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Annual Holiday Party on Friday 30, 2007


nabil@lcnj.com

Celebrating over 60 Years of Middle Eastern Heritage and Community Commitment
A friendly and informal Group Picture
 (As we all know, human nature has a very short attention span)
Click Here for a larger picture

 
أسعد جبارة وعائلة جبارة

An Enchanting Evening Amongst Friends
A heartwarming evening that combined a true sense of community, benevolence, levity, good hearts, and of course, our "joy of life"!...
an article by Nabil, the Publisher of the Lebanese Community News Journal (LCNJ)

I was honored and humbled when my favorite M/C and successful fellow Lebanese businessman, the gentle George Jalinos called me on behalf of the Salaam Club board members, wanting to invite me as their Guest at the Annual Holiday Party on Friday November 30, 2007 to honor Assad Jebara, President & CEO, Zana Di Jeans/Alpha Garments, Inc., with a Lifetime Achievement Award and the New Pen League with a Distinguished Community Service Award.

About Assad Jebara and family:
I arrived at the party only to be welcomed by a friendly, smiling face and a gentle soul with a heartwarming positive energy... He was non other than Assad Jebara!... For easy reference, I included an Executive Summary about Assad Jebara in our December Newsletter. To view it, please Click Here!...

What a delightful beginning to a memorable evening that I spent amongst friends!... This self-made CEO of  a 100 Million dollar empire (that neither he nor his family inherited) showed me nothing short of utter humility, congeniality, and genuine eagerness to make friends.  In a gesture of genuine friendship, Assad actually handed me the printout of his awe-inspiring speech... His good brothers and family were all equally warm, humble and welcoming.  

The Jebara Family should be a lesson for those few "confused souls" in our Lebanese community that "opt" to pretend to be "all too important" and "all too busy" to talk to others... while failing to be friendly, approachable and welcoming  to people just because they are under the "delusion of grandeur" that they are better than everyone else...

"A true sign of success and excellence lies in humility, good nature and benevolence"  - Nabil

On various occasions in the past, I was inspired to write about three of my friends; His Excellency  Bishop Gregory Mansour, Monsignor Ignace Sadek, and Abouna Jean Younes articulating how they truly reflect the image of God... Now I find myself writing about someone who, in his own gentle way, reflects the image of God; my friend, Asaad Jebara.

It didn't take us long, Assad and I, to come to the realization that our paths have crossed for a good reason.  While many in Lebanon and the Arab World are wrapped up in their selfish existence, "tribal" hatemongering, and the self-serving agendas of their entourage and "external" powers, this humble man of unmistakable divine qualities, seems to be following a calling greater than his self interest, focusing on what really matters in life, and "opting" to  "make a difference" in the Arab world promoting education, outreach, unity and empowerment in the best interest of uplifting the ailing image and reputation of the "good" Arab Community in the US and worldwide.

He reiterated what I have been promoting to millions of LCNJ visitors for years: "It is about time that we all cross those tribal and confessionalist lines!... What unites us far transcends whatever may divide us... or what many of us wrongly perceive as such... due to unfounded fears, lack of education, lack of sound judgment, and the largely corrupt regimes in Lebanon and the Arab world"...  Like me, he has the clear vision to distinguish between the corrupt politicians, radicals and hatemongering roosters in Lebanon and the Arab world and between "good" Lebanese and Arabs of all religions and walks of life who want nothing more than to live in harmony, dignity, peace and prosperity.

About the Salaam Club members:
I, then went on to meet the various Salaam Club members and the many people attending the Annual Holiday Party.  With the exception of a few, the Salaam Club members welcomed me with eagerness, warmth, genuine interest and sincere appreciation of the difference that LCNJ is making in our local Community and worldwide... Most importantly, I was touched by the long standing commitment that such an exceptional Lebanese and Arab Club has dedicated throughout the years to our community without discrimination.

While many of the Club members are Lebanese and Syrian Christians, they seemed, like me, to frown upon any "Lebanese Christian tribal hatemongering rhetoric" and "Hate ALL-Syrians just because they are Syrians sentiments " shamelessly reflected in the repeated writings of one or more local "paper" newspapers.  

As a continuation of their philanthropic missions, the Salaam Club are currently helping out the "controversial" Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA), a public secondary school in Brooklyn promoting the Arabic language and specializing in Middle Eastern studies.  This Salaam Club fundraiser will go towards the Library of KGIA.

While the hundreds of my other commitments have not allowed me to learn much previously about this small school of 61 students, I am opting at this point not to give much credit to "quick to judge" controversies and senseless across the board "anti-Arab" and "anti-Islam" hatemongering... something to which I don't typically ascribe anyway!...

More importantly, seeing the staunch support KGIA enjoys from my friends Assad Jebara, John Abi-Habib, and the other members of this exceptional group of individuals of established credibility within our Lebanese and Arab Community, I will gladly wish KGIA much success and give them the benefit of the doubt, as everyone should, that they will live up to the legacy of Gibran Khalil Gibran, a Lebanese Maronite who proudly wrote many of his legendary books in the Arabic language, and will focus on promoting Arabic language education and highlighting the vast history of our "good" Arabic heritage away from Islamic radicalism and their symbols.

To read our two "engaging" short articles in our October Newsletter "Gibran Khalil Gibran - In What Language did he opt to write?" and "Are we Phoenicians or Arabs?"... please Click Here!...

As rightly pointed out in one of George Jalinos' e-mails to LCNJ (See Ref here), an event of this kind requires an awful amount of time, energy and patience and could not take place without the dedicated efforts the Chairman of the Holiday Dinner Dance, Ralph Succar, and his committee as well as Gregory Lutfey, the President of the Salaam Club together with its officers and board.  It is also worth mentioning Mr. Wadih Mrad who was kind enough to offer some of his special talent.   They all deserve sincere appreciation for a truly memorable event.

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Pictures from the Salaam Club Annual Holiday Party
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