Can former Lebanese MP Mustafa Alloush turn even the coldest of Middle Eastern sceptics into an optimist?

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• Robert Fisk @indyvoices  independent.co.uk --  Mustafa Alloush is one of those very few politicians who might turn you into an optimist – even in the Middle East. He’s a much loved doctor, a black belt judo expert, a novelist in waiting, a scourge of uneducated clerics, an enemy of corruption, a critic of all and maybe even a minister in the next Lebanese government. But don’t hold your breath. He speaks rashly, sometimes angrily – when you least expect it – and can take you on a guided tour of his city of Tripoli, pointing out all the old inter-Muslim front lines, and still be dogmatic, stubborn and cheerful. Is that what optimism is about in the Middle East? A few days ago, the Lebanese army pursued a bunch of gunmen through the streets of this proud, beautiful old city, which even the Crusaders could not capture, and in a gun battle one of the soldiers was killed. “He was brought here to the hospital,” Alloush says with the bathos – sympathetic but coldly factual – of a family doctor who has seen this many times before. “I saw him later. He had been shot in the head and abdomen. He died immediately.” The shootout had not been sectarian. There are gangs in Tripoli. “We did not see this as a major break in the situation.” Alloush is at his surgery at the Nini Hospital in his white hospital jacket, and he enjoys being greeted by his patients outside – in fact, he likes to be seen being greeted; for this is a man, I suspect, who has a certain vanity, who wants to be recognised not as a seer but at least as a realist. Most people in Lebanon are pessimists, even if they are enjoying themselves in a relatively peaceful country. They talk of hope when they are afraid.

But Alloush, a former MP, would even like to take his optimism into the government. “I told [prime minister designate] Saad Hariri that if I was a minister I would say what I thought was the truth, whatever his reaction. I would not be a ‘yes’ man.” He would like to be a minister of health, sport or culture – he was hoping for the same in the last three Lebanese cabinets. My suspicion is that Mustafa Alloush – one day, not now, you can’t be too careful about these things in Lebanon – would like to be prime minister. “The politicians here represent the same centres of power in Lebanon and have been present for the past 75 years,” he says. “The only democratic aspect of this last election is that the people went to vote. I regard Lebanon as a company, as a partnership. It was originally Sunni [Muslim] and [Christian] Maronite. The new partners are the Shiites and they are coming in without giving new money for the company. They are taking money from those who have been in the company for years.” Lebanon Prime Minister Saad Hariri says resignation on hold awaiting talks Alloush is a Sunni, like Hariri – and the Sunnis hold the prime ministership in this sectarian country – and he is a ferocious critic of the Shiite Hezbollah movement and of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. But he is also half Alawite – the Shiite sect to which Assad belongs – and when we pass the old Tripoli cemeteries later in the day, he shows me where his Alawite mother is buried.

Before the French chopped up Syria and created the new Lebanese state in 1920, Tripoli’s nearest market town was Homs in present day Syria. Tens of thousands of Tripolitanians are related to Syrians and inevitably the civil wars that consumed first Lebanon (1975-1990) and then Syria – 2011 until god knows when – divided this tough northern Lebanese city. Tripoli is 76 per cent Sunni, 12 per cent Alawite and 12 per cent Christian, according to Alloush. And the front line, irony of ironies, cracked open along Syria Street. I spoke to Palestinians who still hold the keys to the homes they fled Bullet holes still blister the buildings and army checkpoints control the roads up to the Alawite Jabel Mohsen district, but Alloush spots an illusory element about all this. As we drive these crowded streets, he shakes his head. “From the first day of the ceasefire here, it was as if nothing had happened for years and years. This means that the situation here can explode again at any time, at any hour. I remember this Syrian ‘green zone’ when it started, in March 1976. All of a sudden, we saw people separating on both sides. It wasn’t sectarian at first. There were Sunnis and Alawites on the Hafez [al-Assad] side and Sunnis and Alawites on the side of [Palestine Liberation Organisation leader] Arafat. Then it metamorphosed into something sectarian.”

