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Anthony Bourdain: “I fell in love with Beirut”

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — World-renowned chef Anthony Bourdain is no stranger to Beirut. In July 2006, while filming an episode of CNN’s No Reservations, the Israel-Lebanon conflict broke out, forcing Bourdain and his TV crew to leave.

But Bourdain vowed he would be back — and promised to give Beirut a second chance.

“From the first day that I ever arrived in Beirut, it smelled like a place I was going to love,” Bourdain said. “(The war) didn’t change my opinion about the place. If anything, it hardened it.”

Bourdain and his crew were evacuated from Lebanon on July 20, 2006 by the United States Marines. When they arrived, the crew had filmed only a few hours of footage for the food and travel show, but it was enough to broadcast an episode.

The Beirut edition of No Reservations aired on August 21, 2006, and was later nominated for an Emmy Award in 2007.

“It’s something of a miracle that (Beirut) works,” said Bourdain. “Sunni, Shii’te, Christians can all live in one city and through some kind of tacit understanding maintain what is one of the most liberal environments in that part of the world.”

The season five finale, which aired on Sunday, June 21, took Bourdain back to Beirut.

During his travels, Bourdain met with freestyle artist “Double A The Preecherman” in the Mar Mikhael neighborhood, had a classic Lebanese meal with activist Joumana Haddad, and visited a Syrian community in southern Beirut with CNN correspondent Nick Paton Walsh.

“Bourdain’s Beirut episode is fantastic. One of my favorite places on Earth and he captures it perfectly,” wrote one Twitter user.

But not all viewers were happy with Bourdain’s portrayal of Beirut. Some Lebanese viewers took to social media, blaming Bourdain for missing the “Lebanese perspective.”

They say Bourdain spent a majority of the show interviewing Syrian and Palestinian refugees, who make up a third of Lebanon’s population.

“So it was basically more about politics than anything else,” wrote Rami Fayoumi on his blog, +961. “I believe he could have simply aired some recent report about the political situation in Lebanon and spared himself a trip here.”

WATCH a sneak peak of the show:

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 Lifestyle, News

VIDEO: Lebanese rally driver Roger Feghali drifts through village

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Lebanese rally driver Roger Feghali on Sunday defeated his brother Abdo in the 2015 Lebanese Hill Climb Championship in Falougha, Mount Lebanon, prevailing over his brother by less than a second.

Feghali, 42, navigated Falougha’s roads perfectly, drifting around corners and racing through the beautiful picturesque village.

Falougha is located in the district of Baabda, around 34 kilometers away from Beirut.

WATCH Feghali drift through Falougha, Mount Lebanon:

Feghali is 10-time Lebanese Rally champion and the record holder of wins in the Rally of Lebanon. He also runs his own team, Motortune, for rally car preparation.

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Samy Gemayel elected president of Kataeb party

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — MP Samy Gemayel was elected on Sunday as the new president of the Kataeb party, replacing his father Amine Gemayel who announced he would not seek re-election after leading the party since 2007.

The election shifts the leadership of the Kataeb party to the third generation of the Gemayel family, who formed the party in 1936 as a Maronite paramilitary youth organization.

Gemayel, 34, garnered a majority 339 votes, as his contender Pierre Atallah received 37 votes.

“I feel a very heavy burden and I will shoulder a huge responsibility,” a tearful Gemayel said following the election. “My daily work will be alongside all Kataeb members, all Lebanese and all decent people.”

The polls opened at 10 a.m. at the Kataeb headquarters in Saifi during the last day of the Kataeb General Conference, which began on Friday at the Le Royal Hotel in Dbayeh.

Polls closed at 3 p.m., and results were announced shortly after 8 p.m.

“I will not be able to do anything on my own,” Gemayel added, asking for teamwork and unity as key for his upcoming term. “You have entrusted me with a huge responsibility.”

Gemayel, who was elected into parliament in 2009, promised to “exert his full efforts” and practice the “values of democracy.” He first announced his candidacy two weeks ago in Bikfaya.

“I shall remain loyal to the sacrifices of the Lebanese people,” Gemayel said, adding that he will head to Bickfaya to visit his family martyrs “from whom he derives his power.”

