Khazen

Order of Malta Lebanon Camp: seeing the face of God in the disabled

CHABROUH, Lebanon (CNS) — In a pristine
mountain setting in Lebanon, a female volunteer gently takes hold of the hands
of Mohammed, a disabled adult who has trouble communicating. She gazes into his
eyes — still shaded in heart-shaped sunglasses from the dress-up activity a
few hours earlier — as she engages him in a dance to the rhythm of the music
playing in the background.

Smiling contentedly, Mohammed bows his head
to kiss her hand, and she responds with a kiss on his forehead. “By showing acts of love, we are
demonstrating that everyone is made in the image and likeness of God,”
Anton Depiro, a 30-year-old Catholic volunteer from London, told Catholic News
Service during a recent camp for people with disabilities, run by the Order of Malta Lebanon.

As Depiro affectionately put his arm around
Mohammed, he introduced his middle-aged guest like a proud brother, saying, “He’s
very shy and quiet.” He told CNS they were “working together slowly
and getting to know each other, and we’re finding ways we can interact.”

The issue of disability is still somewhat of
a taboo in Lebanon, and families often experience shame when they have a child
with a disability. Because the Lebanese government does not offer support for
people with disabilities, many families resort to putting their family member
into an institution, where there is little connection with the outside world.

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Anti-Muslim hate crime targets a … Lebanese Christian? That sad murder case in Tulsa

Story image for lebanese from GetReligion (blog)

By

At first blush, an Oklahoma murder making national headlines this week seems to be a case of anti-Muslim hate. That would mean that it’s another story about “Islamophobia,” as the news media like to call it.

Except that Khalid Jabara, the 37-year-old man shot dead in Tulsa, was not
a Muslim. The victim, whose family immigrated to the U.S. from Lebanon,
was an Orthodox Christian. That simple fact should have raised all
kinds of questions for journalists working on this story.

The basic details of the crime, via CNN:

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Lebanese cigarettes see high demand from Syrians

By Bassem Mroue, AP

Growing number of small businesses put focus on a mobile-first strategy

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syria’s conflict
has caused hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee to Lebanon, putting
a huge strain on the Lebanese economy and its already-crumbling
infrastructure.
But the five-year Syrian civil war has been a boon for at least one economic sector: the tobacco industry. At Lebanon’s main tobacco factory, located southeast of the capital,
Beirut, employees work round-the-clock but can barely cover the high
demand for locally-made cigarettes.

“We are lucky that there are
Syrians in Lebanon,” said George Hobeika, a senior official with the
state-owned factory, adding that consumption of some local brands in
Lebanon has more than tripled in five years. Lebanon is hosting
over a million registered Syrian refugees. Unofficially, the number of
Syrians who have fled to Lebanon is estimated to be closer to two
million. Many of them are unable to find work, and spend much of their
day smoking in tented encampments or makeshift accommodation around the
country.

In the months following the outbreak of war in March
2011, many of Syria’s cigarette factories closed down. Others were not
able to cover market demand after imports of tobacco stopped, leading to
a sharp rise in demand for Lebanese cigarettes – particularly Cedars, a
brand that is similar to Syria’s widely-smoked Hamra cigarettes.
Lebanon’s state-owned cigarette company sales peaked at US$1 billion in
2012.

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Eight Female TV Anchors Suspended, Told to Lose Weight After Not Looking ‘Appropriate’

by J.D. Durkin Eight television anchors in Egypt have been suspended by their network until they lose weight, an incident that has sparked wild controversy in the nation and the role of the state-run media outlet. The state broadcaster Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) have given the women involved one month to pursue an […]

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Troublesome Ahlam to return to Lebanon despite most Lebanese people wanting her out!

By Al Bawaba

You see Ahlam, just because you crowned yourself as

Lebanon
and the Arab world have not forgotten about that famous feud between
Emirati singer Ahlam and Lebanese TV host Adel Karam. The flamboyant singer boiled Lebanese people’s blood when
she referred to them as “nothing more than falafel vendors
and beggars,” while instructing them to “deal with their ongoing trash
problem instead of talking about their “Queen Ahlam.” Yep, this actualy happened!

Since
then, the two haven’t seen eye to eye (shocker) and several trending
hashtags on Twitter urged Lebanon not to allow Ahlam on its soil.
However, looks like their numerous attempts to keep the “Queen” out of Lebanon have gone down the drain. 

Miss
Controversy is set to return to Beirut in the near future to resume
filming the singing talent competition Arab Idol, where she sits (not
quietly of course) on the judging panel next to Lebanese stars Nancy
Ajram and Wael Kfoury, and Egyptian music producer Hassan el Shafei.

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The Story of Khalid Jabara’s Murder Is Devastating and Infuriating

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By Jeremy Stahl

It’s very hard to know where to begin with the murder of Khalid
Jabara, whose story is one of the most devastating and infuriating
accounts of systemic failures in the legal system you are likely to read
about. That’s the takeaway from a harrowing telling of Jabara’s death published in the Washington Post on Tuesday.

