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Articles and Letter 2004
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SPEECH DELIVERED BY AMERICAN LEBANESE COUNCILMAN JOHN AKOURI
During the Lebanese-American Heritage Club of Michigan Reception
Monday, November 22, 2004 – 6:30 PM
Your excellencies, the Consuls of Lebanon, Dr. Ali Ajamy and Mr. Milad Nammour, State Representative Gary Woronchak, City Councilwoman Suzanne Sareini, Rev. Father Rani Abdulmasih, Magistrate Salem Salamey, Founder of the Lebanese American Heritage Club Mr. Ali Jawad, distinguished leaders, honored guests, dear friends, ladies and gentlemen. The Lebanese reputation for hospitality is known worldwide and I thank you for your kind and warm welcome. It is indeed an honor to be invited to this reception and I feel privileged to address this energetic Lebanese audience, on this 61st Anniversary of the Independence of Lebanon. I wish to extend to all of you my sincerest greetings to you and your families in honor of this celebration.
In reflecting upon the 20th century, both the Lebanese Independence from France and conversely the political strife, uncertainty, and wars the Lebanese withstood, stand out as defining events. With regard to the latter, it is sad to recall that this tragic and devastating time caused great suffering and misery to many a people in such a small nation of only 10, 452 km. The Lebanese, however, are a resilient people, who have overcome much throughout the centuries and continue to do so.
This evening’s Independence Day is more than just a celebration it is also a tribute. It is a tribute to many people. First and foremost, it is a tribute to the leaders of the Lebanese-American Heritage Club who work tirelessly in their efforts to preserve our ancestral culture and heritage. I wish to commend them for what they have done for the community.
I also regard this evening as a tribute to America. American society today, with its multiculturalism and the American spirit of accepting people of different cultural origins is widely admired. Indeed, in this respect, the United States is a model for other nations.
Finally, I look upon this evening as a tribute to the entire Lebanese-American community. As tragic as those years back home were, they were able to bring about an integration that ultimately strengthened our community here in the Detroit metropolitan area, unifying for Lebanese-Americans and ultimately inspirational for other communities in the US. In meeting and overcoming those challenges, we must be mindful of the lessons of the past, while planning together for our future and the generations of Lebanese-Americans to come.
As an American of Lebanese descent, I am inspired and proud that so many Americans of Lebanese ancestry are playing such an active and valuable role in American society today. Lebanese-Americans are leaders in virtually every aspect of American life - the arts, business, politics, sports, the media and others.
So let us then, as Americans of Lebanese origin, unite in strengthening our community at home here in America, and let us also unite in strengthening our country of origin, Lebanon, for centuries to come.
My personal love of Lebanon stems from the upbringing I had from the staunchest, proudest and most loyal Lebanese I know – my father Fouad. A longtime leader and activist in Lebanese politics both here and abroad, and a friend to many of Lebanon’s Presidents, I thank him for his wisdom, insight and teaching us his love for our homeland and ask you to humbly join me in recognizing him this evening.
Many of you have seen today’s Detroit Free Press, (http://www.freep.com/news/metro/lebanonday22e_20041122.htm) and I wish to thank our community’s good friend Free Press journalist Mr. Niraj Warikoo for highlighting today’s celebration in the news. If you haven’t read the article yet, I strongly suggest you do as the single most important factor I took from this reading is that those interviewed were not labeled as Druze Lebanese, Maronite Lebanese, Moslem Lebanese or Orthodox Lebanese – there were no distinctions, they were simply referred to as “Lebanese.” And for that we applaud your wisdom and journalistic excellence Niraj, thank you!
Those of you who know me know that I tend to end my speeches with a quote from our beloved Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran. This evening, however, I wish to close with the following verse from the Rahbani Brothers when they penned this song for Fayrouz entitled: “Khudni”
Take me to Lebanon
Take me to its lovely hills
Take me to the land that has reared me and forget me there among vineyards and
fig trees and let me lie upon the soil of our village.
Ancient windows are signaling to me, and sounds of its rivers are calling
those who have traveled;
And eyes peeping from windows say to me,
We are friends.
Take me and plant me in the land of Lebanon
take me to the house that is guarding the hill,
where I shall open the door and kiss the walls and kneel under the loveliest
sky, and pray, and pray...
Tonight as I deliver this message to you, I solemnly salute each and every Lebanese who embraces the sense of Independence as an inherent right and duty and in the current international climate will - with all his means - advocate for the pursuit of a truly free, sovereign and independent Lebanon.
