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 News

Report: Gemayel to announce candidacy this week

BEIRUT: Kataeb Party leader Amine Gemayel will run for president and his candidacy will be announced in the next few days, a Kataeb lawmaker said Thursday, a day after Parliament was called to elect a new head of state, throwing the presidential race into high gear.

Zahle Kataeb MP Elie Marouni also voiced fears about the country descending into a presidential vacuum due to a lack of local, regional and international agreement on Lebanon’s next president.

“The Kataeb Party’s Political Bureau will announce Gemayel’s candidacy to the presidency during a meeting either Saturday or Monday,” Marouni told The Daily Star.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam said there was no reason preventing holding the presidential polls on time.

“There is no reason for this election not to be held on time if it is part of our genuine democratic practice,” Salam told reporters after meeting Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai in Bkirki to congratulate him on the Easter holiday.

He said eleventh-hour compromises and meetings between rival political parties might take place to ensure that the presidential election is successfully held on time.

He added that Rai was optimistic about the presidential vote taking place on time.

Salam dispelled fears concerning the presidential election. “We hope that this election will take place, a new president will be elected and the country’s democratic system is bolstered so that we can move forward for the sake of Lebanon and the Lebanese,” he said.

Lebanon last month entered the two-month constitutional deadline for Parliament to meet to elect a new head of state to replace President Michel Sleiman, whose six-year term expires on May 25.

Speaker Nabih Berri Wednesday called on Parliament to convene on April 23 to elect a new president. The parliamentary session will likely fail to elect a president as no candidate appears ready to secure two-thirds of the vote by MPs, and the session may not achieve quorum.

In addition to Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, who has announced he will run for president, Western Bekaa MP Robert Ghanem from the March 14 coalition has also announced his candidacy.

Although the March 14 coalition has not yet officially taken a stance on Geagea’s candidacy, his nomination is expected to present the coalition with a tough choice.

Marouni said Gemayel’s political experience, history and ability to communicate with all the parties make him “a strong president capable of running the country’s affairs.”

Marouni said Gemayel, a key leader in the March 14 coalition who served as president of Lebanon from 1982 to 1988, is able to gain support from the rival Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance because he maintains contacts with all the parties.

Gemayel’s six-year mandate as president was marred by political differences and internal strife, including clashes between the Lebanese Army and militias of Syrian-backed Muslim parties in Beirut and the mountains.

Gemayel’s tenure also saw the deployment of U.S.-led multinational troops in Beirut to oversee the Palestine Liberation Organization’s pullout from Lebanon.

These troops returned to Lebanon after hundreds of Palestinian refugees were massacred by Israeli-allied Lebanese militiamen in the Sabra and Shatila camps following the assassination of his brother President-elect Bachir Gemayel.

Marouni warned of a presidential vacuum unless a regional and international agreement is reached on Lebanon’s next president.

Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi from the Kataeb Party said Gemayel’s candidacy does not contradict that of Geagea.

“This is not a problem,” he told The Daily Star. “We will have diversity among candidates and we might later reach some exchange of votes or a certain agreement to have a shared candidate. This is all part of the democratic process,” he added.Although Geagea says he is confident his allies in the March 14 coalition will endorse his candidacy, the group has not yet thrown its weight behind any name.

Azzi explained that the March 14 coalition is in need of a moderate candidate that can win some votes from the rival March 8 rival camp, and that Gemayel possesses these qualities.

Geagea announced Wednesday a broad political platform stressing the state’s monopoly over the use of arms, a move intended to deprive Hezbollah of its arsenal.

Sleiman congratulated Geagea on his nomination for president, the LF said in a statement Thursday. It added that Sleiman, who spoke with Geagea by telephone Wednesday evening, also praised the LF leader for his political platform that stressed restoring the role and authority of the state as his main goal.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale met Geagea in Maarab with whom he discussed the latest political developments in Lebanon and the region, the National News Agency reported.

 

Source: The Daily Star

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 News

Rai calls for sweeping changes at Roumieh

BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai celebrated Holy Thursday with a Mass at the Roumieh prison complex, calling for sweeping reforms at the notorious facility.

The Mass was held in an open yard at the maximum-security facility with the participation of the General Director of the Internal Security Forces Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous, who was representing Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk, and Brig. Gen. Mounir Akiki, who was representing General Director of General Security Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim.

In his sermon after the Mass, Rai addressed the “hardships” of prisoners and lamented “their suffering, their needs, their ordeals, their difficulties and their not being protected from moral, physical and spiritual aggressions.”

