Collection of Internet/Collection of Internet.iso/faq/soc/lebanon_

Internet Message Format | 1994-03-24 | 99KB

Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!hookup!news.moneng.mei.com!howland.reston.ans.net!EU.net!julienas!sophia.inria.fr!pelvoux.cica.fr!huez.cica.fr!dakroub
From: [e-mail] (Alaa Dakroub)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.lebanon,soc.answers,news.answers
Subject: soc.culture.lebanon FAQ, part 1/2
Followup-To: soc.culture.lebanon
Date: 24 Mar 1994 18:21:43 GMT
Organization: Eurecom Sophia Antipolis France.
Lines: 2289
Sender: [e-mail] (Alaa Dakroub)
Approved: [e-mail]
Distribution: world
Expires: Fri, 25 Apr 1994 00:00:00 GMT
Message-ID: <2mslnn$[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Alaa Dakroub)
NNTP-Posting-Host: huez.cica.fr
Summary: This article contains a list of questions asked frequently
          by newcomers to soc.culture.lebanon; it then provides answers
          to them. Please read this before posting to the group.
          Rules of net etiquette specify that newcomers to a group
          should read the FAQ (this file) and spend some time
          reading the group before posting to it; this helps
          ensure that postings are appropriate for the type
          of discussion in the group.
          Please send all updates/additions/corrections to this
          FAQ to [e-mail] (Alaa Dakroub)
      Note Reply-to: line - automatic if you reply to this article.
          (Date of last modification: 24 Mar 1994.)
Frequency: monthly
Comments: Also available at the ftp sites eurecom.cica.fr (192.70.34.200),
      in /SCL, rama.poly.edu (128.238.10.212) in pub/scl, and
          ftp.u.washington.edu/pubilc/scl as filename "lebanon-faq/part1".
Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu soc.culture.lebanon:8811 soc.answers:1000 news.answers:16800

Archive-name: lebanon-faq/part1
Last-modified: 1994/03/24
Version: 2.3


_______________________________________________________________________________



       Many FAQs, including this one, are available on the archive site
rtfm.mit.edu in the directory pub/usenet/news.answers.
The names under which this FAQ is archived are "lebanon-faq/part1" and
"lebanon-faq/part2".

If you do not have ftp, you can request messages from rtfm by using
the local mail server.  Send mail to [e-mail]
containing the line "send usenet/news.answers/lebanon-faq" to get
this file.  Send a message containing "help" to get general
information about the mail server.

This FAQ could also be obtained via regular anonymous ftp at the sites:
                  eurecom.cica.fr (192.70.34.200) in /SCL, rama.poly.edu
                  (128.238.10.212) in pub/scl/ and ftp.u.washington.edu in
                  /pubilc/scl filenames lebanon-faq/part1 and lebanon-faq/part2.

Version:          Version 2.3
Changes since last posting:
                             The address of Beirut University College
                             (Question 4), Information about the Cedar and the
                             Society of Nature Prtection in Lebanon
                             (Question 12).

Here is a listing of questions :

1.  Can I post/receive to/from this newsgroup or other newsgroups if I don't
    have the permission or I don't have a direct access to a news server ?

2.  Are there ny rules or conventions to post into this news group?

3.  What is the value of a Lebanese pound in terms of US$, Can$, UK lb,
    etc.?

4.  What is the address and phone number of the Lebanese Embassy
    and/or Consulates in the US, Canada, France, etc....
    and how can I contact the American University of Beirut,
    How can I contact Hariri Fondation office in Washington ?

5.  How can I phone Lebanon and which carrier gives the cheapest rates?

6.  What are the airlines servicing Beirut ?

7.  Where can I find tickets for Lebanon at a good price ?

8.  What are the e-mail and telnet IP addresses for sites in Lebanon ?

9.  What are the phone numbers to call to get Lebanon news ?

10. What are the radio frequencies and broadcast times of Lebanese
    related radio programs  ?

11. What are the various Lebanese organizations and how can I contact them ?

12. What are the projects you can contribute to help rebuild Lebanon ?

13.  Are there any information about The Cedars of Lebanon and/or
     organizations that deal with this matter??

14. What are the various Lebanese magazines and newspapers ?

15. Where can I find Lebanese magazines and newspapers ?

16. What has been written by Lebanese and/or on Lebanon ?

17. Where can I find works written by Lebanese and /or on Lebanon ?

18. Are there Arabic word processors ?

19. Is there a standard Arabic alphabet representation in Latin ?

20. Are there any availble sources to learn Syriac ?

21. Where can I find Lebanese songs and music ?

22. Where can I find a Lebanese restaurant ?

23. Where can I find a Lebanese grocery store?

24. Is there a good Lebanese recipe book ?

25. Are there recipes available on the net ?

26. Is there an ftp archive site for Lebanese art works ?

27. What is the best way to deal with multiple system TVs and VCRs and
    where can I get my VCR tape converted to a format that works in Lebanon ?

