Developer avoids ’hot button’ issues
Asad Ghattas owns a number of properties in Washington County. On Maugans Avenue, he owns a car wash, a gas station and more.
Some developers make splashy news with building projects.
Asad Ghattas has a quieter approach.
Ghattas has established himself both on Maugans Avenue, where a substantial road improvement project is under way, and in other areas of Washington County.
He owns Fountainhead Plaza and has three Penske truck rental branches in three states.
On Maugans Avenue, his list of properties includes a strip mall, a car wash, an equipment rental shop, a gas station, and a truck sales and service shop.
He works out of a headquarters on Crayton Boulevard, off Maugans Avenue, the home of his office furnishings and supplies business, called Office Suppliers Inc., or OSI.
In the same complex, he’s marketing 20,000 square feet of office space that was the corporate headquarters of Garden State Tanning.
He owns about two dozen rental properties throughout Washington County.
In the Beaver Creek area, in his housing development called Pemberton, most of the 20-plus homes in the first phase have been sold. The second phase, with 17 lots, is being sold and custom built. Houses are in the mid-$200,000 range.
Another housing development, Rosebank Way, is off Robinwood Drive.
Ghattas recently bought the building that formerly housed the Red Horse restaurant on the eastern edge of Hagerstown. He plans to tear the building down and put up a multistory office building.
Avoiding problems
State property records list about 70 parcels in Washington County under his name, either individually or through Ghattas Enterprises.
By design, Ghattas tries to steer clear of properties that will require substantial changes, such as a new zoning classification - anything likely to cause an uproar.
"I navigate my life so I stay away from all these hot-button issues," he said.
Ghattas said sales of residential development have been "very, very flat" for about a year.
"I think we’re taking a pause ...," he said in general about the local market. "I think we overbuilt."
The commercial development market, though, remains active, he said.
When he needs to relax, Ghattas plays golf. He and his wife, Velda, spend the winter in Naples, Fla.
Ghattas, 58, was born in Bethlehem, Israel. While growing up, he learned English, Spanish and French, along with his native Arabic.
He said he came to the United States in 1968, after becoming friends with a New York journalist who invited him to his wedding.
He also got to know Maurice Martin, the owner of Martin’s Food Market, in the Pennsylvania Avenue building that most recently housed Playland.
Giant Food Stores later bought the store. It became the foundation for the Martin’s chain under Giant.
Ghattas bagged groceries at Martin’s Food Market. He studied engineering at Hagerstown Junior College.
And Ghattas met Velda, Maurice Martin’s daughter. They were married in 1972.
They have three children - Treva, 33; Trent, 31; and Todd, 29.
Todd manages OSI and Treva is in charge of the office furniture division.
Trent oversees residential properties that his father owns.
Ghattas planted his business roots in Washington County in 1972, when he bought an office-supply division of Hagerstown Bookbinding and Printing (now HBP).
He said OSI is flourishing.
Thanks in part to his children, business has doubled in the last four years, he said.
savesave
Voices silenced,tears have dried
Frozen hearts no longer smile
Darkness veils the winter sky
Screamings echo, but for a while
Sorrow dawns over shadowed nights
Laughter lost for eternity
Wrapped in tricolor,sleeping pride
Pain filled eyes searches thee
Gathering pieces of shattered memories
as souls depart to another domain
Time may heal the gashes made,
Who will erase the scars remained?
Shattered bones, homes and lives
RAMZY BAROUDI was looking for a specific image, one that would humanise Palestinians as living, breathing human beings, neither masked nor mutilated. But to no avail.
All the photos I received spoke of the reality that is Gaza today - homes, schools and civilian infrastructure bombed beyond description. All the faces were either of dead or dying people.
I paused as I reached a horrifying photo in the slideshow of a young boy and his sister huddled on a single hospital trolley waiting to be identified and buried. Their faces were darkened as if they were charcoal and their lifeless eyes were still widened with the horror that they experienced as they were burned slowly by a white phosphorus shell.
The reality is that these children and thousands like them in Gaza have experienced the most profound pain, a pain that we may never in our lives comprehend.
"This is a new generation of very powerful small explosives that detonates with extreme power and dissipates its power within a range of five to 10 metres
"We have not seen the casualties affected directly by the bomb, because they are normally torn to pieces and do not survive, but we have seen a number of very brutal amputations."The dreadful weapons are known as dense inert metal explosives (DIME), "an experimental kind of explosive" but only one of several new weapons that Israel has been using in Gaza, the world’s most densely populated regions.
Israel could not possibly have found a better place to experiment with DIME or the use of white phosphorus in civilian areas than Gaza.The hapless inhabitants of the strip have been disowned. The power of the media, political coercion, intimidation and manipulation have demonised this imprisoned nation fighting for its life in the tiny spaces left of its land.
No wonder Israel refused to allow foreign journalists into the tiny enclave and brazenly bombed the remaining international presence in Gaza.As long as there are no witnesses to the war crimes committed in Gaza, Israel is confident that it can sell a fabricated story to the world that it is, as always, the victim, one that has been terrorised and, strangely enough, demonised as well.
The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on January 15."Livni said that these were hard times for Israel, but that the government was forced to act in Gaza in order to protect Israeli citizens.
"She stated that Gaza was ruled by a terrorist regime and that Israel must carry on a dialogue with moderate sources while simultaneously fighting terror."The same peculiar message was conveyed by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as he declared his one-sided ceasefire on January 17.
Never mind that the "terrorist regime" was democratically elected and had honoured a ceasefire agreement with Israel for six months, receiving nothing in return but a lethal siege interrupted by an occasional round of death and destruction.Livni is not as perceptive and shrewd as the US media fantasises. Blunt-speaking Ehud Barak and stiff-faced Mark Regev are not convincing men of wisdom. Their logic is bizarre and wouldn’t stand the test of reason.
’The hapless inhabitants of the strip have been disowned. The power of the media, political coercion, intimidation and manipulation have demonised this imprisoned nation fighting for its life in the tiny spaces left of its land.’
Olmert wants to "break the will" of Hamas, ie the Palestinians, since the Hamas government was elected and backed by the majority of the Palestinian people.
Isn’t 60 years of suffering and survival enough to convince Olmert that the will of the Palestinians cannot be broken? How many heaps of wreckage and mutilated bodies will be enough to convince the prime minister that those who fight for their freedom will either be free or will die trying?Far-right politician Avigdor Lieberman, a rising star in Israel, is not yet convinced. He thinks that more can be done to "secure" his country, which was established in 1948 on the ruins of destroyed Palestinian towns and villages. He has a plan.
"We must continue to fight Hamas just like the United States did with the Japanese in World War II," said the head of ultra-nationalist opposition party Yisrael Beitenu.A selective reader of history, Lieberman could only think of the 1945 atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. But something else happened during those years that Lieberman carefully omitted. It’s called the Holocaust, a term that many are increasingly using to describe the Israeli massacres in the Gaza Strip.
It is strange that conventional Israeli wisdom still dictates that "the Arabs understand only the language of force." If that were true, then they would have conceded their rights after the first massacre in 1948. But, following more than 60 years filled with massacres new and old, they continue to resist."Freedom or death," is the popular Palestinian mantra. These are not simply words, but a rule by which Palestinians live and die. Gaza is the proof and Israeli leaders are yet to understand.
Ofra Haza
Born November 19, 1957(1957-11-19) Origin Tel Aviv, Israel
Died February 23, 2000 (aged 42) Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel
Genre(s) World, Pop, Middle eastern Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, actress
Instrument(s) Vocals, Piano
Years active 1969–2000
Label(s) Hed Arzi EastWest Records Shanachie BMG Ariola Ausfahrt Sire/Warner Bros. Records
Website Ofra.Haza.Co.IL
Ofra Haza (Hebrew: עפרה חזה, pronounced [ʕofrɑːh ħazzɑːh]) (Arabic: عفراء هزّاع) (November 19, 1957 – February 23, 2000) was a popular Israeli singer, actress and international recording artist.