Thank you, God Bless You, Long Live Lebanon and God Bless America, and may she continue to shine as a beacon of hope and democracy for the entire world to see.
The impresssions those expressions leave- By Gladys Saroyan
The “who do you think you are?
Let me put you in your place. I got your number. You can’t fool me,” is all translated in Lebanon with one word. Latche. We Lebanese are very good at that, and we have trained our faces to convey just such a message with a simple raise of an eyebrow, the silent smirk of a mouth scrunched up acrobatically to one side and oftentimes accompanied by a zinger, so succinct in meaning, that after you say it, you want to jump up and down while bragging, Gotcha!
And that’s why we tend to stick to other Lebanese when making friends outside of Lebanon. Who else would understand us and still be willing to continue a conversation that cannot ever end except with the triumphant exit of a cutting last word? But even amongst Lebanese, this kind of interaction can get on participants’ nerves. I once had a friend who had come to America a couple of years prior to me and who threatened to end all connections with me if I were to raise my left eyebrow one more time while she was talking.
I went home that day determined to control my facial circus routine and with the enlightenment that maybe in this country, this kind of verbal and non-verbal exchange is — could it be? — discouraged and even frowned upon.
But folks, I am talking about a culture where if you were to read a simple poem of four lines, you need to decipher its meaning on numerous re-reading sessions, and where each person who had studied it thoroughly comes up with a far different conclusion than the others. Of the poet’s intentions? Well, he or she is usually not at liberty to say, smirk, smirk.
I say this to you while keeping in mind that Lebanon, by the way, enjoys a freedom of speech that is much superior in allotment, and way longer in existence than the rest of any other Arabic-speaking country.
Still, though, it’s not America and people have to be careful. But what is the government to do? Arrest someone because of a raise of an eyebrow? Haul them to some modernly fortified Christian Crusaders castle for the rest of their life because they happened to tsk tsk during a political speech? No, no, it was an olive pit stuck in the back of the teeth! See? (Mouth wide open). And by the way, and we are still on the same subject, politicians in Lebanon are a national joke but these mysteriously elected leaders have no way of knowing it, because, accompanied with our mode of communication, is a Lebanese ego so huge that it turns its owner completely oblivious to other people’s indirect jabs. God is good to us this way.
So kind folks of San Pedro, if you find yourselves reading my columns with balled fists and with a pressing urge to turn to the person sitting next to you with a “who does she think she is?” well, keep in mind, and I mean this sincerely, that each time I write a piece, I pray to God, to the Angels and all three of Lebanon’s canonized saints, to help me, I beseech you, tone the sarcasm/latche way down, and at the end, this is what I end up with.
You’re very welcome.
Gladys Saroyan immigrated to the United States in 1978 from Beirut, Lebanon. She moved to San Pedro in 1992 with her husband and three children. She has a weekly column in More San Pedro.
Like the Oxygen We
Breathe By Laura
Reinhardt
Three years ago, Beth and Rusty Hall wanted to teach
their son Taylor, then 8, about tithing. Through World Vision, the Halls
sponsored a Lebanese boy named Afif, age 11, who lived in an orphanage. It was a
lesson that changed the lives of two families.
Every month Taylor
gave a portion of his allowance towards the sponsorship and wrote to Afif.
Through these letters, the Halls discovered that Afif had a sister, also in the
orphanage. Then the family learned that the children's father was still living,
but had placed the children in an orphanage when their mother died because he
was unable to care for them.
A year later, the Halls received some unexpected
money and wondered where to tithe it. "I always feel like God tells
me," explained Beth Hall. "He gives me the money, then tells where it
should go." They felt called to use the money to help Afif's family and
perhaps even reunite them. Working through World Vision's offices, they gifted
the money to the family,
who decided to use it to enlarge the family home – giving the children a place
to stay on weekends.
The family sent pictures of their house to the
Halls, who found it "an eye opener" to see the difference between
Afif's home and theirs. When the Halls learned that Afif's father was doing the
work himself but had run out of money to finish the project, they emailed
friends and family for help. Through generous donations, the Halls received
enough money to enable Afif's father to complete the house.
Upon receiving the money, Afif's father expressed
surprise that someone would be willing to help out people they had never met
before. He told the Halls that he had doubted the existence of anyone "who
would do good for the sake of good." He believed this quality existed only
in the movies! The war in Lebanon and the death of his wife had contributed to
this feeling. "But later on," he wrote, "I realized I was wrong.