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Lebanese Outcry Results in 50 Removed from 'Naturalization' List

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by albawaba.com -- General Security will remove the names of these individuals from the decree for “legal” and “other reasons” that invalidate their eligibility for the Lebanese nationality, according to a report in the local daily Al-Joumhouria. A General Security spokesperson did not provide any details when asked about the report. General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim said Sunday that his agency would finish vetting the individuals named in the decree this week. President Michel Aoun had tasked General Security with checking the list of candidates selected for Lebanese citizenship after the decree sparked outcry across the country. Despite this, last week that the Interior Ministry has started filing citizenship paperwork for candidates on the decree. Aoun, the prime minister and the interior minister signed the decree in May, granting Lebanese citizenship to over 400 people, representing 20 different nationalities.] The decree was published in full on June 7, some weeks after its unpublicized endorsement. Roughly 110 of those naturalized were of Palestinian origin, while 100 were Syrian nationals. While the decree is not in violation of the constitution, the secretive manner of its passage and its timing have sparked backlash. This article has been adapted from its original source. The Daily Star

US aid to Iraqi Christians, Yazidis on fast track via Catholic Relief Services

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By Courtney Grogan Washington D.C. (CNA/EWTN News).- The United States Agency for International Development has announced it is investing $10 million into coalitions led by Catholic Relief Services and Heartland Alliance to help rebuild Christian and other minority communities in Iraq who suffered genocide under the Islamic State. “In Iraq, although the coalition has largely driven ISIS from the battlefield, much of Northern Iraq now faces the daunting task of repairing broken infrastructure and rebuilding a shattered social fabric,” said USAID Administrator Mark Green as he announced the funding at the Interaction Forum in Washington, D.C., June 14. The announcement came one week after reports that Vice President Mike Pence was “incensed” over the “bureaucratic delays” in delivering aid promised to the Christian and Yazidi communities in Iraq.

The United States government will stop using “slow, ineffective and wasteful United Nations programs and to instead distribute assistance through USAID in order to provide faster and more direct aid to Christian and Yazidi communities in Iraq,” according to the vice president’s press secretary. Pence has directed Green to travel to Baghdad and Erbil in the coming weeks to “report back with an immediate comprehensive assessment addressing any issues that could delay the process of aid distribution.” Kevin Hartigan, Catholic Relief Services’ regional director for Europe and the Middle East, told CNA that “We are grateful for this new funding that provides greater assistance for Christians and other religious minorities returning to northern Iraq.” “It will allow Catholic Relief Services to continue and expand the projects we began in 2014, working with Caritas Iraq to provide critical assistance to Christians, Yazidis and many other Iraqis of various faiths who had been displaced by violence and are now returning to their homes,” he continued. Since 2014, Catholic Relief Services and Caritas Iraq have served more than 300,000 Iraqis affected by the conflict through their offices in Baghdad, Kirkuk, Mosul, Dohuk, and Erbil. CRS will use the most recent funds to “assist the Catholic Church of Iraq to help all war-affected families with the provision of shelter, emergency assistance and education and trauma healing for children,” said Hartigan.

Iraq’s Christian population was devastated by the Islamic State in 2014. Two thirds of the approximately 1.5 million Christians who formerly inhabited Iraq either fled or were forced out by the violence, according to In Defence of Christians. “ISIS fighters used most of the 45 churches in the old city for shelter, target practice, and torture and, in the case of the Dominican church, as a place to hang their victims from inside the bell tower,” wrote Father Benedict Kiely after visiting Mosul last month. Iraqi military forces regained control of Mosul from the Islamic State in July 2017; yet only ten Christian families have returned to Mosul’s old city, which had more than 3,000 Christian families in 2014, according to Father Kiely. “Across the Nineveh Plain, where Christians trace their roots back to the time of the Apostles, many Christians have returned nonetheless,” noted Kiely. Archbishop Bashar Warda, the Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil said earlier this year that Christians are “scourged, wounded, but still there.”