Rai called on state authorities to shoulder their responsibilities toward prison inmates and to treat them with compassion in line with international law and human rights, so that the prison could be turned into a rehabilitation facility instead of a place for merely detaining individuals.

Rai also asked that medical, health, environmental and security conditions be improved in the prison and that something be done to reduce overcrowding. He asked that relevant ministries revisit their role to protect inmates from harm and torture in detention facilities.

Rai also implored the authorities to pardon prisoners with serious illnesses and asked that those who were handicapped or too old to take care of themselves be released.

The Maronite patriarch noted the importance of establishing a common commission with members from all relevant ministries to run the prison and oversee the construction of new facilities. They would ideally hold sessions to retrain those who work in the prison as well.

Rai emphasized that minors should be held separately in a juvenile facility and that inmates should be categorized and housed according to the severity of their crimes and how dangerous they were to society.

He called for rehabilitating inmates held on drug abuse charges and demanded more efforts be made to prevent the smuggling of drugs into prisons.

Source: The Daily Star

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 Middle East

Rebels attack army barracks in Aleppo

BEIRUT: Nearly 50 people were killed Thursday when Syrian rebels attacked one of the largest military barracks in the country, in northern Aleppo, according to the anti-regime Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based group said at least 27 soldiers and pro-regime militiamen were killed and the rebels lost 20, including a commander.

“Rebels, including fighters from the Nusra Front and the Islamic Front, launched an assault today on the barracks in Hanano in Aleppo,” Observatory director Rami Abdel-Rahman said.

State media, meanwhile, reported the army had “foiled an attempt by terrorist groups to infiltrate the barracks” and killed a number of them.

President Bashar Assad’s regime refers to rebels battling to topple it as “terrorist” groups.

Abdel-Rahman said the barracks is one of the largest in Syria.

“It’s strategically important because it’s on a hill that overlooks parts of northern Aleppo,” Abdel-Rahman added.

Once Syria’s economic hub and its largest city, Aleppo has been divided between regime control in the west and rebel control in the east since shortly after combat began there in mid-2012.

Abdel-Rahman said the attack began when “rebels detonated explosives in tunnels they had dug beneath army positions around the barracks.”

State television also reported the rebels had “detonated explosives in three tunnels around the barracks.”

Anti-regime activists posted videos purporting to show the first detonation, as well as rebel groups as they moved closer to the barracks.

Abdel-Rahman said the barracks overlooked a key supply route for rebels going north into the rest of Aleppo province.

Regime forces have advanced around some of the eastern outskirts of Aleppo city, reopening its international airport to the east.

The air force has also waged a relentless campaign against eastern parts of the city, including dropping explosives-packed “barrel bombs.”

Rebels respond by firing rockets into pro-regime areas. The Observatory said that such rocket attacks killed at least 11 civilians, including two women and a child, Thursday and wounded 40.In the Zahra district in the west of the city, rebels have seized buildings near the Air Force Intelligence headquarters, it said.

Fighting has raged in the area since April 12, with rebels led by the Nusra Front battling to take the key target.

Clashes between regime troops and rebels also raged in areas around the capital, as well as in Deraa, Idlib and Deir al-Zor provinces.

The Observatory said five rebels were killed in fighting around the Deir al-Zor military airport.

In the Damascus suburb of Mliha, two Hezbollah fighters and a rebel were killed in the clashes there, the Observatory said.

Regime troops also sought to push forward with an offensive against besieged neighborhoods of Old Homs, as a rebel and a lieutenant in the National Defense paramilitary group were killed in the clashes, it added.

Syria’s government and opposition groups should resume talks to lift the siege on Homs, international mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said.

U.N.-Arab League envoy Brahimi said the discussions had been well underway between the government and “a negotiating committee representing the civilians and fighters still trapped in the Old City of Homs as well as the inhabitants of the Waer neighborhood.”

“It is a matter of deep regret that negotiations were brutally stopped and violence is now rife again when a comprehensive agreement seemed close at hand,” Brahimi added in the statement distributed at the U.N. headquarters in New York.

“We urge all the parties to return to the negotiating table and complete the deal which was on the verge of being signed,” he said. “We have reached out to all those who could help put an end to this tragedy.”

The Syrian army launched an assault Tuesday against the rebel-held neighborhoods in Homs and “have achieved key successes” and “killed a number of terrorists,” Syrian television said.

Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, has long been referred to by activists as the “capital of the revolution” because of the huge pro-democracy protests held there when the uprising began in March 2011.

Most of the central city is now under regime control. Rebel-held pockets have been under a siege for nearly two years, leading to dwindling food and medical supplies.

According to rebel groups, around 1,300 people, mainly combatants, are still trapped inside army-besieged neighborhoods, after around 1,400 civilians were evacuated at the beginning of the year.

Source: The Daily Star

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 Business

Proposed taxes could affect banks’ profitability: FFA

BEIRUT: Profits of Lebanese banks could drop if Parliament approves a proposal to tax lenders’ income from assets tied to sovereign bonds, FFA Private Bank said.

“The tax on interest earned on deposits could slow deposits growth, which has already seen deceleration in the first two months of 2014 while tax on income earned from financial assets could impact profitability,” FFA said in a special report issued Thursday about the projected growth of the banking sector in 2014.

Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil has proposed raising taxes on interest on customer deposits from 5 percent to 7 percent and applying a similar tax on banks’ investments in sovereign bonds.

This proposal has infuriated the banking sector, with banks warning that they may be compelled to raise the interest rates on personal and housing loans to make up for the drop in profits.

The advocates of this tax argue that the profits of the banking sector would only fall by $146 million each year, noting that the net profits of the lenders in 2013 were $1.7 billion.

They also dismissed the possibility that Lebanese banks would shun the country’s sovereign bonds and move investments abroad.

But observers rule out any decision about the taxes in the near future because Parliament and the major political parties are now focused on the upcoming presidential election.

“We note that since details are lacking and the law is yet to be agreed upon, we have not reflected this impact on the forecast of banks under coverage. The ongoing debate over the funding of the increase in public sector wages was put forward two weeks,” FFA said.

Citing statistics from the Association of Banks in Lebanon, FFA said Lebanese banks were still operating in a low interest environment, limiting the potential to improve yields with little room to further decrease the cost of funds.

“Spreads in USD decreased to 1.27 percent in February 2014 down from 1.57 percent one year earlier which has a substantial impact on Lebanese Bank’s profitability given that the bulk of their liquidity is in USD,” the report said.

“While it is still early to draw a conclusion for 2014e in terms of growth in balance sheet, we note a deceleration into Feb-14,” FFA said.

“Figures for the first two months of 2014 pointed to slower growth in key indicators at around 0.5 percent YTD (Year-To-Date), with assets, deposits and loans totaling $166 billion, $136 billion and $47 billion respectively. Non-resident deposits dropped by 4 percent in 2M-14 to $27 billion,” FFA said.

Source: The Daily Star

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 News

Reform at Customs held up by vacancies

BEIRUT: As politicians call for a renewed effort to end alleged corruption in the Customs Department, a source at the Finance Ministry said that the minister’s hands were tied until the Cabinet filled key vacancies.

Speaking to The Daily Star on the condition of anonymity, an adviser to the finance minister did not deny that there were problems at the Customs Department, but he insisted that the corruption would end once the Cabinet appointed a director general and a board of directors.

“There are 100,000 ways for smuggling. I have manifestos from the customs, and some of them are scandalous to say the least,” he said. “But we need to be clear that we can’t do anything to stop these practices unless we appoint a board of directors and director general.”

He argued that the director general and board of directors would be held accountable for problems.

“The minister cannot take any action unless there is a director general. Once we appoint the director general and board of directors, then the minister can contain the practices at some customs department,” the adviser added.

He said the delay in filling these positions was due to the difficulty of agreeing on candidates.

“The main Christian, Shiite and Sunni parties insist on appointing their own people in these key positions, and this is the main reason the Cabinet is unable to fill these vacancies,” the adviser said.

He added that former Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi had been given exceptional temporary powers to make all the customs clerks fall under his direct authority following complaints of bribery.

“But once the new Cabinet was formed and a new finance minister was appointed, these prerogatives were taken away from Minister Ali Hasan Khalil,” the adviser said.

Many politicians and economists have stressed that the best way to finance the controversial new salary demand for government employees and public school teachers is to crackdown on waste and corruption in public officials, with the Customs Department most often singled out.

Critics say the political class turns a blind eye on the blatant corruption at some entry points, especially Beirut Port.

“There is definitely something wrong at the Customs Department, even if some officials try to downplay these reports. I am sure that some of imported goods are not being subjected to customs charges,” an insider familiar with the practices at Beirut Port told The Daily Star.