Of Yemenite Jewish ancestry, Haza was born the youngest of nine children in the poor Tel Aviv neighborhood of Hatikvah (meaning "hope" in Hebrew). She became an instant local, then national, success story, the subject of great pride for many Israelis of Yemenite origin.
Her voice has been described as mezzo-soprano, of near-flawless tonal quality, capable of lending itself to a variety of musical styles with apparent ease.
Inspired by a love of her Yemenite-Jewish culture, the appeal of her musical art quickly spread to a wider Middle Eastern audience, somehow bridging the divide between Israel and the Arab countries. As her career progressed, the multi-lingual Haza was able to switch between traditional and more commercial singing styles without jeopardising her credibility. The music, too, fused elements of Eastern and Western instrumentation, orchestration and dance-beat. Success was to follow in Europe and the US; during her singing career, she earned many platinum and gold albums.
Early career
At the age of twelve-and-a-half, Haza joined a local theatre troupe, and manager Bezalel Aloni spotted her exceptional singing talent. He staged many of his productions around Haza as the centrepiece and later on he became her longtime manager and mentor. At the age of 19, she was Israel's first pop princess and retrospectively, music journalists described her as "The Madonna of the East".
By the time she had completed her military service in 1979, Aloni's protégé had matured as a singer and was ready to launch a solo career.
Her first album, entitled Al Ahavot Shelanu (Our Love), was released in 1980 and yielded a string of popular radio hits, including "Hageshem" (The Rain), "Shir Ahava La'chayal" (Love Song For The Soldier), "Kmo Tzipor" (Like A Bird) and what ultimately became her signature song in her homeland, "Shir Ha'frecha" (The Bimbo Song). The latter was written for the film Shlagger (1979) in which Haza played a leading role. At first, radio stations across the country refused to play the song due to its explicit lyrics but it quickly climbed the charts and reached #1, where it stayed for five consecutive weeks.
A second album soon followed, Bo Nedaber (Let's Talk), which included the hugely popular hits "Tfila" (Prayer) and "Simanim Shel Ohavim" (Lovers Signs).
Her third album, Pituyim (Temptations) came out in 1982 and enjoyed equal success with such hits as "Gabriel" and "Kol Yom Matchila Shana" (A New Year Starts Everyday). With this album, more well-known writers agreed to write her songs, including Tzvika Pick and Nurit Hirsh.
In 1983, Haza's career jumped to a new level of success and popularity. At the Eurovision Song Contest, she came in a close second to the Luxembourg entry with the song "Chai" (Alive). Her popularity in Israel reached enormous heights. Her 1983 album, Chai, became her biggest-selling album to date and the title track was voted the #1 song of the year. Author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor notes in The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History that Haza's performance of this song was highly symbolic as it contains the lyric "Israel Is Alive". As the contest was held in Munich, Germany, the scene of the 1972 Olympic's massacre, there was considerable patriotism involved with the Israeli entry. [1] Additional hits from the album included "Amen Lamilim" (Amen For Words) and "Sof Hakayitz" (End Of Summer). Haza was voted "Female Vocalist Of The Year" four years in a row, from 1980 through 1983. Later that year, Haza released Shirey Moledet which consisted of her renditions of well-known Israeli folk songs. Public response was so overwhelming, she went on to release two more volumes (in 1985 and 1987).
Bait Ham (A Place For Me) was released in 1984 and included such hits as "Yad Beyad" (Hand In Hand), "Itcha Halayla" (With You Tonight) and the title track. The album quickly went gold. In December that year, Haza released what was to become the turning-point of her career, a collection of Yemenite songs, simply titled Yemenite Songs. Despite lukewarm radio airplay, the album went on to become a best-seller, quickly reaching platinum status. This LP was reissued in the United States by Shanachie Records under the title Fifty Gates of Wisdom. The album Adama (Earth) followed in 1985 and saw the top writers in the country contribute to the album: Sasha Argov, Naomi Shemer, Ya'akov Orland and Ehud Manor, among others. The album produced the enormously popular hits, "Adama", "Goral Echad" (One Destiny) and "Mishehu Holech Tamid Iti" (Someone Always Walks With Me)
In 1986, Haza tried to update her sound and gathered with acclaimed producer Yizhar Ashdot to create what some consider to be her most interesting work, Yamim Nishbarim (Broken Days). The album had an edgy rock sound and the lyrics were deep and personal and written by Haza herself, a first. The album went gold and produced the hits "Kol Haklafim" (Open Your Cards), "Bo Ve-Nagen Oti" (Come and Play Me) and "Hake'ev Haze" (This Pain).
When asked about her musical roots in an interview on KCRW-FM radio (1993, Santa Monica), Haza spoke of her Yemenite Jewish parents, a childhood filled with music and singing and a passion for traditional Yemenite songs, picked up from her mother. Questioned about the theatre troupe, she spoke of poverty and the total neglect of successive governments for the Hatikvah region; and how, by way of protest, the community had rallied to create something positive and dramatic, which would make others sit up and take notice of a forgotten neighbourhood. Throughout the interview, Aloni can be heard in the background, adding information and correcting Haza about her age (by subtracting two years), when asked about her first album.
International artist The album Ofra Haza (1997) included the single "Show Me" and the reworked "Im Nin'Alu 2000"
Her greatest international recognition came with the single "Im Nin'Alu", taken from the album Shaday (1988), which won the New Music Award for Best International Album of the Year. The song topped the Eurochart (Europe's equivalent to the American Billboard charts) for two weeks in June that year and was on heavy rotation on MTV channels across the continent. For years to come, this song would be extensively re-released, re-mixed and sampled, for example on Coldcut's remix of Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full." The single made only a brief appearance in the UK top 40 singles chart, but became a dancefloor favorite across Europe and the USA, topping the German charts for nine weeks. Subsequent singles were also given the dance-beat / MTV-style video treatment, most notably, "Galbi", "Daw Da Hiya" and "Mata Hari", but none quite matched the runaway success of her first hit. "Im Nin' Alu" would go on to be featured on an in-game radio playlist of the video game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, released in 2005.
Haza also received critical acclaim for the albums Fifty Gates of Wisdom (1988), Desert Wind (1989), Kirya (1992), Ofra Haza (1997) and for her collection of children's songs, L'Yeladim (1982).
Kirya (co-produced by Don Was) received a Grammy nomination.
In 1994, Haza released her first Hebrew album in seven years, Kol Haneshama (The Whole Soul). Though not an initial chart success, the album produced one of her biggest hits to date, "Le'orech Hayam" (Along The Sea). The song did not have any substantial chart success upon its release to radio but became an anthem after Haza performed it on the assembly in memorial to deceased Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a week after he was assassinated. Radio stations around the country started playing it and people took notice. Its lyrics became even more symbolic following Haza's own death in 2000.
Collaborations and performances
The single "Daw Da Hiya" featured Iggy Pop as the narrator
Her collaborative work with internationally established acts included the single "Temple of Love (Touched by the Hand of Ofra Haza)", recorded with the Leeds-based band The Sisters of Mercy in 1992. Thomas Dolby co-produced Yemenite Songs and Desert Wind, where he was also a guest musician. Haza guested on Dolby's album Astronauts And Heretics (1992), singing on the track "That's Why People Fall In Love". She recorded "My Love Is for Real" with Paula Abdul in 1995 and on Sarah Brightman's album Harem, Haza's vocals were included on "Mysterious Days", thanks to an idea by Brightman's partner Frank Peterson (ex-Enigma), who produced both Harem (2003) and the album Ofra Haza (1997).