Social Media Turns Into Battleground For World Cup Lebanese Fans

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by dailystar.com.lb -- Traditional political allegiances might push Lebanese fans to support Saudi Arabia or Iran, the two major regional players who are both taking part in the sporting festival. However, many are instead siding with the most skilled teams, or those showcasing the most attractive football. Germany and Brazil, two football powerhouses, command the best part of the support of Lebanese fans, and many were shocked when Germany lost their first game. After Mexico stunned the reigning world champions 1-0, Brazil fans took to Twitter and Facebook to poke fun at fans of the European giants. “Donald? It’s me, Angela. Please build the wall,” one commenter wrote alongside a picture of German Chancellor Angela Merkel after Germany’s loss to Mexico, while a video was posted showing Brazil fans hoisting a coffin draped in the German flag, as fans wearing the Brazilian flag played musical instruments. However, the celebrations were short-lived when Brazil tied with Switzerland Sunday evening in another unexpected result. Shortly after, Germany fans posted logos of “7-UP,” in reference to the 7-1 loss endured by the Brazil 2014 World Cup hosts to Germany. One poster queried, “Where are the samba fans?” Brazil and Germany were not the only two major teams to let down their Lebanese fan base.

A number of Argentina fans were disappointed after their team tied with Iceland, with the normally infallible Lionel Messi failing to convert a penalty kick. A number of fans chose to support smaller teams like Australia and Mexico, who fielded players of Lebanese descent. Andrew Nabbout, a forward for Australia’s Socceroos, started and played 64 minutes in their loss to France. Migel Layun, a Mexican full back with ties to the northern Lebanese town of Akkar, caused some local fans to throw their support behind “El Tricolor.” The fervor with which Lebanese fans get behind teams for little apparent reason has perplexed some of the country’s academics. Bana Bashour, an associate professor of philosophy at AUB, tweeted: “What I find interesting about fans of the #WorldCup in Lebanon is that most randomly choose a country as children and become die-hard supporters throughout their lives. No one can tell you why they support the team they do, and I find that fascinating. “That said, GO GERMANY!!”

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is now worth a record $141 billion—here's how he became the richest person in the world

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Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, the wealthiest person in the world, is richer than he has ever been before. Since June 1, the tech titan's net worth has grown over $5 billion and now totals $141.9 billion, according to the Forbes World's Billionaires list. That makes Bezos worth roughly $49 billion more than Bill Gates and about $60 billion more than Warren Buffett. This latest win for Bezos is just one of many he has enjoyed this year. As Amazon's customer base sticks around despite the latest Prime latest price hike in exchange for a slew of services and perks, the company's stock has continued to increase in value. Even Buffett now regrets not investing in Amazon when he had the chance. Earlier this year, Bezos officially became the richest person in the world and also helped make Amazon the second most valuable company in the world, behind Apple. And his success can arguably be traced back to a risk he took when he was 30 years old.

Bezos was a straight-A high school student and the class valedictorian, and he got accepted via early admission to Princeton, according to Brad Stone's biography "The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon." He majored in computer science and electrical engineering, and then went on to work various finance and tech jobs after college. It was while serving as a vice president at the hedge fund D. E. Shaw in the 1990s that Bezos came up with the idea to sell books over the Internet. Doing so, though, would mean taking a significant risk and perhaps sacrificing his stable job. "I came across the fact that Web usage was growing at 2,300 percent per year," Bezos said in a 2010 address at his alma mater. "I'd never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles — something that simply couldn't exist in the physical world — was very exciting to me."