Joseph Abu Khalil was elected as Kataeb’s deputy leader and former Minister Salim Sayegh was elected as the second deputy leader. A political bureau team was also elected on Sunday.

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 Business, Lifestyle, News

Billionaire pays Lebanese teen $100k to skip college

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Move over, Mark Zuckerburg.

The billionaire co-founder of Paypal, Peter Thiel, has pledged $100,000 to a Lebanese teen for choosing to skip college.

18-year-old Jihad Kawas will receive the six-figure stipend and an elite group of mentors over the next two years — to participate in the Theil Foundation’s mission to inspire the next generation of social entrepreneurs.

Thiel founded the program in 2011 with the belief that college discourages students from being innovators and leaves them in piles of student debt.

Kawas applied to the program, along with 2,800 other applicants, and was accepted into the exclusive group of 20 fellows on June 5.

But it’s not all that surprising, considering Kawas started exploring the mobile app industry and launching mobile startups when he was just 13-years-old.

Then in 2013, at 16-years-old, he founded Saily, a social marketplace for people to buy and sell items on their mobile devices.

Meanwhile, in between business deals and marketing campaigns, he was a student at Houssam Eddine Hariri High School in Saida, where he recently graduated.

But Kawas felt school was obstructing — not advancing — his innovative aspirations. And that’s why he chose to skip college and focus on his growing businesses.

“We should spend less time learning about how things work, and spend more time making things work,” Kawas said during a TEDx talk in Beirut in February. “(School) does not relate to our interests and does not make us better at what we’re good at.”

Thiel, who has a net worth of $2.2 billion, agrees.

“Nothing forces us to funnel students into a tournament that bankrupts the losers and turns the winners into conformists,” Thiel wrote in The Washington Post. “But that’s what will happen until we start questioning whether college is our only option.”

Today, Thiel Fellows have raised over $142 million in venture capital and created at least $41 million in revenue.

Jihad Kawas is well on his way.

WATCH Jihad’s talk, “Why School is Not Ready for Us,” at TEDx Beirut:

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U.S. blacklists 3 Lebanese over alleged Hezbollah ties

(WASHINGTON, DC) — Three Lebanese men and their businesses were blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury on Wednesday for their alleged ties to a “key Hezbollah support network.”

The Treasury Department froze all assets of the three men under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibited Americans from doing business with them.

A U.S. statement said the actions “underscore the direct ties between Hezbollah’s commercial and terrorist activities, as well as the group’s continued exploitation of the legitimate commercial sector for financial, organizational and material support.”

The Lebanese men were identified as Adham Tabaja and his company, Al Inmaa Group; Kassem Hejeij, a businessman who allegedly arranged financial service access for Hezbollah; and Husayn Ali Faour and his company, Car Care Center.

“Hezbollah is responsible for perpetrating terrorism and fomenting instability worldwide,” said Adam Szubin, Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. “Hezballah is using so-called legitimate businesses to fund, equip, and organize these subversive activities.”

The Treasury said Faour is a member of Hezbollah’s Islamic Jihad, which worked closely with Tabaja to secure construction projects in Iraq and Lebanon. The U.S. also said Faour’s car company helped supply Hezbollah with transportation.

Tabaja’s company Al-Inmaa Engineering and Contracting has been one of the largest and most successful real estate businesses in Lebanon, according to the Treasury’s statement.

The U.S. said the company has been used by Hezbollah as an “investment mechanism,” including creating a “construction monopoly” in the Dahieh section of Beirut.

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U.S. approves $462M deal to sell aircrafts to Lebanon

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — The U.S. State Department has approved a $462 million deal to sell six military aircrafts to Lebanon to increase the country’s counterterrorism capability, according to a press release by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).

DSCA notified Congress about the sale on Friday, adding that delivery to Lebanon covers technical documentation and U.S. government training support to the Lebanese Army, which has been battling jihadists on the eastern borders of Lebanon.

Hezbollah has also been carrying out a military operation in eastern Lebanon, including a battle around Arsal’s outskirts which has escalated since May 4. The recent U.S. sales announcement comes five months after an annual security assessment issued by the U.S. National Intelligence removed Iran and Hezbollah from the list of U.S. terror threats.