For the Kirya album, Iggy Pop, a friend of Don Was, performed the narration on "Daw Da Hiya" and Haza joined him and a host of other stars for the video and single release "Give Peace A Chance" in 1991. She also sang on the soundtracks of Colors (1988), Dick Tracy (1990), Wild Orchid (1990), Queen Margot (1994) and The Prince of Egypt (1998). In The Prince of Egypt, she voiced the small role of Yocheved, as well as singing "Deliver Us". For The Prince of Egypt's soundtracks, Haza sang the song "Deliver Us" in 17 of the 21 languages (Czech - "Tak vyveď nás", Dutch - "Verlos ons, Heer", English - "Deliver Us", Finnish - "Johdata", French - "Délivre nous", German - "Erlöse uns", Greek - "Eleftheri", Hebrew - "Hoshiana", Hungarian - "Szabadíts", Italian - "Ascoltaci", Norwegian - "Befri Oss", Polish - "Uwolnij Nas", Portuguese - "Liberte Nos", Spanish - "Libranos", Swedish - "Befria Oss"). On the soundtrack of The Governess (1998), Haza is the featured singer on seven of the twelve tracks and worked closely with film music composer Edward Shearmur. In 1999, she performed (together with late Pakistani artist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) the track "Forgiveness", on the contemporary symphony album The Prayer Cycle by Jonathan Elias. As a featured background vocalist, Haza's voice has been recorded, re-mixed or sampled for Black Dog's "Babylon" single, Eric B and Rakim's "Paid In Full (Coldcut Remix)" and for the M/A/R/R/S hit "Pump Up The Volume". The single "Love Song" has been re-mixed by DJs many times, its powerful vocal performance and comparatively sparse musical arrangement making it the perfect vehicle for a dance-rhythm accompaniment.
Covers of songs by other artists included the Carole King / James Taylor classic "You've Got a Friend", Madonna's "Open Your Heart", Gary Moore's "Separate Ways", and Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir".
There were many distinguished live performances and Haza spoke with fond memories of her visits to Japan and Turkey. Notable too, was her performance at the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo, where she appeared alongside Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. "Paint Box" was written specially for the event. Her 1990 live recording, Ofra Haza At Montreux Jazz Festival was released in 1998.
Haza shared duets and concert performances with Glykeria, Yehudit Ravitz, Paul Anka, Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson, Iggy Pop, Hoite, Buddha Bar, Ishtar, Gidi Gov, Whitney Houston, Tzvika Pick, Khaled, Prachim Yerushalaim, The Sisters of Mercy, Sarah Brightman, Thomas Dolby, Stefan Waggershausen, Eric B and Rakim, Gila Miniha, Hans Zimmer, Hagashash Hachiver, Yaffa Yarkoni and Shoshana Damari.
At the fall of 1999, Haza recorded new material for a new album that she worked on with Ron Aviv, a music producer from Petah Tikva.
Marriage
On 15 July 1997 Haza married businessman Doron Ashkenazi. They had no children together. Ashkenazi died on Saturday, April 7, 2001, of an overdose of crystallized cocaine, leaving behind a daughter from his previous marriage, and a 14 year old adopted son Shai Ashkenazi. He was suspected of having infected Haza with the HIV/AIDS virus. His family did an autopsy test after his death but refused to reveal the results.
Death
Ofra Haza died at the age of 42 on the 23rd February 2000 – the cause being widely reported as organ failure or pneumonia, reportedly arising from HIV/AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) complications. Her family declined to confirm or deny these reports, however, stating that it was Haza's wish that the matter should remain private. There was considerable media interest into the circumstances of her death.“
Although initial reports suggested that Haza was only suffering from pneumonia or an extended bout with the flu, The Jerusalem Post reports that her condition rapidly deteriorated after she entered the hospital. By the end, Haza was unconscious after suffering liver and kidney failure and was said to be receiving intravenous drug treatment. Administrators at Sheba Hospital said that Haza's heart finally stopped beating on Wednesday because of an abnormal increase in the amount of hydrogen in her body.”
After Haza's death was announced, Israeli radio stations played non-stop retrospectives of her music and Prime Minister Ehud Barak praised her work as a cultural emissary, commenting that she also represented the Israeli success story – "Ofra emerged from the Hatikvah slums to reach the peak of Israeli culture. She has left a mark on us all".
In December 2007, Israel's Channel 10 disclosed previously confidential medical records affirming that Ashkenazi contracted the virus between 1992 and 1993 and Haza contracted the disease between 1995 and 1997. The two met in 1996.
Legacy
Bezalel Aloni, Haza's manager and producer of 28 years published a book Michtavim L'Ofra (Letters to Ofra) in 2007. The book is partially an autobiography of Aloni and partially a biography of Haza, which also consists of compiled letters written by Aloni. In the book, Aloni mentions a conversation between Haza and one of her brothers, which took place when she was at the height of her career. Her brother criticized her life and career choices by saying: "Who the hell are you anyway? You're just an unmarried woman with no children!" Haza did not react. Aloni also describes how he tried to help Haza and protect her from those who, in his eyes, did not have her best interests at heart.[6]On 22 March 2007, the Tel Aviv Jaffa Municipality and the Tel Aviv Development Fund renamed part of the public park in the Hatikva Quarter to Gan Ofra (Ofra's Park) on the seventh anniversary of her death, in honour of Haza. The park is placed at the end of Bo'az street where Haza's childhood home was built. The designated area features a children's playground, symbolizing her love for children and the old quarter where she grew up and always came back to.
Tributes
* Sharim Ofra (Singing Ofra) 2002 - A tribute concert to commemorate the life of Ofra Haza where Israeli singers sang Haza's songs.
Documentaries
* Sodot (Secrets) 2005 - Aired on Israeli channel YES, this documentary in Hebrew and partly English is about Haza's life and attempts to answer questions surrounding her death.
* Dokoceleb Ofra Haza 2007 - Aired on the Israeli entertainment station HOT, February 22, 2007. This documentary in Hebrew focuses on Haza's career, achievements and marriage.
Albums
* 1974 - Ahava Rishona (with Shechunat Hatikvah Workshop Theatre)
* 1976 - Ve-hutz Mizeh Hakol Beseder (with Shechunat Hatikvah Workshop Theatre)
* 1977 - Atik Noshan (with Shechunat Hatikvah Workshop Theatre)
* 1979 - Shir HaShirim Besha'ashu'im (with Shechunat Hatikvah Workshop Theatre)
* 1980 - Al Ahavot Shelanu
* 1981 - Bo Nedaber
* 1982 - Pituyim
* 1982 - Li-yeladim (Children's Songs)
* 1983 - Hai
* 1983 - Shirey Moledet 1
* 1984 - Bayt Ham
* 1984 - Shirey Teyman (a.k.a. Yemenite Songs or Fifty Gates of Wisdom)
* 1985 - Adamah
* 1985 - Shirey Moledet 2
* 1986 - Yamim Nishbarim
* 1987 - Shirey Moledet 3
* 1987 - Album HaZahav (Golden Album)
* 1988 - Shaday
* 1988 - Yemenite Love
* 1989 - Desert Wind
* 1992 - Kirya
* 1993 - Oriental Nights
* 1994 - Kol Haneshama
* 1995 - Queen in Exile (Unreleased)
* 1997 - Ofra Haza
* 1998 - Ofra Haza At Montreux Jazz Festival (Live - recorded 1990)
* 2000 - Greatest Hits vol.1/Bemanginat Halev (Melody Of The Heart)
* 2001 - Music History
* 2004 - Greatest Hits vol.2/Bemanginat Halev (Melody Of The Heart)
* 2008 - Forever Ofra Haza - Her Greatest Songs Remixed (incl. previously unreleased track)
Soundtracks
* 1988 - Colors
* 1990 - Dick Tracy
* 1990 - Wild Orchid
* 1994 - La Reine Margot (Queen Margot)
* 1998 - The Prince of Egypt
* 1998 - The Governess
* 1999 - The King And I (Hebrew version)
* 2000 - American Psycho: Music from the Controversial Motion Picture
Trivia
* On 3 February 1987, Haza survived a crash in a Cessna aircraft on the Israeli-Jordanian border. Coincidentally, this day was the 28th anniversary of "The Day the Music Died", so-called because of the plane crash which killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.