At the 2017 Summit LA conference, Bezos recalled that, when he told his boss about his Internet bookstore idea, his boss said, "I think this is a good idea, but I think this would be an even better idea for somebody that didn't already have a good job." That's when Bezos considered what his 80-year-old self would say if he didn't seize this opportunity. "In most cases, our biggest regrets turn out to be acts of omission. It's paths not taken and they haunt us. We wonder what would have happened," Bezos said at Summit LA. "I knew that, when I'm 80, I would never regret trying this thing that I was super excited about and it failing. If it failed, fine. I would be very proud of the fact when I'm 80 that I tried. I also knew that it would always haunt me if I didn't try." After "a lot of soul-searching," Bezos quit his job to start his dream company in 1994 and the decision paid off: Amazon went public three years later. For the first time in history, Amazon cracked the top 10 of the Fortune 500 list on May 21, alongside corporate behemoths Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Exxon Mobil and, of course, Walmart. With revenue of $177.87 billion, as of Fortune's last list release, Amazon placed eighth on this year's list of America's largest companies. That's up four spots from its rank last year as No. 12. Amazon made its debut at No. 492 on the Fortune 500 back in 2002, the same year its biggest competitor Walmart first landed in the No. 1 spot. Amazon has since quickly gained on, and nearly caught up with, Walmart.

'Art in the Sun' Places Light on Lebanese Handicrafts

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by albawaba.com -- Afkart, a retail platform for Lebanese designers and artists, was established in 2000 by the Beirut Association for Social Development. Since then, several exhibitions per year have been held under its auspices, both in Lebanon – in Beirut Souks and Faraya, for instance – and elsewhere in the region. Afkart’s central mission is to support local creators, many of whom integrate Oriental styles and symbols into their work – in coffee cups emblazoned with Arabic script, earrings in the shape of the hand of Fatima, or pillows bearing the image of Lebanese singer Fairouz. Jewelry, fashion, ceramics and paintings make up the majority of the exhibited items at Zaitunay Bay, although each stall offers a unique twist. Diala Yafi, for instance, is selling acrylic paintings she produces using a knife instead of a brush, as well as promoting her other pursuit – interior decoration painting designs she can be commissioned to apply to walls, ceilings and furniture.

As most artists cannot afford a permanent gallery or retail space, initiatives like Afkart are important for securing customers, and many vendors at “Art in the Sun” have been exhibiting on the platform for years. Maha Kazan Masri, the woman behind Badera’s Art, explains: “I sell my products online but I don’t know who buys it. Because it’s handmade, it’s important for the people to get to know the artist, and because it’s art, it’s important for me to see who will buy it.” Her stand displays creative candle holders bearing pictures of Christian and Muslim icons as well as secular figures, such as Frida Kahlo. Eastern imagery adorns even the Western figures – one candleholder shows Marilyn Monroe wearing a tarboosh. A stall for K ART & Design proffers Fairouz pillows and cups printed with Fairouz lyrics, as well as pillows and bags displaying pictures of old Beirut and Arabic script.

Mashups between “Eastern” and “Western” styles are a common theme. Ragged jeans with old Arabic texts or logos are for sale, as are T-shirts proclaiming the wearer “Resident 961.” While all of the items are handmade and exclusive, since the artists only produce a limited number of each design, one booth stood out for another reason. Remember Me is a project by a group of five Jordanian students who sell handmade dolls and donate the proceeds directly to Palestinian children living in the Gaza refugee camp in Jordan’s city of Jerash. “Me and my friends felt that it was unfair that we are privileged to have a good education while the government only pays until 10th grade for the Palestinians,” Mohammad, a Remember Me member, said. The dolls are all similar, except for the print on their T-shirts. There are seven different slogans, each representing the career wish of one of the seven children currently supported by Remember Me. The dolls also have a pouch containing each child’s story written on a small piece of paper. Afkart’s “Art in the Sun” in Zaitunay Bay will continue through June 21, from 6-9 p.m. daily. This article has been adapted from its original source.