28. What are the Arabic TV channels that can be received in Northern and
    central America

29. What are newborn names that could be used for Lebanese children living
    abroad that would work in both Lebanon and Western societies ?

30. I plan to go home soon and I have heard rumors that the draft
    will be re-instituted, do you have any additional information about this ?
    I was born in 1923 and I am afraid that I would be subject to the draft !!!

31. Where can I get a copy of the English translation of
    the Lebanese Constitution ?

32. Where can I get a copy of the English translation of the
    Taef Agreement ?

33. I need to ship a car/ or some merchandise to Lebanon, do you
    know of a shipping company that handles this ?

34. I suddenly developped an urge for Middle-Eastern cuisine,
    can you help me quench this horrifying thirst ?

35. Where can I find information about US State Department visa regulations
    for foreigners.

36. Where can I get the latest travel advisory for Americans wishing
    to visit Lebanon or the Middle-East ?

37. Are there available statistical and basic general information about
    Lebanon, and what are they ?

Thanks to all contributors to this FAQ, namely:
Naji Mouawad (who started the effort), Basil Hamdan (who maintained this faq
before me and and must of this faq is his work) Bassem Medawar, Samir Fahs,
Mazen Saghir,Edmond J. Abrhamian, Alex Khalil, Olivier M.J. Crepin-Leblond,
Hassan Hammoud,Mazen Mokhtar, Barre Ludvigsen, Ghassan Semaan, Elie Wardini,
Fady Harfoush,Debbie Masri, Pauline Homsi Vinson, Youssef Fawaz, Mike, Nasri,
Rached Zantout,May Nasrallah, Khalil El-Khoury, Danny Chahal, Haidar Harmamani,
Wadih Shaib,Walid Nasrallah, Kamie Kitmitto, Ibrahim Ballouz, Nadim Maluf,
Fadi Andraos, Boudi Sahyoun, Naji Rizk, Berthe Choueiry, Jamal Zemerly,
Wassim Alami, philo, George Fisher, Roger Adbel-Hay, Knut Vik|r, Walid Keirouz,
Jihad Kawkabani,Joseph Mouhanna, Ayman Kayssi, Hayssam Taha, Elie Mourad,
Jihad Daba, Salah Sadek, Chaabouni Moez, Rania Masri,Samer Faraj, Kamel Saidi and
Ala'a Dakroub (sorry if I missed anyone).

This FAQ file was compiled and edited by Alaa Dakroub.

******************************************************************************
DISCLAIMER:

This FAQ is presented with no warranties or guarantees of ANY KIND
including correctness or fitness for any particular purpose.  The
author(s) of this document have attempted to verify correctness of the
data contained herein; however, slip-ups can and do happen.  If you use
any information included in this FAQ, you do so at your own risk.
The FAQ authors cannot and have NOT used all the the services suggested
in the FAQ, nor have they checked them for accuracy.  They were all
included mostly verbatim at the suggestion of contributors to this FAQ.

You can reprint any FAQ posting of mine anywhere you want, as long as
the following conditions are met:

1. You use as recent a version of the FAQ as possible.

2. My name (as well as the "credits" section, if any, listing other
   people who have contributed) stays on it.

3. Any modifications (other than typesetting changes) you make to it
   are clearly designated as your modifications.  If you are
   significantly reformatting the information in the FAQ, then you
   don't have to explicitly show every change from the original, but
   you make clear that what you are printing is derived from my FAQ
   rather than a direct copy of it.

4. You tell people where to find updated versions of it, i.e., what
   newsgroups it appears in.

******************************************************************************
_______________________________________________________________________________

First of all, for the patriotic among you, here is a uuencoded Lebanese
flag gif file, with instructions on how to display it using xv,
all provided kindly by Naji Rizk.
A nice way to use this flag is to have it displayed in the background of
your workstation.


   Here is the procedure:

   1) Cut the file out (between Cut Here signs) so that the following line
      be the first line in the file:

      begin 400 flag.gif

      and save on your filespace as a file named say, "leb.uu".

   2) Once the file leb.uu is saved after these modifications,
      type under the unix prompt:
      uudecode leb.uu, this procedure will automatically create
      the Lebanese flag gif file "flag.gif".on your filespace.

