Lebanese woman attacked and expelled from popular swimming pool for wearing swimsuit

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“We are not Brotherhood or in Iran,” with that phrase some Lebanese expressed their objection during the past hours to what happened with a woman on the seashore in the city of Sidon, through the communication sites.

They also launched a campaign of solidarity with her, after one of the sheikhs attacked her and expelled her with his youth from the sea in that city in southern Lebanon.

The story began at the weekend, when Maysa Hanouni decided to go to the popular swimming pool in Sidon, accompanied by her husband, to enjoy the sun and swim, as she used to do at the beginning of May every year.

For the past five years, she has been frequenting the beach of this popular pool, without problems. However, this year was different, as she was attacked by a cleric and his followers and expelled with her husband because of her wearing a swimsuit, in behavior that was “strange” for Lebanese society and contradicts the constitution that guarantees personal freedom for individuals.

“A dress unworthy of a woman!”

Maysa, an activist in the cultural and social fields in Sidon, recounted to Al-Arabiya.net what happened to her, saying, “I was with my husband on the beach of the popular swimming pool, and a sheikh approached us with two other people and asked us to leave, on the pretext that I was wearing clothes that were not appropriate for me as a woman.” And it contradicts the customs and traditions of the city of Sidon.

She also added: “They asked us to leave after ten minutes, in a loud and threatening tone, so my husband objected, and went to the sheikh, saying, “Who doesn’t want to talk to you? Tell me…my last concern…”

They threw sandbags at us

However, the sheikh returned with more than 15 young men after the deadline expired, and they gathered around Maysa and her husband and started throwing water bottles filled with sand at their faces, according to what the woman confirmed.

And she added that the sheikh had assured her that they “are here to forbid evil,” adding that she and her husband left after that place for their own safety.

“This is my city…they have no right”

In addition, Hanouni regretted, “because it is the first time that this happened to her after 5 years of going to the beach,” considering that there is a party behind the aggressors stronger than the actors and representatives of Sidon.

She also stressed that no one has the right to prevent her from exercising her freedom, saying, “This is my city and this is my home. The constitution guarantees personal freedom, and therefore no one has the right to set himself up over the necks and freedom of people and to decide what is right and what is wrong.”

While Maysa thanked everyone who showed solidarity with her and her husband, she considered that everything she had fought for in Sidon seemed to have been in vain. “At a time when the countries surrounding us are witnessing rapid development at all levels, some in Lebanon insist on practicing a policy of repression and intolerance,” she said.

It is noteworthy that this incident received great interaction among the Lebanese on social networking sites, some even called for organizing a trip to the popular swimming pool in response to what the sheikh did with the young men.

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