“How could anyone explain that customs revenues have dropped in 2013 even though imports last year have exceeded $21 billion.”

The insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, pointed out that total imports in 2013 were $21.228 billion, compared with $17.964 billion in 2010.

“But the customs and value-added tax collected from imports in 2013 fell to $2.9 billion, from $3.44 billion in 2010. Even if there was a surge in the exempted imported goods, the drop in revenues should not have reached this level,” he said, adding that there was obliviously collaboration among customs officials and scouts who inspect the containers entering the customs zone at the port.

According to customs regulations, computers, raw materials, jewelry and some industrial parts are exempted from taxes when they are unloaded from the ships and enter the customs zone.

“Some suppliers and importers falsely declare that their containers are loaded with computers or raw material to avoid custom charges,” the insider said.

“These containers usually are loaded with shoes or garments and these products are subject to taxes and VAT. On many occasions, the customs officials and scouts do not open these containers for inspection in return for a big bribe from the suppliers.”

However, the acting director general of the Customs Department, Chafic Merhi, says that reports of corruption in his department are highly exaggerated.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Merhi said that the department lost significant revenues when the VAT was removed from fuel oil gasoline three years ago.

But the insider said that the VAT exemption for fuel oil did not explain the drop in customs revenues.

Some merchants, however, praised the customs at Rafik Hariri International Airport.

“I must admit that things are under control at Beirut airport after the authorities took a number of measures to end some bad practices that took place in the past. I collect my imported goods with relative ease and without bribing anyone,” Nadim Assi, the former president of the Beirut Merchant Association, told The Daily Star.

Source: The Daily Star

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 Entertainment

Raunchy Haifa Wehbe film pulled from UAE cinemas

The National Media Council (NMC), the UAE body tasked with approving films for cinematic release, on Thursday said that they haven’t asked for the suspension of Arabic film Halawet Al Rooh in the UAE.

The Haifa Wehbe film was on Wednesday was pulled from screens in Egypt after complaints about its sexual content. The film released in 28 cinemas the UAE on April 10 and this week was the third most-watched film in the country, with four-day weekend admission of 26,453, according to statistics from local film distributors. Only Rio 2 and Captain America: Winter Soldier had more viewers.

A spokesperson for Vox Cinemas on Thursday told tabloid! the film was pulled from UAE screens on Thursday morning, saying it was banned after censors viewed it for a second time. The film is distributed by Gulf Film, who have not made any comment as yet.

“We didn’t confiscate it or withdraw the film after eight days of its release. Maybe the distributors made that decision. You should ask the producers or distributors of that film,” said Juma Obaid Al Leem, director of the Media Content Tracking Department at the NMC. However, he added that he had received several complaints about cinemas not respecting the 18+ rating issued by NMC.

“We heard that some cinemas were allowing people under 18 years of age to watch the film and that they were not obliging or respecting our rating. So we checked and gave them instructions to strictly adhere to it and had meeting with them about it,” said Al Leem. When asked which local cinema had flouted rules, he declined to name them.

The film, the title of which translates to Beauty of the Soul, is said to have been inspired by Monica Bellucci’s 2000 hit “Malena”, and revolves around Rooh, played by dark-haired pop star Wehbe, who ignites passion among the men in her neighbourhood when her husband is away.

 

Source: Gulf News

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 News

Salam meets al-Rahi, sees no reason for presidential elections to be postponed

Prime Minister Tammam Salam expressed on Thursday his optimism that the presidential elections will be held on time and according to democratic practices.

He said: “We believe that the polls can be held given that Lebanon has been respecting its democracy as demonstrated through the formation of the government and the various parliamentary sessions that have been held lately.”

He made his remarks after holding talks at Bkirki with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on the occasion of the Easter holidays.

“There is no reason for the polls to be postponed seeing as democracy is being applied,” stressed Salam.

“We have no reason to be doubtful of the elections,” he continued.

The premier stated that he is keen on respecting the wishes of al-Rahi in holding the elections on time, saying: “It is our duty to comply with national demands, especially if they are made by Bkirki.”

President Michel Suleiman’s six-year term ends in May.

The constitutional deadline to elect a president began on March 25 and ends of May 25.

Earlier this week, Speaker Nabih Berri called for a parliament session for April 23 to elect a president.

So far, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea is the only candidate to submit his candidacy.