   3) If you are using xv as a gif viewer, type: xv flag.gif &

      In order to have the flag in the background (tiled), type this:
      xv  -rmode 1 full-path-name-of-flag.gif   &
      xv  -rmode 1 full-path-name-of-flag.gif   &
                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
      If the file is in your home directory called /users/lebanese
      then the full path name is: /users/lebanese/flag.gif

___________________  Cut Here  ______________________________
begin 400 flag
M1TE&.#=AB0!S /$  ,   /___P!;(%T[!RP     B0!S   "_H2/J<OM#Z.<
MM-J+L]Z\^P^&XDB6YHFFZLJV[@O'\DS7]HWG^L[W_@\,"H?$HO&(3"J7S*;S
M"8U*I]2J]8K-:K>,@/<+#HO'Y++YC$ZKU^RV^[T>#.#TNOU^EPOP_+[?/R @
M,/=7:'A8%BBXA]CHV*>W*$CX6&G))BEYN<DI%IFY2-DY^@AJ*DJ:^A>H:+JH
M"HMX.H@::VLGYS57>]O[)LG*.A@P&<#KB^SIFMDZG/RLO"Q]#-TK?5U<C=P\
M.^CM2JW="1KH)6C,2/S-+ Z=:VSNJ:O>?CLW*1RJ&5]O?[^'#5BV?JJX!70%
M;T\X@H8..GS%T-+#B:$B(C*H3^&Z_HT/+:["-T9CKF&$6!%3A_&<1TCS .9K
MI2BFMY>YY.Q:N4H=+8J@3C)*AY,/3XHGX06M,S3IP*-NE#I5R73-TZG.HIY)
M2=485F!6KSZ-2:_JO;'$[AGM&O)@L+4D=[D5M1"MIZU<P[PCJ? +)81R$Y%[
MI=!F290ZNV&+VQ=,K;_+Z$[SEEB-8ZKL(H\92YDB8J:3*0OC9AE,YH"HP/7]
M*MAFX6G'@*[<I=8EOM2TYP" '5 OVI%_W^D1K+6V<-7_'IN->N[;2+O WPY/
M'6:8<G";&;J>^SQ[N+O_A(5.I%TX'$K5$SO7_OU2^'?I*ZUO;^D]_$?RYU^L
M;[_0>M7Y@0'MA]X?'O_5%B = XI7X!MNP5-3<UH]6%Z"$D[X!P!>6(AA !9J
MR&&&&WK8X84A9C@BAQUBB.*%MH$X(HH@DOCBAQJR^**)-5(P8Q<.Y%@!CQSX
MN "07 Q)9)%&'HEDDDHNR6233CX)99123DEEE59>B6666F[)99=>?@EFF H4
#   [

end

___________________  Cut Here  ______________________________

*******************************************************************************
1.  Can I post/receive to/from this newsgroup or other newsgroups if I don't
    have the permission or I don't have a direct access to a news server ?

    First case: you have newsreader on your machine and a conection to a local
news server just read man pages or ask and you can read and post to scl :-)
    Second case: you can read the news but you don't have the permission to
post: there is two way to do it:
    - You can send a mail to [e-mail] and your
article will be posted on scl(please notice hiphens instead of periods).
    - you can connect to remote news server that allows reading and posting
news articles such as :

        aiai.ed.ac.uk, 192.41.104.6 (posting OK)
        aiai.ed.ac.uk, 192.41.105.5 (posting OK)
        edfder1.edf.fr, 192.54.193.133 (posting OK)
        hagi.noguchi.riec.tohoku.ac.jp, 130.34.202.42 (posting OK)
        news.fu-berlin.de, 130.133.4.250 (posting OK)
        newsserver.rrzn.uni-hannover.de, 130.75.2.1 (posting OK)
        pyr.swan.ac.uk, 137.44.1.1 (posting OK)
        shakti.ncst.ernet.in, 144.16.1.1 (posting OK)

or you can use the foolwing for reading only:

        bert.eecs.uic.edu, 128.248.166.25 (read only)
        gaia.ucs.orst.edu, 128.193.2.13 (read only)
        gateway.iitb.ernet.in, 144.16.96.2 (read only)
        iti.gov.sg, 192.122.132.130 (read only)
        news.belwue.de, 129.143.2.4 (read only)
        news.nodak.edu, 134.129.107.194  (read only)
        news.ucdavis.edu, 128.120.100.1 (read only)
        news.ucdavis.edu, 128.120.101.1 (read only)
        news.ucdavis.edu, 128.120.2.150 (read only)
        news.uni-hohenheim.de, 144.41.2.4 (read only)
        nic.belwue.de, 129.143.2.4 (read only)
        raven.alaska.edu, 137.229.10.39 (read only)
        trdsvr.tradtech.co.jp, 133.130.1.1 (read only)
        wsu-cs.cs.wayne.edu, 141.217.16.41 (read only)

under Unix you have to setenv the envirement variable NNTPSERVER to the
correspondent host and after you invoke you news reader*

for example :
$ setenv NNTPSERVER bert.eecs.uic.edu
$ rn
or trn or xrn or whatever you want ....

*******************************************************************************
2.  Are there ny rules or conventions to post into this news group?