* In 1990, Haza turned down an offer to support Michael Jackson on tour.
* In 1993, featured in the Beavis and Butthead, 'Way Down Mexico Way' TV Episode.
* On 7 April 1994, Haza's plane on flight 316 from London to Israel was affected by a lightning strike; it had to make an emergency landing in Israel.
* Ofra Haza has participated in two highly popular children's educational television shows, Bli Sodot and Parpar Nehmad.
* The last recording released when Haza was alive was track 7 from Jonathan Elias's The Prayer Cycle, titled Forgiveness. Haza sings parts from Psalm 23 and the length of the track is 7:40, which coincides with Haza being the seventh daughter, and the date and time of her death - 7:40pm, 23 February 2000.
Darine Hadchiti
Darine Hadchiti with a new comeback to the scenes <tr></tr><td class="articleStory"> </td>The same Lebanese singer Darine Hadchiti who rocked the music scene last year with her debut album “Eddam El Kel” (In front of All) is all set for a new comeback with her eagerly awaited new album by EMI productions. The first album had gone beyond all expectations and was a tremendous success that lifted the artist in a giant leap towards stardom.
Darine is preparing to release her second album “Irtahlak Albi”(My Heart is Comfortable with You) which is expected to find significant success. A splendid album with rich content, and a very attractive feminine voice with an outstanding music production is the essence of “Irtahlak Albi”. The album “Erthalak Alby” is due to hit the market mid of May of this year and is expected to bust the charts as soon as it is released. Already the first single “Amm Tethaly” topped the single charts when it was first released in March and now “Erthalak Alby” is paving the way for the one of the top selling albums of our year.The first single “Am Tethalli” created a commotion around Darine’s new album when the track began playing on radio stations coupled with a fantastic high-budget video which is one of the most requested clips of this month.Parallel to the success of the first single, the follow up hit “Irtahlak Albi” created a hype and is playing non-stop across the region.
The album is a combination of hit after hit featuring: “Alf Ba’a Ta’a", “Ba’ad Kelmi”, “Aref Laish”, “Allah Yetawwel Omrak” is “Ma Za’altak Taradeek” and many more.Darine began singing when she was a young girl of 12 years old at every function in her neighborhood and would not miss the chance to sing with her friends and relatives. Being brought up in a family of talented renowned singers, the family acknowledged and embraced Darine’s talent and supported her every step.Darine enrolled in the biggest talent show “Studio El Fan” and was awarded the bronze medal for her singing. After that she decided to take singing more seriously and started working on developing her talent more professionally. She took lessons and joined the Conservatoire. Her current manager, George Anastasiades spotted her and immediately signed her on to Lea Production, a company specially formed to work on developing new talents and Darine was his first. They both worked together on her debut album, which hit pop charts regionally and took her only 2 months in the making. The debut single, which was the title track “Edam EL Kel” was the most requested song on all radio stations and TV. The album produced several hits like “Ba’adek Bekoul El Mattareh” and “Ekbar Shwaie”.
Darine’s dream is “to one day be famous worldwide and not just in the Arab world.”
انظروا كيف ظلموها ؟؟؟
إنها امرأة أنجبت ثلاثة أطفال ، فتاتان وصبي ، الصبي مصاب بالإعاقة
وبسرطان الدم ، والفتاة معاقة إعاقة أبدية ، والفتاة الكبرى هي الوحيدة
السليمة بينهم
كبروا ، وتركهم الأب لحال السبيل ، كبروا وأصبحوا شبابا
وليس للأم غير ربها تناجيه ليحصلوا على لقمة تطفي لهيب الجوع
بالرغم من أن ابناء الأعمام وخالتهم لديهم مناصب كبيرة ، ولكنهم
لا يلتفتون نحوهم
أتــــــــدرون لمـــــــــاذا ؟؟؟
يخشوا أن يشوه اسمهم وهم يذهبون لذلك الحي الفقير
ولكنهم لا يخشون من عقاب ربهم المرير ... كبرت الفتاة السليمة
ورغم ما ألم بهم من فقر ، لم تفكر هذه الأم بتاتا في استغلال ابنتها
بل زوجتها برجل ستر عليها ،، وبقت الأم مع ابنائها المعاقين
لا أحد يدري بحالهم سوى الله سبحانه وتعالى
لقد قمت بزيارتهم أنا وأمي في يوم من الأيام
واذا بنا نري إنسانة هادئة يشع الحزن من عينيها
سألتها أمي : ماذا بك ؟؟ بدأت تحكي وتبكي وتشكر الله على ما هي عليه
فبــــــــــدأت تقـــــــــــول
أتدرين لا يوجد لدينا ما نأكله
أنا لست جائعة لكن ابنائي جوعى ، فانفطر قلبي عليها كثيرا ، وذهبنا لنشتري
لهم الطعام وأعطتها امي ما لديها من مال لتسد حاجتها
وبعد عدة أيام عاودت امي زيارتها لتطمئن عليها ، وعلى حالها
فقالت لامي : اني حصلت اليوم على نتيجة الفحص ، وتبين من ذلك أني
مصابة بنزيف حاد في الرحم ، وهي مصابة ايضا بالسكري ، يالله
لقد قرروا اجراء عملية فورية لها بعد اسبوع من نتيجة الفحص
ولكنها رفضت بشدة اجرائها ، معللة بذلك أن ابنها قد يصاب بنوبة
صرع مفاجئة ، أو ابنتها قد تحتاج اليها وهي فتاة بالغة ، وتطلب
الرعاية من الأم
وعندما حاولت أمي ان تخفف عنها ، ردت عليها بكل حزن
ان العملية ليست مضمونة ، إما حياة واما موت !
ومن سيتحمل ابناءا لمعاقين ، ومن سيرعاهم ؟؟
أفضل أن أترك كل شيء للقدر ، فالله سينصرني على المرض
قبل أن ينتصر علي
وها هي تجوب المستشفيات ليلا وحيدة مع ابنها
فاحيانا حالته تسوء ويدخل غرفة الإنعاش ... ولا أحد معها .. وحيدة
نعم تركت وحيدة في هذا العالم لتصارع الظلم والحزن والقلق
فاصبحت لا تفرق بين نهار وليل
أحبتي في الله ادعوا لهذه المرأة ، فوالله إنها مسكينة
وكأنها مقطوعة من شجرة ، لقد تخلوا عنها اصحاب النفوس الغافلة
لأنها فقيرة ، وما يدرون انهم هم الفقراء بأخلاقهم السيئة
وهي الغنية بأخلاقها الفاضلة
ولا أقول إلا ((حسبي الله ونعم الوكيل ))
يا احبتي في الله .. ادعوا لها بالنصرة فإنها في عداد المظلومين
أختكم ... حـــــــــــــــور
مساء الانوار ماسه ومساء العسل للكل
Fatima, the Virgin of Abu Ghraib
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Here is an excerpt from her heart-wrenching letter: “
… I am your sister in God (Fatima).
They raped me on one day more than nine times.
Can you comprehend? Imagine one of your sisters being raped. Why can’t you all imagine it, as I am your sister.
With me are 13 girls, all unmarried. All have been raped before the eyes and ears of everyone… Brothers, I tell you again, fear God! Kill us with them so that we might be at peace. Help! Help!Help!”
Fatima’s elder brother organized a hundred men and launched an attack on the prison; Fatma was struck fatally in the head during the bombardment and died on December 21, 2004. The case of Fatima is not unique; many Iraqi women have sent messages begging loved ones to ‘please kill us all.’