Source: Naharnet

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 Middle East

Syrian Christians long to return to Maloula

DAMASCUS: In the Bab Touma district of Syria’s capital Damascus, Fadi Mayal dreams of returning home to the ancient Christian town of Maalula which was retaken by government forces this week.

But he and many other residents chased out when rebel forces including jihadists entered the town in September fear it may still be too early to go back.

The Syrian army recaptured Maloula on Monday, saying it had restored “security and stability” to the picturesque hamlet where 5,000 people lived before the war began in March 2011.

“I would love to go back and celebrate Easter there, but it’s still a bit early,” said Mayalm in the capital’s Christian district of Bab Touma.

“I’ll go back, that’s for sure. My father is buried there,” added the 42-year-old building contractor.

“But there are still sleeper cells in Maloula.”

On Monday, as the army worked to recapture the town, three employees of Al-Manar, the television channel of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, were killed there.

An AFP correspondent who was in the town on Monday saw widespread destruction.

The Al-Safir hotel, which rebels had used as a base, was almost completely destroyed, its facade collapsed.

Downhill from the hotel, the Mar Sarkis Greek Catholic monastery was also damaged, its walls pierced by mortar rounds, and icons and other religious objects strewn on the ground inside.

Mayal said he saw his own house burning in a video that rebels posted on YouTube.

He suspects it was targeted because he had put up a picture of President Bashar al-Assad, but he is still eager to return to Maloula.

“Social life is different here in Damascus, and because of the crisis work is scarce,” he said.

Nearly half of Syria’s population has been displaced inside or outside the country by the conflict that began in March 2011.

More than 150,000 people have been killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

Antoinette Nasrallah, a 35-year-old Maloula native wearing sunglasses and white jeans, said she felt “great joy” when she heard that the Christian town had been “liberated”.

“But I’m saddened by the destruction of the churches,” she added.

She too hopes to be able to return as soon as possible.

“We want to spend next summer there,” she said.

“Celebrating the Feast of the Cross there on September 14, as we do every year, has become a dream.”

Built into a dramatic cliff, and full of churches, convents and monasteries, Maloula is considered a symbol of Christian presence in the Damascus region.

Its residents are renowned for speaking Aramaic, the language Jesus Christ is believed to have spoken.

“I hope with all my heart that the situation will go back to how it was before,” Nasrallah said.

“We’re afraid of forgetting Aramaic. We don’t know when we’ll be able to go back home.”

Maloula’s residents, who are mostly Greek Orthodox Christians, have found refuge in and around Damascus, which is around 55 kilometres (35 miles) from their home town.

Some are afraid of returning even after the army recaptured Maloula, traumatized by their flight and worried about the destruction to their homes.

“The houses were looted and some were burned,” said Diab Bahkit, a 62-year-old.

But others said they were ready to head back immediately, including one man who refused to give his name but said he wanted to “defend” his town and religion.

“I’m going back to Maloula as soon as possible — I won’t stay here a minute more,” he insisted.

He said fighters had tried to “destroy Maloula, especially its religious establishments”.

And a mother from the town, living in a single room in Damascus with her husband and four children, said she too was ready to return straight away.

“If they allow us, we’ll go back immediately,” the 50-year-old said, declining to give her name.

“Life is hard here. We’re living on aid, and it’s hard to come by,” she added.

Source: AFP

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 News

Afghanistan’s next first lady, a Christian Lebanese-American?

They say that behind every great man there is a woman and Afghan presidential hopeful Ashraf Ghani seems to be taking the phrase seriously, sharing the spotlight with his Lebanese-American, Christian, wife at rallies and political events.

Afghanistan will hold a presidential election on April 5 to elect a successor to Hamid Karzai and Ghani has been touted as one of the leading contenders. The American-trained anthropologist has been reported to be gathering female support, with some women professing their backing because he is a Western-educated, former World Bank official.

“Four years ago, I studied a couple of his books, and I prefer him as a candidate because of his knowledge,” Take Khatera Tajamyar, 24, told news outlet NPR.

In March, the election runner held a rally in Kabul attended by several thousand women on International Women’s Day. In a rare sight in Afghanistan’s political scene, his wife addressed the crowd.

Ghani returned to Afghanistan after the Taliban were ousted and held various government posts, including finance minister. Known in Afghanistan as Doctor Ashraf Ghani, he won about four percent of the vote in the last presidential election in 2009.One of Afghanistan’s best-known intellectuals, Ghani spent almost a quarter of century abroad during the tumultuous decades of Soviet rule, civil war and the Taliban regime.