    Rules of thumb for posting on Soc.Culture.Lebanon
        Date of last revision: 02/20/94

This post proposes some rules of thumb for posting on this newsgroup,
Soc.Culture.Lebanon (scl).  The purpose of the rules is to maintain
the friendly atmosphere and to encourage quality posts.


- Use descriptive Subject headers and change the subject when replying
  if necessary.  Remember that people are not interested in a vague or
  unfocused subject.  For example, from recent posts, a Subject that reads
  "None" does not convey any useful meaning.  "Tfouh" seems like a flame,
  but is it worth reading?  A person, replies "Tfouh 3ala min? :-) Re: Tfouh."
  Now that is more interesting, it peeks the curiosity of the reader.
  "avant de partir" could've been "[French poem] avant de partir (before
  leaving)."

- Quote text from the article that you are replying you to provide context
  but keep quoted text to a minimum (that which is absolutely necessary).
  Most people prefer a short and focused message to a longer and diluted
  post.

- Avoid cross-posting to other newsgroups.  Good reasons to cross-
  post are:
    - if you are posting a periodic message (such as a FAQ)
    - if you are required by net rules to cross-post as in the case
      of newsgroup creation announcements
  There are rarely any additional good reasons to cross-post.

- Do not use abusive language in your posts.  Pretend you are addressing
  your mother. :-)

- Avoid posting messages that are not related to Lebanon or to the culture
  of the Lebanese people.  In other words, Middle East discussion belongs in
  talk.politics.mideast, soc.culture.israel, or soc.culture.palestine,
  whichever is more appropriate.  Religion discussions belong in the
  appropriate religion group (soc.religion.islam, soc.religion.christian,
  talk.religion.christian, soc.culture.jewish, talk.religion.misc, or even
  alt.religion.emacs :-)  Posts on scl should really pertain to Lebanon.

- Flaming gives a poor image of yourself, and you are likely to stay on your
  own in the garbage bin.

If you chose to ignore these rules of thumb, you're likely to find your
mailbox full with advice urging you to read this post.  I am confident
that we will manage to maintain a high level of maturity and respect in our
posts.

If you don't wish to see this message again, put it in your kill file.
If you have a bone to pick with these rules of thumb, reply to this message
BY EMAIL.

This message will repeat every week.  It is archived for anonymous ftp on
rama.poly.edu (128.238.10.212) as /pub/scl/The_Rules_Of_Thumb.


*******************************************************************************
3. What is the value of a Lebanese pound in terms of US$, Can$, UK lb,
   etc.?

  It in a steady state since several mounthes, and it's gaining slowly
   Typically, a good way to keep abreast of the 'latest' figures is to:

 - Look at the Wall Street Journal

 - Look at Al-Hayat News paper (see address in Question 13)

 - Subscribe to Leb-Net ([e-mail]), which
   reports the value sometimes.

*******************************************************************************

4.  What is the address and phone number of the Lebanese Embassy
    and/or Consulates in the US, Canada, France, etc....
    and how can I contact the American University of Beirut,
    How can I contact the Beirut University College,
    How can I contact Hariri Fondation office in Washington ?


  For Canada:

Embassy of Lebanon
640 Lyon St.
Ottawa, Ontario
              K1S 3Z5
[phone]

Consulate of Lebanon
40 Cote St. Catherine
Montreal, Quebec

[phone]

  For the USA:

  Washington DC Embassy:

Embassy of Lebanon
2560 28th Street NW
Washington D.C.  20008

Phone: [phone]



Consulates:

New York

Consulate General of Lebanon
9 East 76th St.
NY, NY

Phone: [phone]

Detroit

Consulate General of Lebanon
1959 E. Jefferson
Suite 4A
Detroit, Michigan 48207

Phone: [phone]

Los Angeles

Consulate General of Lebanon
7060 Hollywood Boulevard, Suite 510
Hollywood, CA 90028

Phone: [phone]

  For the  United Kingdom:

Lebanese Councilor Section
15 Palace Garden Mews,
London W8 4QQ.

England UK

Phone: [phone]

  For Germany:

 BOTSCHAFT DES LIBANON
 RHEINALLEE 27
 53173 BONN
 TEL. [phone]

For France:

AMBASSADE DU LIBAN

42 rue Copernic            Tel: [phone]
75016 Paris            Fax: [phone]

Consulat du LIBAN (Paris)

47 rue Dumont d'Urville
75016 Paris            Tel: [phone]


Consulat General du Liban (Marseille)

424 rue Paradis
13008 Marseille            Tel: +33   91 71 50 60

Here are the AUB NY office numbers and the Beirut AUB number:

The numbers  for the NY office are:

  Phone: [phone]
  Fax  : [phone]
You can now fax directly to Beirut, via a NY number:
     [phone]

The switch board numbers in Beirut are:

  [phone]
  [phone]
  [phone]

Here is the address of the Beirut University College :

BEIRUT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
P.O.BOX 13-5053,BEIRUT LEBANON


Here it the Hariri Foundation Address:
Hariri Foundation
1020 19th St., NW
Suite 320
Washington, DC 20036

Fax:  [phone]


*******************************************************************************


5. How can I phone Lebanon and which carrier gives the cheapest rates ?

     Using the *local* Lebanon number 04-961345 as example, you dial:

            011 961 4 961345   (to use AT&T)
     10 222 011 961 4 961345   (to use MCI)
     10 333 011 961 4 961345   (to use SPRINT)

 Note how the Metn area code 04 has been used *without* the leading
zero. These calls do not require an operator.