U.S. guards are perpetrating systemic abuse and torture against Iraqi women who are held in indefinite detention without charge; this is happening not just at Abu Ghraib but all across Iraq. In my opinion, the rape of Fatima was one universal rape of all women of this world that cuts across all races, colors, ideologies and creeds. Join me in this one simple demand to the U.S. Senate and
Congress: Release the hundreds of photographs and video tapes from Abu Ghraib that have been shown to members of the Senate but remain classified. Let the American people see and hear men being tortured, children being sodomized and women being raped by their US guards and interrogators, and then decide for themselves whether these methods are consistent with a democracy.
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Here is how to say "Happy Birthday" in languages of the world.
So next time one of your friends have a birthday and speak another language you can wish them in their own language.
Wouldn’t that be fun........................... Enjoy.
| Language | How to say "Happy Birthday" |
| Afrikaans | Veels geluk met jou verjaarsdag! |
| Albanian | Urime ditelindjen! |
| Alsatian | Gueter geburtsdaa! |
| Amharic | Melkam lidet! |
| Arabic | Eid milaad saeed! or Kul sana wa inta/i tayeb/a! (masculine/feminine) |
| Armenian | Taredartzet shnorhavor! or Tsenund shnorhavor! |
| Assyrian | Eida D’moladukh Hawee Brikha! |
| Austrian-Viennese | Ois guade winsch i dia zum Gbuadsdog! |
| Aymara (Bolivia) | Suma Urupnaya Cchuru Uromankja! |
| Azerbaijani | Ad gununuz mubarek! -- for people older than you Ad gunun mubarek! -- for people younger than you |
| Basque | Zorionak! |
| Belauan-Micronesian | Ungil el cherellem! |
| Bengali (Bangladesh/India) | Shuvo Jonmodin! |
| Bicol (Philippines) | Maogmang Pagkamundag! |
| Bislama (Vanuatu) | Hapi betde! or Yumi selebretem de blong bon blong yu! |
| Brazil | ParabŽns a voc! ParabŽns a voc, nesta data querida muitas felicidades e muitos anos de vida. |
| Breton | Deiz-ha-bloaz laouen deoc’h! |
| Bulgarian | Chestit Rojden Den! |
| Cambodian | Som owie nek mein aryouk yrinyu! |
| Catalan | Per molts anys! or Bon aniversari! or Moltes Felicitats! |
| Chamorro | Biba Kumplianos! |
| Chinese-Cantonese | Sun Yat Fai Lok! |
| Chinese Fuzhou | San Ni Kuai Lo! |
| Chiness-Hakka | Sang Ngit Fai Lok! |
| Chinese-Mandarin | qu ni sheng er kuai le |
| Chinese-Shanghaiese | San ruit kua lok! |
| Chinese-Tiociu | Se Jit khuai lak! |
| Chronia Polla | NA ZHSHS |
| Croatian | Sretan Rodendan! |
| Czech | Vsechno nejlepsi k Tvym narozeninam!! |
| Danish | Tillykke med fodselsdagen! |
| Dutch-Antwerps | Ne gelukkege verjoardach! |
| Dutch-Bilzers | Ne geleukkege verjoardoag! |
| Dutch-Drents | Fellisiteert! |
| Dutch-Flemish | Gelukkige verjaardag! or Prettige verjaardag! |
| Dutch-Frisian | Fan herte lokwinske! |
| Dutch-Limburgs | Proficiat! or Perfisia! |
| Dutch-Spouwers | Ne geleukkege verjeurdoag! |
| Dutch-Twents | Gefeliciteard met oen’n verjoardag! |
| Dutch | Hartelijk gefeliciteerd! or Van harte gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag! |
| English | Happy Birthday! |
| Esperanto | Felichan Naskightagon! |
| Estonian | Palju onne sunnipaevaks! |
| Euskera | Zorionak zure urtebetetze egunean! |
| Faroes ( Faroe island ) | Tillukku vid fodingardegnum! |
| Farsi | Tavalodet Mobarak! |
| Finnish | Hyvaa syntymapaivaa! |
| French (Canada) | Bonne Fete! |
| French | Joyeux Anniversaire! |
| Frisian | Lokkiche jierdei! |
| Gaelic (Irish) | L‡ breithe mhaith agat! |
| Gaelic (Scottish) | Co` latha breith sona dhuibh! |
| Galician (Spain) | Ledicia no teu cumpreanos! |
| Georgian | Gilotcav dabadebis dges! |
| German-Badisch | Allis Guedi zu dim Fescht! |
| German-Bavarian | Ois Guade zu Deim Geburdstog! |
| German-Berlinisch | Allet Jute ooch zum Jeburtstach! or Ick wuensch da allet Jute zum Jeburtstach! |
| German-Bernese | Es Muentschi zum Geburri! |
| German-Camelottisch | Ewllews Gewtew zewm Gewbewrtstewg. Mew! |
| German-Frankonian | Allmecht! Iich wuensch Dir aan guuadn Gebuardsdooch! |
| German-Lichtenstein | Haerzliche Glueckwuensche zum Geburtstag! |
| German-Moselfraenkisch | Haezzlische Glickwunsch zem Gebordsdach! |
| German-Plattdeutsch | Ick wuensch Di allns Gode ton Geburtsdach! |
| German-Rhoihessisch | Ich gratelier Dir aach zum Geburtstag! |
| German-Ruhr | Allet Gute zum Gebuatstach! |
| German-Saarlaendisch | Alles Gudde for dei Gebordsdaach! |
| German-Saechsisch | Herzlischen Gliggwunsch zum Geburdsdaach! |
| German-Schwaebisch | Aelles Guade zom Gebordzdag! |
| German-Wienerisch | Ois Guade zum Geburdsdog! |
| German | Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! |
| Greek | Eytyxismena Genethlia! or Chronia Pola! |
| Greenlandic | Inuuinni pilluarit! |
| Gronings (Netherlands) | Fielsteerd mit joen verjoardag! |
| Gujarati (India) | Janma Divas Mubarak! |
| Gujrati (Pakistan) | Saal Mubarak! |
| Guarani (Paraguay Indian)] | Vy-Apave Nde Arambotyre! |
| Hawaiian | Hau`oli la hanau! |
| Hebrew | Yom Huledet Same’ach! |
| Hiligaynon (Philippines) | Masadya gid nga adlaw sa imo pagkatawo! |
| Hindi (India) | Janam Din ki badhai! or Janam Din ki shubkamnaayein! |
| Hungarian | Boldog szuletesnapot! or Isten eltessen! |
| Icelandic | Til hamingju med afmaelisdaginn! |
| Indonesian | Selamat Ulang Tahun! |
| Irish-gaelic | La-breithe mhaith agat! or Co` latha breith sona dhut! Or Breithla Shona Dhuit! |
| Italian | Buon Compleanno! |
| Italian (Piedmont) | Bun Cumpleani! |
| Italian (Romagna) | At faz tent avguri ad bon cumplean! |
| Japanese | Otanjou-bi Omedetou Gozaimasu! |
| Javaans-Indonesia | Slamet Ulang Taunmoe! |
| Jerriais | Bouon Anniversaithe! |
| Kannada (India) | Huttida Habba Subashayagalu! |
| Kapangpangan (Philippines) | Mayap a Kebaitan |
| Kashmiri (India) | Voharvod Mubarak Chuy! |
| Kazakh (Kazakstan) | Tughan kuninmen! |
| Klingon | Quchjaj qoSlIj! |
| Korean | Saeng il chuk ha ham ni da! |
| Kurdish | Rojbun a te piroz be! |
| Kyrgyz | Tulgan kunum menen! |
| Latin | Fortuna dies natalis! |
| Latvian | Daudz laimes dzimsanas diena! |
| Lithuanian | Sveikinu su gimtadieniu! or Geriausi linkejimaigimtadienio progal |
| Luganda | Nkwagaliza amazalibwa go amalungi! |
| Luxembourgeois | Vill Gleck fir daei Geburtsdaag! |
| Macedonian | Sreken roden den! |
| Malayalam (India) | Pirannal Aasamsakal! or Janmadinasamsakal! |
| Malaysian | Selamat Hari Jadi! |
| Maltese | Nifrahlek ghal gheluq sninek! |
| Maori | Kia huritau ki a koe! |
| Marathi (India) | Wadhdiwasachya Shubhechha! |
| Mauritian Kreol | mo swet u en bonlaniverser! |