The deal includes six A-29 Super Tucano planes, eight PT6A-68A Turboprop engines, eight ALE-47 countermeasure dispensing systems, 2,000 advanced precision kill weapon systems, and eight missile launch detection systems, among others.

DSCA said the principal contractors would be from Colorado, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Virginia, and Utah.

The deal will also see the delivery of non-selective Availability Anti-spoofing Module (SAASM) embedded global positioning system / initial navigation system (EGIs), spare and repair parts, flight testing, maintenance support, and support equipment.

The State Department said the sale would serve “U.S. national, economic, and security interests by providing Lebanon with airborne capabilities needed to maintain internal security, enforce United Nation’s Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1701 and counter terrorist threats.”

The A-29 Super Tucano Aircraft is armed with two wing-mounted 12.7mm machine guns with a rate of fire of 1,100 rounds a minute and is capable of carrying general-purpose bombs and guided air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles.
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 City Beat, News

Queen Elizabeth honors Lebanese-Australian man

(MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA) — Lebanese-Australian activist Tony Yacoub was honored recently with a Medal of the Order of Australia from Queen Elizabeth II for his “service to the Lebanese community.”

Yacoub, 63, has served as president of the World Lebanese Cultural Union (WLCU) in Australia and New Zealand since 2011, and previously from 2004 to 2009.

“I’m really, really proud and honored to receive the Order of Australia medal for my service to the Lebanese community, not only in Victoria but all of Australia and New Zealand,” Yacoub told Melbourne-based newspaper The Herald Sun.

The Queen’s official memorandum cited Yacoub’s efforts at WLCU, Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal, and Victorian Bush Fire Appeal, among others.

Yacoub was also recognized as an active parishioner at the Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Parish in Victoria for over 30 years.

The Herald Sun reports that Yacoub underwent seven operations between March and November 2014, leaving Yacoub recovering for months.

Nonetheless, he continued his role as WLCU president — organizing events, festivals, and award ceremonies to celebrate Lebanese emigrants.

“I was running all the activities from my mobile phone from text messages and emails,” he said.

Yacoub immigrated to Australia in 1974 with his parents and siblings, and worked at picture frame shops for 33 years.

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 Business, Lifestyle, News

Abu Dhabi police buy $3.4M ‘Furious 7’ car from Lebanese company

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Abu Dhabi police recently purchased the $3.4 million Lykan HyperSport — the same vehicle that appears in the movie ‘Furious 7’ — from Lebanese car company W. Motors.

The Lykan HyperSport is a 770-horsepower supercar that can go from 0 to 100 kilometers/hour in just 2.8 seconds. The model is officially limited to 7 units, making it one of the most expensive cars in the world.

29-year-old Lebanese businessman Ralph Debbas is the mastermind behind the car, which was first launched at the International Qatar Motor Show in 2013. His company, W. Motors, was founded in Beirut in 2012.

“It is a satisfaction and pride to drive it around Dubai and see all heads turn in its direction when it hits the highway,” Debbas told Abu Dhabi’s The National newspaper. “People are starting to notice it more and more on the roads. They step aside to admire it and to take pictures.”

Lebanese-born businessman Ralph Debbas is the creator of the Lykan HyperSport. (Photo: Dubai Autodrome)

The Lykan HyperSport became internationally-known after appearing in ‘Furious 7’ as a vaulted supercar owned by an Arab billionaire. Actors Vin Diesel and Paul Walker manage to escape security and drive through a window at the Ethiad Towners in Abu Dhabi in the film.

“The producers and stunt coordinators needed a car that was really different from the ones used in all the previous Fast and Furious movies, something that they don’t see everyday,” Debbas added.

WATCH the Lykan HyperSport in ‘Furious 7’:

The Lykan features a holographic display with interactive motion and tactile interaction. LED headlights are made up of a Titanium blade encrusted with diamonds and the taillights with sapphires. A 24-hour concierge service is also available.

It is also the first car to have headlights with embedded jewels containing titanium LED blades with 15-carat diamonds, although the buyer has a selection of rubies, diamonds, and sapphires to be integrated into the vehicle’s headlights.