 Calls have been placed to beirut (01), & metn (04) without major
difficulty.

  MCI has the lowest rate, if you do the following.

    1- register for the $3 dollars a month international calling
    program. This will give you 15% discount on your calls if they were
    placed within the package specified time intervals.

    2- You have up to two international number to register under
    the family and friend program. So do register your Lebanon number
    under family and friends, and you will get 20% discount on these
    numbers when called.
    Total saving is 35% on their already cheapest Rate.

    Rates to Lebanon are $1.06 per minute all day saturday.

    Recently (Feb 94) the following rate for international calling program
    was mentioned:

    $1.06/minute  any time from Monday morning till Friday evening, i.e.
    weekdays
    $0.70/minute  any time from Friday evening till Monday morning,
    i.e. week-end

Telephone Area codes in Lebanon:

1 Beirut
4 Matn
5 Al-shouf
6 The North
7 the South
8 Al-biqqaa
9 Keserwan

For France :
you have to Dial the 19 to get the international tone, lebanon's code,
the area code and the customer number. To call the same number as above you
will have to dial :

19 961 4 961345

the rates are as follows (time is French time +1 GMT):

Day      00:00  08:00                  21:30       00:00
--------------------------------------------------------
Mon-Sat  |xxxxxxxx|**********************|xxxxxxxxxxx|
--------------------------------------------------------
Sun &    |xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx|
holidays |
--------------------------------------------------------

* : normal rate : 17.51 FF/mn
x : reduced rate: 12.89 FF/mn

Manuel rate : 21.30 FF/mn

*******************************************************************************

6. What are the airlines servicing Beirut ?

  Most European and Arab airlines are now flying to Lebanon.

  *Some* are: MEA(obviously), Air-France, Swissair,
     Austrian Airways, Alitalia, Sabena, Alia, Egypt Air.

  Recently the State Department banned MEA from operating from
  its NY offices, and travel from the US with MEA has become
  very difficult.  Here is a related UPI article:

  Subject: Lebanese aircarrier chief urges lifting U.S. embargo
  Date: Mon, 24 May 93 13:17:16 PDT

BEIRUT, Lebanon (UPI) -- The president of the Lebanese national air
carrier, Middle East Airlines, said Monday that a U.S. order to suspend
MEA activities in the United States has left tens of thousands of
Lebanese stranded there and caused millions of dollars in losses.
MEA President Abdel Hamid Fakhoury called on the U.S. Administration
to exempt his company from a U.S. embargo imposed on Lebanon following
the hijacking of a TWA airliner in 1985.
Accordingly, MEA flights to New York and back to Beirut were
suspended while all other carriers were prevented from selling tickets
from its U.S. offices for destinations in Lebanon.
Fakhoury said MEA abided by the embargo but its U.S. offices
``continued to issue tickets, with the knowlegde of the U.S. officials,
placing either Damascus or Cyprus as destination countries.''
``But we were surprised last month of a new U.S. order to cease
immediately all commercial activities, which left tens of thousands of
Lebanese trapped there and inflicting losses estimated at $15 million,''
Fakhoury said.
The new order was apparently in retaliation to a decision by the
Lebanese Military Court on April stating that the 1983 bombing of the U.
S. Embassy in Beirut was covered by a general amnesty law.
The Lebanese Parliament approved the amnesty law as part of a
national reconciliation drive to end the Lebanese civil war.
The U.S. expressed dissatisfaction with the Military Court decision
and accused MEA of violating the embargo imposed during the
administration of President Ronald Reagan.
A month later, the Lebanese Supreme Court overruled the Military
Court decision concerning the U.S. Embassy bombing in which at least six
people were accused of involvement.
A suicide bomber drove through the gate of the U.S. Embassy in the
Muslim sector of Beirut on April 1983, killing 63 people and wounding
123 others.
activities in the U.S. as peace and security were restored in the
country.
He said contacts with U.S. officials have so far failed to alter the
order and called for launching a campaign ``to save the company and
allow the Lebanese residents in the U.S. to visit their homeland.''