| Mbula (Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea) | Leleng ambai pa mbeng ku taipet i! |
| Mongolian | Torson odriin mend hurgee! |
| Navajo | bil hoozho bi’dizhchi-neeji’ ’aneilkaah! |
| Niederdeutsch (North Germany) | Ick gratuleer di scheun! |
| Nepali | Janma dhin ko Subha kamana! |
| Norwegian | Gratulerer med dagen! |
| Oriya (India) | Janmadina Abhinandan! |
| Papiamento (lower Dutch Antilles) | Masha Pabien I hopi aña mas! |
| Pashto (Afganistan) | Padayish rawaz day unbaraksha! |
| Persian | Tavalodet Mobarak! |
| Pinoy (Philippines) | Maligayang kaarawan sa iyo! |
| Polish | Wszystkiego Najlepszego! or Wszystkiego najlepszego zokazji urodzin! wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji urodzin |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | Parabens pelo seu aniversario! or Parabenspara voce! or Parabens e muitas felicidades! |
| Portuguese | Feliz Aniversario! or Parabens! |
| Punjabi (India) | Janam din diyan wadhayian! |
| Rajasthani (India) | Janam ghaanth ri badhai, khoob jeeyo! |
| Romanian | La Multi Ani! |
| Rosarino Basico (Argentina) | Feneligiz Cunumplegeanagonos! |
| Russian | S dniom razhdjenia! or Pazdravliayu s dniom razhdjenia! |
| Sami/Lappish | Lihkos Riegadanbeaivvis! |
| Samoan | Manuia lou aso fanau! |
| Sanskrit (India) | Ravihi janmadinam aacharati! |
| Sardinian (Italy) | Achent’annos! Achent’annos! |
| Schwyzerduetsch (Swiss German) | Vill Glück zum Geburri! |
| Serbian | Srecan Rodjendan! |
| Slovak | Vsetko najlepsie k narodeninam! |
| Slovene | Vse najboljse za rojstni dan! |
| Sotho | Masego motsatsing la psalo! |
| Spanish | Feliz Cumplea–os! |
| Sri Lankan | Suba Upan dinayak vewa! |
| Sundanese | Wilujeng Tepang Taun! |
| Surinamese | Mi fresteri ju! |
| Swahili | Hongera! or Heri ya Siku kuu! |
| Swedish | Grattis pŒ fšdelsedagen |
| Syriac | Tahnyotho or brigo! |
| Tagalog (Philippines) | Maligayang Bati Sa Iyong Kaarawan! |
| Taiwanese | San leaz quiet lo! |
| Tamil (India) | Piranda naal vaazhthukkal! |
| Telugu (India) | Janmadina subha kankshalu! |
| Telugu | Puttina Roju Shubakanksalu! |
| Thai | Suk San Wan Keut! |
| Tibetan | Droonkher Tashi Delek! |
| Tulu(Karnataka - India) | Putudina dina saukhya! |
| Turkish | Dogum gunun kutlu olsun! |
| Ukrainian | Mnohiya lita! or Z dnem narodjennia! |
| Urdu (India) | Janam Din Mubarak |
| Urdu (Pakistan) | Saalgirah Mubarak! |
| Vietnamese | Chuc Mung Sinh Nhat! |
| Visayan (Philippines) | Malipayong adlaw nga natawhan! |
| Welsh | Penblwydd Hapus i Chi! |
| Xhosa (South Afican) | Imini emandi kuwe! |
| Yiddish | A Freilekhn Gebortstog! |
| Yoruba (Nigeria) | Eku Ojobi! |
| Zulu (South Afican) | Ilanga elimndandi kuwe! |
The god Ashur gave his name to the city Ashur, and then to the whole of Assyria. There, thearliest of the nation's kings had their residences, until exposure to the heat of the desert and the attacks of the neighboring Babylonians led Ashur's rulers to build a secondary capital in cooler Nineveh, named after Nina, the Ishtar of Assyria.
They took their common language and their arts from Sumeria, but later modified them until they were almost indistinguishable from the language and arts of Babylonia. However, unlike the Babylonians, from beginning to end the Assyrians were a race of warriors, more cruel and more brutal than any other race. Their history is one of kings and slaves, wars and conquests, bloody victories and sudden defeat.Early Empires and Dependency
About BCE 1810 an Assyrian king, Shamshi-Adad I (reigned 1813-1780 BC), succeeded in extending the territory of Assyria from the Zagros Mountains to the Mediterranean Sea. Shamshi-Adad may have been the first ruler to establish a centrally organized empire in the ancient Middle East. He divided his kingdom into districts under specially appointed administrators and councils, instituted a system of couriers, and took a census of the population at regular intervals. This first Assyrian Empire did not last long, however; Shamshi-Adad’s son, Ishme-Dagan I, (reigned circa BCE 1780-1760),was defeated about BCE 1760 by the Babylonian king Hammurabi, and Assyria became part of the Babylonian Empire.
The Babylonian Empire was also short-lived. The Kassites, a non-Semitic people, invaded Babylonia in the 16th century BCE and seized political power. Another non-Semitic mountain people, the Hurrians, infiltrated practically all northern Mesopotamia and even reached Palestine to the west. Close behind the Hurrians, and to some extent intermingling with them, came an Indo-European people whose name is unknown. As a result of these migrations and wanderings, the 16th century BCE was one of turmoil in Mesopotamian history. About BCE 1500 Assyria became a dependency of Mitanni, a kingdom of imperial proportions that had extended its sway over all northern Mesopotamia. Assyria remained in subjection until early in the 14th century BCE, when the Mitanni Kingdom suffered a serious defeat at the hands of the rising empire of the Hittites to the north. Taking advantage of the ensuing confusion, the Assyrian king Ashur-uballit I (reigned BCE 1364-1328) freed Assyria from the Mitanni yoke and even annexed some of its territory.
Altar of Tukulti-Ninurta I
Beginning with the monarch Tukulti-Ninurta, Assyria began its first conquests, in this case, the conquest of Babylon. The Assyrian dream of empire began with the monarch, Tiglat-Pileser I (1115-1076), who extended Assyrian dominance to Syria and Armenia. At the time of Tiglath-Pileser's death, Assyria enjoyed a period of tranquility, which, however, did not last very long; for we find his two sons and successors, seeking offensive and defensive alliances with the Kings of Babylonia
Beginning of the Neo Assyrian Empire
From about BCE 1070 to 950, a gap of more than one hundred years presents itself in the history of Assyria. But from 950 down to the fall of Nineveh and the overthrow of the Assyrian Empire (BCE 609) the history of Assyria is very completely represented in documents. Towards BCE 970, Tiglath-pileser II was king over Assyria. In BCE 935 he was succeeded by his son, Assuhr-Dan II, and about BCE 911 by the latter's son, Adad-nirari II, who, in BCE 889, was succeeded by his son, Tukulti-Ninurta II. The last two monarchs appear to have undertaken several successful expeditions against Babylonia and the regions north of Assyria. Tukulti-Ninurta's successor was his son Asshur-Nasir-Pal (BCE 884-859), with whose accession to the throne began a long career of victory that placed Assyria at the head of the great powers of that age. He was a great conqueror, soldier, organizer, hunter, and builder, but fierce and cruel.
