is an ever-growing Facebook group created by an American University of Beirut (AUB) professor but which has subsequently been managed by students and young professionals. It lists, at last count, more than 6,810 members on its “Groups” page and more than 15,650 members on its “Causes” page.

Mobilizing Lebanese youth on Facebook

According to Ahmad al-Nakib, officer of “All for Civil Marriage in Lebanon” and president of the Student Activism Club at AUB, the Facebook group first started in early 2007 and has been used mainly as a networking tool and means for members to express their opinions on the issue of civil marriage (sometimes even those who are against it). This is manifested by the numerous posts that pop up every day on the “Discussion Board” and “The Wall” sections of the Facebook page. From the outset, different groups outside and inside Facebook quickly started to join “All for Civil Marriage,” making it an umbrella group where activists easily meet each other in cyberspace.

Until the May clashes this year, the core members of the Facebook group, around 7-9 people, met every week or two for heated debates on the second floor of the Hamra branch of Za‘atar w Zeit, the popular Lebanese fast food chain. So far, the group has organized a lecture by a prominent Islamist scholar in May 2007; distributed flyers on civil marriage in three languages, mostly targeted at university students; given questionnaires to university students to gauge their attitude toward civil marriage; and has networked with those involved in the last serious campaign in 1998. Nakib was positive about all these activities, telling NOW Lebanon that “we affected a lot of people… A lot of people are for civil marriage. If we try enough, we can get a lot, a lot of publicity.”

The group is also involved in the drafting of a civil personal status law that will include civil marriage, based on the abortive Hrawi Law of 1998. The initiative is led by another “All for Civil Marriage,” group member and lawyer, Nael Kaedby, who has just completed the third draft of this law, which will be subject to discussion within the group and among experts to be finessed. Kaedby said that the group is trying to learn from the failed 1998 civil marriage law by pinpointing what went wrong, such as allowing adoption – a move seen as un-Islamic – and requiring final judicial approval on men seeking a divorce. 

Facebook and the future of civil marriage

According to Dr. Karam Karam, an expert on civil organizations in Lebanon, the younger generation is much more open toward civil marriage due to the changing cultural curriculum in schools. In this sense, Facebook groups have much potential in mobilizing like-minded youth cheering on civil marriage.

According to the 2005 study by Dr. Jean Murad, sociology professor at the Université Saint Joseph (USJ), 68.1% of a sample of 1,500 Lebanese in all age groups considered civil marriage to contradict religious principles. In stark contrast, the Facebook group’s own, non-funded statistical study based on 1,100 university students mostly in Beirut (questionnaires were distributed at a Facebook group meeting to members, who then distributed them amongst their classmates) showed students’ support for civil marriage ranging from 70% to nearly 90%.

This is all well and good, but they have still to come up against Lebanon’s powerful religious institutions, who have a vested interest – financial and authoritarian – in blocking the legality of civil unions. The Facebook campaigners are well aware of the fact that efforts to promote their cause, if launched without the proper political and popular support, will fail.