The following is a summary of an article which appeared
in Middle East International (MEI - No. 450, p. 9-10);

The background is that Lebanese investigators had
recently identified 15 suspects in the 1991 truck
bombing of the US embassy in Beirut, and the US
government was anxious to see them prosecuted.
However, on April 24, Beirut's military court ruled
that the suspects were included in the general amnesty
covering "political" war crimes approved by the
Lebanese parliament in 1991.  The US was incensed that
the court's ruling would render them immune from
prosecution, and warned Lebanese leaders that the
prospect of normalizing relations with the US, which
seemed likely following Secretary of State
Christopher's March visit to Beirut, were no longer
realistic.

The impact on travel stems from the fact that Middle
East Airlines (MEA), which had hoped that it for the way it had
issued tickets to Beirut (actually entered on tth
connecting flights to or from Europe.  Although
technically a violation of the US travel ban, this
subterfuge had been used without objection for many
years.  Suddenly, MEA was told to stop selling tickets
or doing any other business, and warned that it was
subject to fines of $1000 per day for the entire period
during which it had sold such tickets.  The Beirut
government is having a second look at the amnesty law,
and may find a way out of the difficulty, but until it
does so, it may be impossible to get tickets to Beirut
in the US, and MEA is threatened with millions of
dollars of fines, an amount which MEI characterized as
"potentially crippling".

The Lebanese Supreme Court has already reversed the earlier ruling
making the suspects once again not covered by the General Amnesty law
but the US has yet to relax its position with regard to MEA operations
in the United States.

*******************************************************************************

7. Where can I find tickets for Lebanon at a good price ?

Travel Agency        Number(s)         Contact person(s),
     Name                                  location,
 (if available)                         and/or comments
                                          (if supplied)
_______________________________________________________________________________

Admiral :      [phone]     (located in Marietta GA)
                                  (ask for Hassan Ramadan)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All Travel:    [phone]     (ask for Matthew)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atlantis :     [phone] TEL  141 East 44th Street  #702
               [phone] FAX  NYC, NY 10017
               [phone]     (Alitalia and British Airways)
                                  ($ 1100 round trip ticket from
                                   San Francisco to Beirut bought
                                   in Christmas 92/93).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blue Mediterranean
Travel :       [phone]     (deals mainly with Alitalia,
                                   recommended for its good prices).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Char Tours:    [phone]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corporate :    [phone]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Farra Travel:  [phone]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Golden Arch:   [phone]     (may be out of business ?)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Haddad Travel: [phone]     (experienced but beware)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Int'l Travel & [phone]     (ask for Doha Gabro ?)
Trade, Inc. :                     (Example of price quoted for
                                   Dec '92 round trip
                                             $ 880
                                   Travel from:
                                   Washington, DC - Beirut
                                   United: Wash <-> London,
                                   MEA: London <-> Beirut)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lotus :        [phone]     (located in Los Angeles area)
                                  (deals mostly with ALIA, the
                                   Royal Jordanian Airlines, can get
                                   relatively good prices if you are willing
                                   to endure traveling on ALIA)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mill-Run Tours:[phone]     (Ask for Jean Zodo.  She's lebanese,
                                   and she has been very helpful).
                                   They are located in Chicago, IL.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oxford Travel &                   (ask for Sami Silfani)
Tours :        [phone] TEL (located in the Atlanta area)
               [phone] FAX (Sami was quite informed and
                                   worked hard to get the
                                   cheapest fare possible.
                   Strongly recommended by myself (Basil).
                   Example of a fare: $ 1080 U.S., round trip
                   on Air France from Cleveland,
                   travel date: April 13, 1993).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sharif Travel: [phone]     (could be the same as the reference
                                   that shows up later as Moursi Sharif
                                   - other reference has an 800 number -
                                   Recommended as super nice and cheap)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunship :      [phone]     (deals mainly with British Airways)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Travel All(??):[phone]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Travel Corner: [phone]     (from outside Atlanta)
or             [phone]     (Atlanta)
or             [phone]     (Atlanta)
                                  (Ask for Lina Makhlouf, gets the
                                   prize as the most recommended
                                   travel agent)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Travel Nework: [phone] TEL  1581 Route 23 South
               [phone] FAX  Waynes, NJ 07470
                                  (Ask for Ms. Peggy Healy)
                                  (tell her Tommy's sister recommended!)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vista Int'l :  [phone]     (located in West Virginia ??)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
World Express Travel:             (ask for Annie - she is from Lebanon).
               [phone] TEL (located in Houston, Texas)
               [phone] TEL
               [phone] FAX
_______________________________________________________________________________
No name given
for travel agency:                (ask for Garbiz Askanian)
               [phone]     (gave the best deal to someone)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No name given
for travel agency:
               [phone]     (ask for Malek Haddad)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No name given
for travel agency:
               [phone]     (ask for Hala)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No name given
for travel agency:
               [phone]     (ask for Marwan or Maha)
                                  (located in the Washington DC area)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No name given
for travel agency:
               [phone] TEL (ask for Pierre or Nathalie)
               [phone] FAX (located in Montreal-Canada)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No name given
for travel agency:
               [phone]     (ask for Moursi Sharif)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No name given
for travel agency:
               [phone]     (ask for Ali Srour)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No name given
for travel agency:
               [phone]     (located in Florida)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No name given
for travel agency:
               [phone]
_______________________________________________________________________________
Negative Recommendations
_______________________________________________________________________________