I saw that the world was fine because people like you existed."
Beth Hall dreams that the families might meet
someday. Afif mentions often in his letters that he would like to see Disney
World. She would love to find a way to bring the family to the United States,
though she wants them to see more of the country than just Disney World. She
also hopes that her family can go to Lebanon, so that her children could see
what life outside the United States is like. Afif's father looks forward to a
visit too:
"This house will be yours as well. We await your visit someday, hoping it
may be soon."
Sponsorship changes many lives. Beth feels her
children are in the process of learning that "when you have, you
give." And the love of strangers has reunited Afif's family.
Afif's father closed a letter to the Halls with
these words: "We
love you a lot, you are like the oxygen which we breathe. This oxygen is your
love and care that we needed."
Story
posted March 15, 2004 on:http://www.worldvision.org/8525646C00581CFF/0/FDA5B1D5E38E882B88256D100006F81F
Details:
SKU: 0842375627
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Date Published: Oct 2003
Language: English
Age Range: 5 - 11
Grade Level: Kindergarten thru 6th Grade
DVD Region: Region 1 - USA and Canada Only
All five mini-movies in the set are now available at Christian bookstores in both DVD and VHS format along with a teacher curriculum kit and "The Kids' Ten Commandments" board game. The board game challenges players young and old to "be the first to collect all Ten Commandments from Moses in a fast-paced, adventure-filled game based on the K10C mini-movies" as they "race to the finish where players can deposit the commandments in the Ark of the Covenant for safekeeping!"
The game's developer, Rick Osborne, invites players to "get to know the real meaning behind each of God's rules through fun situational questions and answers the entire family will enjoy."
If there are children in your family whom you would like to start singing, laughing and learning about the ten commandments in a very memorable and positive way, visit a Christian bookstore near you or call Christian Retailing Online at (800) 323-9400.
[Compiled from information posted on www.
k10C.com, http://www.parable.com/tbn/item_0842375627.htm, http://www.tyndale.com/products/details.asp?isbn=0-8423-8251-8 and http://www.hollywoodprayernetwork.org]Submitted by Jacki Skeels, Freelance Publicist
Maestro Nabil Azzam, MESTO Conductor/Composer and Composer Joseph Chamaa
PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANS FROM MANY CULTURES
ORCHESTRATE SPRING CONCERT OF UNUSUAL MUSIC
Lebanese-American composer, arranger, violinist and pianist Joseph Chamaa will showcase the American debut of one of his compositions with the Multi-Ethnic Star Orchestra (MESTO) during the symphony’s spring concert, Saturday, March 20, 2004 at 7:30 PM in the 1,400 seat Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center at Manhattan Beach Blvd. and Aviation Blvd. in Los Angeles County’s South Bay area. Concert goers will hear the world premiere of Conductor Nabil Azzam's newest orchestral composition as well.
Maestro Nabil Azzam, a seasoned conductor, talented composer/arranger as well as a versatile violinist and virtuoso Arabic (“‘Ud”) instrumentalist, along with violinist and recording artist Joseph Chamaa will debut two of their orchestral compositions during MESTO’s upcoming performance. Equally skilled in arranging or performing both Middle Eastern and western music, Azzam and Chamaa have collaborated in arranging several compositions in MESTO’s repertoire that audiences have enthusiastically applauded since Dr. Azzam founded the orchestra in September 2000.
Dr. Azzam will showcase a world premiere of “The Crescent,” his new composition with a haunting, Middle Eastern and Indian flavor and Joseph Chamaa will showcase the American premiere of one of his compositions for orchestra in the “Sama’i” musical form. This tonal scale and rhythm originated in Turkey and demands a thorough understanding of difficult musical theory to implement in an orchestral composition.
Composer Joseph Chamaa firmly believes that “music is an international language” and that his and MESTO’s goals are “to build bridges of cultural understanding between people of diverse backgrounds as well as foster personal inner peace” through the music they share in each performance.
During Lebanon's civil war, Chamaa introduced “Violorelax,” ten sequential compositions for relaxing and bringing peace to the conscious mind and ten sequential compositions for soothing the subconscious mind. These recordings were available in Lebanon's pharmacies--with the endorsement of recognized psychiatrists--and were a significant help to thousands of people coping with overwhelming and ongoing stress and grief.