Critics are questioning why Abu Dhabi police would need a $3.4 million police car. But reports say Abu Dhabi police are envious of Dubai’s fleet of supercars, like a Ferrari FF, Bugatti Beyron, and Lamborghini Gallardo.

WATCH the reveal of Abu Dhabi’s new supercar:

When you’re uber-rich, why not?

Take that, Dubai.

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Maronite Patriarch Rai on pastoral visit in Syria

(DAMASCUS, SYRIA) — Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai arrived in Syria on Sunday for a pastoral visit to participate in Maronite and Orthodox celebrations in Damascus this week.

Rai accepted the invitation of Orthodox Patriarch Youhanna X Yazigi to witness the opening of the new Orthodox Patriarchate in Syria’s capital.

Walid Ghayyad, director of Bkerke’s media office, said Rai’s visit will not include any political meetings. He said the meeting has three objectives — inaugurating the Maronite Social Center, participating in a Christian spiritual summit, and attending the inauguration of the Orthodox patriarchate.

“We came for peace and for peaceful solutions in Syria and for the endurance of Syrians in their land, both Christians and Muslims,” Rai said, following a visit to a French hospital in Damascus.

LBCI television reported that Syrian Islamic Endowments Minister Mohammed Sayyed and a delegation of Muslim clerics met with Rai at the Maronite Archbishopric on Sunday.

He later delivered a sermon at the Maronite church in the Christian Bab Touma neighborhood.

“In this Levant, we are witnessing a strategy of absurd wars aimed at chaos, destruction and killing,” he said. “We demand an end to the injustice against our people, we demand peace, we demand an end to the war and we demand political solutions.”

Rai admitted that his previous visits to Syria have “(been criticized),” even though the Maronite church has churches and offices in Syria.

LBCI reports that Rai was welcomed by Maronite Archbishop of Damascus Samir Nassar and Greek Orthodox Vicar General Bishop Ephraim Maalouli at the Syrian border area of Jdeidet Yabous when he arrived.

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 Lifestyle, News

U.S. fundraiser aims to bring clean water to Lebanese schools

(DETROIT, MI) — A U.S.-based service organization is on a mission to raise $3 million to install water filtration systems in 1,200 Lebanese schools over the next three years.

A group of Rotary International leaders — in partnership with the Rotary of Lebanon and Troy Rotary Club in Troy, Mich.  — are part of an effort to bring clean water into Lebanon’s public school system.

Nearly one in three Lebanese buy alternative sources of drinking water, usually from mobile water trucks or in bottles, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Lebanese public schools are in even greater need, according to USAID, because of the influx of Syrian refugees, who have added 200,000 Syrian children into an already crowded system.

“The water reaching Lebanese private and public properties is so contaminated, it is undrinkable,” said Fadi Sankari, chairman of the Lebanon Water Project. “It is important to engage in Lebanon’s humanitarian affairs because as U.S born Americans we are fortunate enough to have clean drinking water at our disposal.”

Contaminated drinking water affects 300,000 Lebanese children and 200,000 Syrian children, according to Sankari. Rotary International has developed working committees to examine the hardest-hit schools, and allocate the resources and volunteers to launch the undertaking.

“I’m happy to report that we have roughly $1.2 million raised and nearly 400 schools complete and 50 in the works,” Sankari added.

The committee is working in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, UNICEF, and the Red Cross, among others. It costs $2,500 to install a water tank and filter in each school.

Lebanese Health Minister Wael Abu Faour announced in early April a new campaign to address water sanitation in Lebanese public schools. Abu Faour said his office identified high levels of bacteria in water samples from nearly all public school systems.

According to the Lebanese National News Agency, 49 percent of samples failed to meet the necessary health standards of the ministry.

Rotary International leaders in Lebanon have met with Abu Faour to discuss upcoming plans and timelines for project completion.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

The Troy Rotary Club is hosting a fundraising gala on July 23 at Byblos Banquet Center in Dearborn, Mich. For more information call (248) 740-7151 — donations are tax deductible. The event flyer can be found at this link.

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