D'International:                    (located in West Roxbury, Ma.)
                                     Travel agent is a Lebanese person.
                                     She booked flight on non-existing
                                     flight from Paris to Boston.
                                     The traveler had to pay a $ 100.00
                                     penaly, and agent did not reimburse him
                                     even though she had made the mistake.
                                     Traveler also found out she had done
                                     the same thing with several other people.
_______________________________________________________________________________

for 800 number directory call 1 [phone]

In France the following Travel Agency has been recommended as giving
good prices for travel to Lebanon:

Nouvelle Frontiere  with prices ranging from 3000 to 3500 F.F., round
trip, Paris-Beirut for Summer of '93 travel.  No phone number was given,
it is assumed that the agency is listed in the phone directory.
(I was not able to get the phone number of this agency since the directory
says that there is a nouvelle frontiere but their numbers are on the red list)
*******************************************************************************

8. What are the e-mail and telnet IP addresses for sites in Lebanon ?

  As far as anyone can tell, none accessible to the public so far. If such
is not the case, let us know.  There is a service, however,
similar to CompuServe that is available for a fee.

  To my knowledge,the closest that comes to international computer
communications is LibanPac, that is modeled on the French TransPac
and that regularly transfers data between Ashrafiyeh and France through
the submarine cable.

AUB has some MCI mail boxes but access is restricted.
This is what Nabil Bukhalid, Manager of Personal Computer Support Unit at
AUB says about it in a recent communication:

    AUB has a restricted TYMNET link and an MCI mailbox. The
    PC Support Unit at AUB is negotiating the implementation
    of an EARN node at AUB and we are in the process of
    testing an X.5 gateway to EARN via a C O. concentrator.
    Also AUB has applied to the NCI for an Internet address.

    A TCP/IP backbone network was planned and its
    implementation was scheduled for the last quarter of
    1991.  The project was freezed after the blasting of
    College Hall, the upper campus cabling ducts are badly
    damaged, and we are facing some budget problems.

    For the time being I have the permission to use the MCI
    mailbox for urgent correspondence..


There are efforts to link Lebanon by an X25 network, which would give
email access through France.  Here are some of the details:

AUB now has its own IP numbers. AUB is not connected yet to the Internet.
However, it will be very soon.
Through the X.25 network in Lebanon, one *can* access CompuServe, MCImail,
AT&Tmail and possibly Internet (that's how AUB is gaining access).

Connection cost to the Lebanese X25 network: 600$
Monthly fee for the Lebanese X25 network and the server in France: 50$
The connection to France will be used until Internet will be available
in Lebanon.
Each 1024 characters to the states cost 2.1 F.F (around $0.39)
plus around 500 Lebanese Pounds for X25.
But no telnet or ftp can be done.
However the subscription offers you a 10,000 PC and Macintosh programs to
download. They are updated on a daily baisis.
There are Forums and debates in French. You can also access the NEWS
of the INTERNET.
You will have an Easy Link, Mercury Link, X400 , Telex address as well
as the usenet one.
Also you can send faxes through the net....All in one subscription.
It seems that the costs for now are rather expensive, unless they are
borne by a business or a corporation.

*******************************************************************************

9. What are the phone numbers to call to get Lebanon news ?

  There is a mailing list called Leb-Net that sends digests to subscribers
every two days on the average. It is usually quite thorough.
  To subscribe, send a short request to:

         [e-mail]

*******************************************************************************


10. What are the radio frequencies and broadcast times of Lebanese
    related radio programs  ?

  This information is extracted from Passport to World Band Radio,
L. Magne (Ed.), IBS, 1992, ISBN 0-914941-27-5:

  All times are in GMT, frequencies are in KHz.

Voice of Lebanon, Beirut-Ashrafiyah, Phalange, 8KW, English but mostly Arabic
broadcast.

0900-0915       6550
1315-1330       6550
1815-1830       6550

King of Hope, Marjayou^n, Mideast, 12 KW, English and Arabic broadcast.
0700-1100       6280 (Mideast), 11530 (Europe)
1400-1700       6280 (Mideast), 11530 (Europe)

  Neither one of the stations listed above were easily received in NY with a
portable SW radio and an indoor antena.  The book doesn't list the government
radio station which used to broadcast in the 11KHz-12KHz range from Amshit.
The Amshit broadcast could not be received either.