For 23 years, Chamaa taught at the Lebanese Conservatory of Music and he has performed in the USA on television programs including The Young and the Restless and Murphy Brown and played during hundreds of recording sessions for the BBC radio in Lebanon.
As Chamaa has concertized as a violinist and pianist in respected venues worldwide, he has performed in the Vatican for the Pope, for the King of Jordan and with Sting at the US Grammy Awards. For many years, he recorded and toured internationally with Lebanon's legendary singer Fairuz and her orchestra. Currently he is a violin instructor at a private school in L.A. County and a violinist in both the Multi-Ethnic Star Orchestra and the New Valley Symphony.
His daughter Joelle Chamaa-Ferrando has been a vocal soloist with MESTO, performing the American debut of her father's composition, “Land of Roses”. She is a recording artist, composer and international touring vocalist in her own right and has been commissioned to compose original music for a globally recognized Arab-American male recording artist and to compile a second CD of performance music for international superstar belly dancers. Her father collaborated with her in composing one of the numbers.
Joseph Chamaa is proud to be associated with MESTO and its conductor and founder, Nabil Azzam.
THE CONCERT'S SOLOISTS
Under the direction of Maestro Nabil Azzam, MESTO’s conductor and founder, two talented vocal soloists and two accomplished instrumentalists will perform a diversity of numbers on March 20th with the moving accompaniment of a 40-piece orchestra comprised of both western and Middle Eastern instruments, all played by virtuoso performers.
Star singer Hamid will perform three sophisticated yet beautiful Egyptian songs. Hamid has written some of the songs he sings and their lyrics speak of peace and harmony between people of differing cultures and an end to suffering in the world.
The March 20th performance will also feature MESTO “Qanun” virtuoso and recording artist Lilit Khojayan and “Tar” virtuoso and recording artist Muhammad Omranifar as well as new singer Anna-Suzette Eblen, a former “Miss Teen California” from San Diego, CA. Their performances will give those in the audience the pleasure of hearing a mix of Middle Eastern and western musical styles.
MESTO’S PURPOSE, PLAYERS & REPERTOIRE
Nearly all the members under Maestro Azzam’s baton are recording artists and a majority of MESTO’s players were born or raised in the USA, yet they derive a great deal of joy from perfecting their performances of music from major cultures and musically bringing the world’s cultures to their audiences. There are well-known movie industry studio musicians, scholars and an attorney in the group.
MESTO’s conductor Dr. Nabil Azzam, featured soloists and the first-call instrumentalists who comprise the Multi-Ethnic Star Orchestra all have a remarkable commitment to perfection in musicality and to bringing a greater appreciation for the world’s cultures to symphony goers through the diversity of their music. The “red” or “micro tones” used in Middle Eastern or Chinese music--as Maestro Azzam terms “3/4 tone notes”--are seldom heard in western concert venues but are heard in the compositions in MESTO’s repertoire that are arranged by Maestro Azzam as well as in numbers composed by Azzam and six respected composers and arrangers in the group.
According to Azzam, the orchestra's repertoire now includes 70 compositions. MESTO premieres one or two new compositions during each performance and will Turkish, Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Armenian and Bulgarian music as well as European and American western music during the annual spring concert on March 20th.
THE CONDUCTOR’S BACKGROUND
MESTO’s conductor and founder, Maestro Nabil Azzam, Ph.D., is accomplished in two musical styles; the classical European and the Middle Eastern. He was born in Nazareth and graduated from the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv University where he received a B.A. and B.Mus. He graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with an M.A. in Musicology and earned his doctorate in music from the University of California in Los Angeles.
In 1977, Maestro Azzam established and chaired the first conservatory of music in Nazareth. He has been acknowledged by several heads of state for his peace efforts and has taught at UCLA, the University of Redlands and the University of California in Santa Barbara.
Currently Azzam is writing two books that are a scholarly treatise on Egypt’s composer, M. Abd al-Wahhab.
TICKET AVAILABILITY
Tickets for the Multi-Ethnic Star Orchestra's 7:30 PM spring concert on March 20th are $20, 30 and $100. Contact MESTO online to order tickets at www.MESTO.org or call (310) 383-3790 for ticket reservations. Parking is free at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, 1935 Manhattan Beach Blvd., Redondo Beach, CA.
To learn more about the Multi-Ethnic Star Orchestra before the March 20th performance, visit www.MESTO.org.
-- Jacki Skeels, Freelance Publicist
Cell (562) 856-2238 / Tel. (562) 856-2238