Ashurnasirpal II
Asshur-Nasir-Pal was succeeded by his son, Shalmaneser III, who during his reign made an expedition to the West with the object of subduing Damascus. In this memorable campaign he came into direct touch with Israel and their king Achab who happened to be one of the allies of Benhadad, King of Damascus. In describing this expedition the Assyrian monarch goes on to say that he approached Karkar, a town to the southwest of Karkemish, and the royal residence of Irhulini.
After Shalmaneser III came his son Shamshi-Adad V (BCE 824), who, in order to quell the rebellion caused by his elder son, Asshur-Danin-Pal, undertook four campaigns. He also fought and defeated the Babylonian King, Marduk-balatsuiqbi, and his powerful army. Shamshi-Adad V was succeeded by his son, Adad-Nirari III (BCE 811). This king undertook several expeditions against Media, Armenia, the land of Nairi, and the region around Lake Urmi, and subjugated all the coastlands of the West, including Tyre, Sidon, Edom, Philistia, and the "land of Omri", i.e. Israel. Adad-Nirari III also claimed sovereignty over Babylonia. In one of his inscriptions, which are unfortunately scarce and laconic, he mentions the name of his wife, Sammuramat, which is the only Assyrian or Babylonian name discovered so far having any phonetic resemblance to that of the famous legendary queen, Semiramis. The personal identity of the two queens, however, is not known. Adad-Nirari III was succeeded by Shalmaneser IV (BCE 782-772), and the latter by Asshur-Dan III (BCE 773-754). Of these three kings we know little, as no adequate inscriptions of their reigns have come down to us.
World Empire
In the year BCE 745 Tiglath-Pileser III seized the throne of Assyria, at Nineveh. For the first time in history the idea of centralization was introduced into politics; the conquered provinces were organized under an elaborate bureaucracy at the head of which was the king, each district paying a fixed tribute and providing a military contingent.
Tiglath-pileser III in Triumph
From Nimrud, about BCE 730
Two years later he died but his successor, who took the name of Shalmaneser IV, continued the policy he had begun. Shalmaneser died suddenly in Tebet BCE 722, while pressing the siege of Samaria, and the seizure of the throne by another general, Sargon, on the 12th of the month, gave the Babylonians an opportunity to revolt. The Babylonian prince Marduk-baladan, entered Babylon and was there crowned legitimate king. For twelve years he successfully resisted the Assyrians; but the failure of his allies in the west to act in concert with him, and the overthrow of the Elamites, eventually compelled him to flee to his ancestral domains in the marshes of southern Babylonia. Sargon, who meanwhile had crushed the confederacy of the northern nations, had taken (BCE 717) the Hittite stronghold of Carchemish and had annexed the future kingdom of Ecbatana, was now accepted as king by the Babylonian priests, and his claim to be the successor of Sargon of Akkad acknowledged up to the time of his murder in BCE 705.
His son and successor, Sennacherib, did not possess the military or administrative abilities of his father; and the success of his reign was not commensurate with the vanity of the ruler. He was never crowned at Babylon, which was in a perpetual state of revolt until, in BCE 691, he shocked the religious and political conscience of Asia by razing the holy city of Babylon to the ground. His campaign against Hezekiach of Judah was as much a failure as his policy in Babylonia, and in his murder by his sons on BCE 681 both Babylonians and Jews saw the judgment of heaven.
Esarhaddon, who succeeded him, was of different calibre from his father. He was commanding the army in a campaign against Ararat at the time of the murder; forty-two days later the murderers fled from Nineveh and took refuge at the court of Ararat. But the Armenian army was utterly defeated near Malatia, and at the end of the day Esarhaddon was saluted by his soldiers as king. He there upon returned to Nineveh and on the formally ascended the throne.
One of his first acts was to restore Babylon, and to re-people the city with such of the priests and the former population as had survived massacre. Then he was solemnly declared king in the temple of Bel-Merodach, which had again risen from its ruins, and Babylon became the second capital of the empire. Esarhaddon's policy was successful and Babylonia remained contentedly quiet throughout his reign.
Assur-Bani-Pal succeeded him as king of Assyria and its empire, while his brother, Samassumyukin was made viceroy of Babylonia. The arrangement was evidently intended to flatter the Babylonians by giving them once more the semblance of independence. But it failed to work. Samassumyukin became more Babylonian than his subjects. The viceroy claimed to be the successor of the monarchs whose empire had once stretched to the Mediterranean. Even the Summerian language was revived as the official tongue, and a revolt broke out which shook the Assyrian empire to its foundations. After several years of struggle, during which Egypt recovered its independence, Babylon was starved into surrender, and the rebel viceroy and his supporters were put to death.
Ashurbanipal Killing a Lion
Assyria, however, was aided by civil war in Elam itself; the country was laid waste with fire and sword, and its capital, Susa, leveled to the ground. But the long struggle left Assyria maimed and exhausted. It had been drained of both wealth and fighting population; the devastated provinces of Elam and Babylonia could yield nothing with which to supply the needs of the imperial exchequer, and it was difficult to find sufficient troops even to garrison the conquered populations. Assyria, therefore, was ill prepared to face the hordes of Scythians who now began to harass her.
Decline of the Empire
The rapid downfall of the Assyrian empire was formerly attributed to military defeat, although it was never clear how the Medes and the Babylonians alone could have accomplished this. More recent work has established that a civil war occurred, weakening the empire so that it could no longer stand up against a foreign enemy. Ashur-Bani-Pal had twin sons. Ashur-Etil-Ilani was appointed successor to the throne, but his twin brother Sin-Shar-Ishkun did not recognize him. The fight between them and their supporters forced the old king to withdraw to Harran, in BCE 632 at the latest, perhaps ruling from there over the western part of the empire until his death in BCE 627. Ashur-Etil-Ilani governed in Assyria from about BCE 633, but a general, Sin-Shum-Lisher, soon rebelled against him and proclaimed himself counter-king. Some years later Sin-Shar-Ishkun finally succeeded in obtaining the kingship. In Babylonian documents, dates can be found for all three kings. In BCE 626 the Chaldean, Nabopolassar (Nabu-apal-usur), revolted from Uruk and occupied Babylon. There were several changes in government. King Ashur-Etel-Ilani was forced to withdraw to the west, where he died (BCE 621?).
Assyrian Archer
Assyrian Warfare after Tiglath-Pileser III Reforms
Tiglath-Pileser III established the most efficient military, financial, and administrative system the world had yet seen. The army was its heart. He abolished the militia organization and built the state around a standing regular army. The principal business of the nation became war; its wealth and prosperity were sustained by booty and by supervision of trade and finance. A semimilitary bureaucracy carried out the functions of government at home and in the conquered regions, setting the first pattern of centralized imperial control over far-flung provincial territories.
Assyrian Regal Chariot With Two Horses
The bulk of the army was comprised of large masses of spearmen, slow-moving and cumbersome, but relatively more maneuverable than similar infantry formations of other peoples of the time. Their irresistible advance was the culminating phase of a typical Assyrian battle plan.
In the Assyrian Army the archers were more highly organized than their counterparts elsewhere and evidently had stronger bows, from which they fired iron-tipped arrows with deadly accuracy. They created confusion in the enemy ranks in preparation for a closely coordinated chanot and cavalry charge.
The main striking force of the Assyrian Army was the corps of horse-drawn, two-wheeled chariots. Their mission was to smash their way through the ranks of enemy infantry. Like their contemporaries, the Assyrians used chariots in simple, brute force, but employed them in larger numbers, with more determination, and in closer coordination with archers, spearmen, and cavalry.
The cavalry was the smallest element of the army, but probably the best trained and equipped. The noble horsemen fought with a combination of discipline, skill, and ingenuity not possible in the other elements of the army. Only the cavalry could be employed in the occasional maneuvers attempted in battle.