During that period he worked as an academic in the United States and Denmark, and with the World Bank and the United Nations across East and South Asia.

Within months of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, Ghani resigned from his international posts and returned to Afghanistan to become a senior adviser to Karzai.

Ghani is among the strongest backers of a crucial bilateral security deal to keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 that Karzai has refused to endorse. He has said he would sign it swiftly if elected.

A Pashtun belonging to Afghanistan’s biggest ethnic group, Ghani has defended his decision to pick ethnic Uzbek former warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum as a running mate.

“The ticket is a realistic balance between forces that have been produced in the last 30 years and have a base in this society,” Ghani told Reuters.

 

Source: Al-Arabiya

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 News

Arab American National Museum gets $2 million legacy gift

DEARBORN — The Arab American National Museum received the largest gift in its history.

Russell J. Ebeid, a southeast Michigan businessman and philanthropist, announced at ACCESS’ 43rd annual dinner April 12, which is the museum’s parent organization, that he is making a $2 million legacy gift to the museum.

“I have decided to make his endowment because I believe in our community,” Ebeid said at the dinner, according to a news release. “I believe in supporting our institutions and creating a loud and proud historical heritage for our children, grandchildren and the public for generations to come. I trust that this legacy contribution in my will can promote and enhance the museum’s prestige, as well as honor our admirable predecessors.”

The size of the gift is unprecedented.

“This is a tipping point in the way we engage our individual donors,” says ACCESS Deputy Executive Director and CFO Maha Freij. “This contribution is five times larger than any other individual gift we’ve ever received.”

Ebeid has included the gift in his will, and the money will go toward the museum’s Arab American Community Archive. The archive showcases the hard work and contributions of Arab Americans, while ensuring that the Arab American immigrant experience is an integral part of U.S. history. The collection, which focuses the three themes of Immigration, Entrepreneurial Spirit and Rites of Passage, includes digital and physical assets like oral histories, photographs, artifacts, printed materials and more.

“Along with the important work of collecting and preserving these narratives from across the country, the Museum is also committed to sharing them with a broader audience. In this way, the collection impacts the general public who benefit from learning more about the national Arab American community and its history, and it allows the AANM to chip away at the prevailing misconceptions and myths about Arabs and Arab Americans,” the AANM said in an email to the Press & Guide.

Ebeid is a longstanding supporter and member of the National Advisory Board of the Arab American National Museum and the Center for Arab American Philanthropy CAAP, another national initiative of ACCESS. Through his scholarship program housed at CAAP, he supports the educational endeavors of students of color at Kettering University in Flint and exemplifies the Center’s mission of strategic giving in the Arab American community.

Ebeid has long history of recognition

Ebeid, a Lebanese American, grew up in southwest Detroit. He received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in 1962 from Kettering University (known then as General Motors Institute), a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering in 1968 from Detroit’s Wayne State University, and has received two honorary doctoral degrees in Management and Public Service. He was named the National Arab American Business Man of the Year in 2003 and entered the Halls of Fame at Wayne State University and the National Commission for Cooperative Education. In 2010, he was recognized as the Trader of the Year for his work in promoting international trade. Recently, he was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

ACCESS awarded Ebeid the “Making an Impact” award in 2008 In recognition of his philanthropic contributions to the Ebeid Hospice Residence, Ebeid Student Center, Ebeid Educational Hall, and Ebeid Athletic Center at Lourdes University in Sylvania, Ohio, and the Ebeid Family Scholarship Fund for disadvantaged Arab American students to attend his alma mater, Kettering University. To honor his parents, he provides scholarships to Lebanese students in their ancestral home. He was also the lead sponsor of an Emmy-winning documentary titled Our Arab American Story and the co-producer of a medical film titled Ageing of Men.

When he retired in 2011, completing a tenure of more than 40 years, Ebeid was board chairman emeritus at Guardian Industries Corp. in Auburn Hills and president of its Glass Group. He was responsible for the company’s worldwide sales, marketing, and manufacturing activities that are performed by over 19,000 people employed in 24 countries on five continents. Prior to joining Guardian in 1970, Ebeid was employed at General Motors.

Ebeid is the current owner of the Fairlane Club in Dearborn. He currently serves as a trustee for ProMedica Health Systems and Lourdes University. He has served as a director of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan – an educational curriculum designed to teach and promote free market principles to the former socialist and emerging economies of third-world countries of the world.

 

Source: Press & Guide

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