Jabara’s family had allegedly been stalked for years by Vernon
Majors, who had described them at one point to police as “filthy
Lebanese.” According to a police report described by the Post,
Majors confessed last year to nearly killing Jabara’s mother in a
horrifying hit-and-run. After initially being denied bail for assault
and battery with a deadly weapon among other crimes and spending eight
months in jail, District Judge William LaFortune reversed that decision
and allowed Majors to be released on bond in May. On Friday, Jabara
called police to inform them that he had heard Majors had acquired a
gun—as part of a restraining order Jabara’s mother had taken out on
Majors, which he had been charged with violating, the 61-year-old was
not allowed to possess firearms. The police told Jabara that there was
nothing they could do and left his home. Eight minutes later, according
to the account Tulsa Police Homicide Sgt. Dave Walker gave the Post,
neighbors reported hearing gunshots. Majors had allegedly shot and
killed Jabara on his front porch while the 37-year-old was on his
cellphone with his family and getting the mail. “When one neighbor
screamed at Majors to leave, he pointed his gun at the neighbor before
fleeing in his bare feet, leaving footprints in blood and then mud
between the two houses,” according to the Post’s telling of the
police account. Majors was found hiding behind a tree, arrested with a
six pack of beer nearby, taken to the hospital for illness, and police
say he will be charged with first-degree murder as soon as he can leave
the hospital.

“The Constitution allows for people to bond out,” Walker told the Post
of the failures that led to Jabara’s death. “That said, certainly,
knowing what we know today, decisions would be made differently.”

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Secret clocks trapped within trees could rewrite ancient history

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Archaeologists believe they have identified a new way of putting
accurate dates to great events of prehistory. Rare and spectacular storms on the sun appear to have left their
mark in forests and fields around the planet over the past 5,000
years.

Michael Dee, of Oxford University’s research laboratory for
archaeology and the history of art, thinks evidence of such solar
storms could help put precise years to some of the great
uncertainties of history: the construction of Egypt’s Great
Pyramid of Giza, the collapse of the ancient Mayan civilization
in Central America, and perhaps even the arrival of the Vikings
in the Americas.

Every tree maintains its own almanac in the form of annual growth
rings. For decades dendrochronologists have been using tree-ring
evidence and radiocarbon dating to build a timetable of events
that confirm historical accounts, even those predating the first
written chronicles.

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No Gulf Tourists in Lebanon Due to Recent Official Positions

Lebanese and Arab tourists enjoy a night out in downtown Beirut, Lebanon Monday, June 17, 2002.

By Wajdi Al Aridi – Al Sharq Al awsat

Beirut- Tourists coming from Gulf Arab countries were absent from the
cities and villages of Mount Lebanon this summer, as one of the
repercussions to the current crisis between Lebanon and Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) countries.

For the first time since the end of the Lebanese Civil War, tourists
coming from Gulf States were absent from the towns and villages of Aley,
Bhamdoun al-Mhatta, Sawfar and Broumana in Mount Lebanon, despite the
fact that several Gulf nationals already own houses there.

The tourist boycott also reflected on the real estate sector, head of
the Lebanese-Saudi Business Development Commission Elie Rizk said. “The probability of GCC nationals who are selling their belongings in
Lebanon has reached 70 percent in the mountainous areas and 34 percent
in Downtown Beirut,” Rizk said.

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Egypt FM: We want to help Lebanese politicians reconcile

BEIRUT –  Egypt’s foreign minister says he is visiting Lebanon to help rival Lebanese political groups find common ground. Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 and parliament has been unable to elect a head of state because of deep disagreements. After meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Tuesday, Sameh Shoukry tells reporters that […]

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Who Is Clinton Foundation Donor Billionaire Gilbert Chagoury?

By , Epoch Times

It was April 2009 and Lebanese-Nigerian Billionaire Gilbert Chagoury
had an urgent request. He needed to talk to someone at the State
Department. While such a meeting might normally take days—if not weeks
or months—to set up, if at all, Chagoury knew the right people.

Aides of then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received an email on April 25, 2009, without a subject line. In the email,
Doug Band, a top official with the Clinton Foundation, asked Clinton
aides Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills to connect billionaire Chagoury to
“the substance person re Lebanon.” Just over four hours later, Abedin responded:

“It’s Jeff Feltman.
I’m sure he knows him.
I’ll talk to Jeff.”

Feltman was serving as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern
Affairs at the time, after having served as U.S. ambassador to Lebanon
for 4 years. Impressing on Abedin the urgency of the matter he emailed her back 15 minutes later saying:

“Better if you call him.
Now preferable.
This is very important.
He’s awake I’m sure.”

Band had served in different positions in the White House while Bill
Clinton was president. In 1999, President Clinton appointed him as
“Special Assistant to the President.” Band continued to serve as
Clinton’s chief adviser from 2002 to 2012. According to the Wall Street Journal,
Band played a crucial role in negotiations with Barack Obama’s team in
2008 in convincing them to appoint Hillary Clinton as secretary of
state.

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