The art of fortification had been well developed in the Middle East before BCE 1000. The great walls of the large cities were almost invulnerable to the means of attack available within the limited technology of the times.
The Assyrians greatly improved the techniques of siegecraft and attack of fortifications. Accompanying their armies were siege trains and various forms of specialized equipment, including materials for building large movable wooden towers (protected from the flaming arrows of defenders by dampened leather hides) and heavy battering rams.
Assyrian Besiegers
The high degree of organization of the Assyrian Army is clearly evidenced by its ability to fight successfully over all kinds of terrain. The organizational details have not been preserved in the fragmentary records available to us, but their field armies may occasionally have approached a strength of 50,000 men. Forces of such size would have required large supply trains for desert or mountain operations, and could have functioned only with smoothly operating logistical systems.
Terror was another factor contributing greatly to Assyrian success. Their exceptional cruelty and ferocity were possibly reflections of callousness developed over centuries of defense of their homeland against savage enemies. But theirs was also a calculated policy of terror -— possibly the earliest example of organized psychological warfare. It was not unusual for them to kill every man, woman, and child in captured cities. Sometimes they would carry away entire populations into captivity. The policies and procedures of Tiglath-Pileser III were employed with vigor and ferocity by his successors and proved invaluable in maintaining security.
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| Students dancing at the Amoun School graduation. |
The Amoun School, in the Jabal Hussein area, is one of 24 community-based schools that Save the Children has been working with in the past year to ensure that displaced Iraqi children living in Jordan attend school.
More than 24,600 Iraqi children are now receiving an education in Jordan. Save the Children is supporting the Ministry of Education to ensure that, in addition to increased education access, these same children are benefiting from safe, quality learning environments and progressing to the next grade level.
The Amoun School utilizes the Jordanian curriculum; however, science and math classes are conducted in English. This year, the school had 70 Iraqi students enrolled, and the transition was not easy for the new students, according to Principal Mayada Al Natour.
"The Iraqi children suffered from violence, bullying and discrimination at school at first; but in the middle of the semester, Save the Children helped us organize an activity day at Sports City in Amman. Through games and other activities Iraqi and Jordanian students competed together, and now there is true integration of all students in the school," she said.
The sense of community was apparent on graduation day. All students, from kindergarten to eighth grade, graduated. The ceremony lasted for more than two hours, with dances (including traditional Jordanian and Iraqi dabke), songs, and prayers performed by students at all levels. Among those attending the graduation, were the students' parents, family and friends, a representative from UNHCR (which paid school fees), as well as the cultural attaché for Iraq in Jordan.
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| Students at the Amoun School graduation. |
The graduation at Amoun School represented just one of the successes the Ta'leem Kids Program was able to achieve in just one year. In addition, the program:
- Enrolled more than 1,200 Iraqi children in formal schooling.
- Enrolled 1,150 Iraq and Jordanian children in remedial classes.
- Trained more than 80 teachers and local service-provider staff in safe spaces approaches.
- Developed new emotional-support (psychosocial) and protection training materials for teachers to help them better manage classrooms and address issues of acceptance and integration of Iraqis. The training is designed to provide simple tips and approaches to better classroom management and self-esteem building strategies.
- Developed and distributed 10,000 psychosocial tips sheets for parents. The materials will be adapted for UNICEF distribution in Iraq by the UNICEF Iraq office. Save the Children will soon reprint materials due to continuing demand.
- Conducted initial research and assessment of child-centered protection needs in schools. This is a pilot study for more widespread, child-centered and needs assessment components in public schools.
- Distributed 10,000 school kits to Iraqi and Jordanian children (consisting of stationery, books, backpacks, uniforms, shoes) in hundreds of public schools across the kingdom.
- Distributed educational supplies (UNICEF "schools in a box") to an additional 46 schools.
- Developed innovative teaching strategies and classes for 32 severely wounded Iraqi children.
- Recruited a network of 65 highly qualified Iraqi volunteers to assist with outreach, kit distribution and other program development and delivery.
| تم العثور على الجثة بعد 20 ساعة من الجريمة |
كشف مصدر أمني إماراتي الأربعاء 30-7-2008 تفاصيل عن مقتل الفنانة اللبنانية سوزان تميم، وقال إن الجاني وجه إليها طعنات في وجهها ومناطق
متفرقة في جسدها، وحاول فصل الرأس عن الجسد. وأكد مصدر لـ"العريبة.نت" أنه تم العثور على الجثة بعد أكثر من 20 ساعة من ارتكاب الجريمة.
وذكر مصدر أمني آخر أن الإدارة العامة للتحريات والمباحث الجنائية بشرطة دبي سارعت بتشكيل فريق عمل لحصر المشتبه بهم وجمع المعلومات الكاملة حول تفاصيل وأبعاد الجريمة، وأن الإدارة تستجوب بعضاً من معارفها الذين تواجدوا معها في ليلة الحادث، مشيرا إلى أنه سيتم تحديد هوية الجاني خلال وقت قريب، حسب تقرير نشرته صحيفة "البيان" الإماراتية.
وكانت تميم قد غابت عن الإعلام منذ نحو عام، واستقرت في دبي.
وتعرضت الفنانة اللبنانية الراحلة منذ بداياتها لكثير من المشاكل التي أعاقت وصولها للنجومية، حيث طغت مشاكلها العائلية على أخبارها الفنية منذ تخرجها من برنامج اكتشاف المواهب الشهير "ستديو الفن" عام 1996.
وبدأت مشاكلها مع زوجها الأول علي مزنز ثم طلاقها منه، وزواجها بالمنتج عادل معتوق، ورفع دعاوى متبادلة بينها وبين الأخير الذي حصل على أحكام قضائية ضدها مما جعلها تقيم في القاهرة هربا من تنفيذها.
وقدمت سوزان مسرحية "غادة الكاميليا" لإلياس الرحباني ثم ابتعدت
عن لبنان فترة طويلة أمضتها في فرنسا وأصدرت في عام 2003 ألبومها الغنائي "ساكن" لتغادر بعدها إلى مصر وتقيم فيها.
فنانه لبنانيه ذات صوت جذاب وجميل تخرجت من برنامج ستوديو الفن عام 96
تمتاز بحضور جميل وشكل اجمل وصوت اجمل واجمل
ابتدأت حياتها الفنيه باصدار اغاني singel اي اغاني لوحدها دون البومات
مع انها ضد هذه الطريقه وهي تعتبر بأنها انظلمت بهذا الشئ وانه كان تمييز في تلك الفتره
وابتعدت فتره طويله عن الفن بسبب بعدها عن وطنها فتره طويله امضتها في باريس
بسبب ظروف خاصه رفضت الافصاح عنها مع انها تحب الصراحه التامه .. الا بالخصوصيات الحياتيه
وتقول انها اكتسبت خبره في هذه الفتره وبأن التاخير كان في صالحها وليس ضدها
وعادت من جديد في عام 2002 في البوم ساكن قلبي
وكان البوم يحتوي على جميع الالوات الغنائيه السريعه والطربيه وحقق مبيعات كبيره في الوطن العربي
ويتضمن .. ساكن قلبي - مابتلاحظ - وينه - لا انا - اطلب عينيا .... وغيرها من الاغاني
وعمدما يسألوا سوزان عن جمالها .... تجاوب .. انا لااحب ان اتهم بانني سلعه او انسانه تعرض شكلها
وانها تحترم المجال الذي دخلت فيه وبأنها حازت على ميداليه فنيه في استوديوا الفن بجداره
وانها لم تدخل عالم الفن من فراغ بل دخلته لايمانها بالموهبه التي اعطاها اياها الله
وفي الاخير نتمنى المزيد من التقدم لفنانتنا المحبوبه .... سوزان تميم
وان تسطع نجمة عالية في سماء الفن وان تسجل اسمها في سجل العمالقه
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