According to the 1993 edition of World Radio and TV Handbook (WRTH), there are
a multitude of radio stations in Lebanon, transmitting on longwave, medium wave
and FM. They apparently represent every shade of politics, religion and
finance. ranging from the government RADIO LEBANON through SAOUT AL SHAB (in
Rmayleh, near Sidon - I new it for it's sugar cane and lettuce!) to RADIO
DUTCHBATT (UN Forces). WRTH notes: "There are dozens of AM and almost 150 FM
statons operating in Lebanon. Many of these are unliciensed , therefore
available details are incomplete, and many stations change frequencies often."

For listeners abroad there are 3 possible stations that may be received
depending on propagation conditions. You might want to consult
rec.radio.shortwave or rec.radio.broadcasting for postings on listening
conditions and tips on equipment, antennas and help in finding Lebanon on the
dial.

The 3 stations transmitting regularly on shortwave are:

6280  kHz  King of Hope, south Lebanon, 0500 - 2200 UTC
6550  kHz  Radio Voice of Lebanon, 24 hours
11530 kHz  Wings of Hope, south Lebanon, 0500 - 2200 UTC

Only the 6550 transmission is regularly audible in northern Europe.

The government-run RADIO LEBANON does not appear to have a shortwave service
at present.

The Voice of Lebanon has an address at PObox 165271 Ashrafieh, Beirut,
vox [phone] tix VDL 23203 LE. General manager; Simon El-Khazen.

The address of King of Hope is PObox 3379 Limassol, Cyprus (High Adventure
Missionaries, Box 7466, Van Nuys, CA 91409), which is also the address of Wings
of Hope.

The WRTH, ISBN 0-8230-5924-3, also contains useful information about radio
receivers, antennas, radio dealers, etc.

For France:

People who are living in Paris can receive the broadcast
of "Radio Orient" on FM 94.3 MHz, Radio Orient provides News and cultural
programs from Lebanon and the Arab world in general. They provide headline
news each hour and detailed news at 7:00, 8:00 12:00 18:00 19:30 and 23:00
(Paris Time i.e +2 GMT). It is received in Lebanon as well in Syrie and Jordan,
and in some Europeen countries via cable(?). It can be also received by calling
[phone], it's useful in some french cities where RO broadcasting
does not reach.

North America:
Every night you can listen to Monte Carlo.  It is transmitted by radio Canada.
The program is only 15 minutes long (PanoRama News).  You can listen to it
every night at 10 pm central time.  These are two approximate frequencies:

                      Wave Length: 49 m OR 60 m
                      Frequency  : 6 MHz

                      Wave Length: 31 m
                      Frequency  : 10 MHz

Eygept and Jordan stations transmit at frequencies close from the second one
above.  Their transmition is not very clear and they transmit at around 11-12
midnight.

*******************************************************************************

11. What are the various Lebanese organizations and how can I contact
them.

American Task Force for Lebanon
2250 M St., N.W., Suite 305
Washington, DC 20037
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

  This organisation publishes a monthly newsletter called "Outlook",
with Tanya Rahal (Exec. Ed.), and Deeb Keamy (Managing Ed.)

**
There is a centre in Oxford. It is called the centre for lebanese studies.

Address: 59 observatory street
     Oxford.

Phone:  [phone]
*******************************************************************************

12. What are the projects you can contribute to help rebuild Lebanon ?

  There is a non-profit organization for Lebanese Academics and Professionals
that is working on development projects between Lebanon and North America.
It is called ALPA (Association of Lebanese Professionals and Academics)
to join or contact them, send e-mail to:

          [e-mail]
or
          [e-mail]

*******************************************************************************

13.  Are there any information about The Cedars of Lebanon and/or
     organizations that deal with this matter??

     The following is a Report issed by the SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF
NATURE IN LEBANON, and posted by Kamel saidi on SCL, for addresses
please read the end of the article.



     Here is the preliminary report on the Cedars of Lebanon that
 was prepared by the SPNL.  I hope it helps some of you and I encourage
 anybody who is interested in joining SPNL to do so.  If you would like
 more information about SPNL, I will be more than happy to send you
 a full brochure about them.



                 CEDARS OF LEBANON
                  (Cedrus Libani)

                PRELIMINARY REPORT PREPARED BY SPNL
         (SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATURE IN LEBANON)
                   February 1994

 A.  GENERAL

     Cedrus Libani is a native of Lebanon, hence the name.  It also
 occurs in Cyprus and Certain areas of Asia Minor.  It is a tall
 evergreen tree having short dark needle-like leaves and highly prized
 fragrant hard wood.

     Cedrus Libani has been known to survive for over 3000 years
 and some of the existing Cedars of Lebanon are over 2000 years old.
 However, the great demand for its famous wood since ancient times has
 largely denuded most of the natural Cedar forests in Lebanon and the
 surrounding area.

     King Solomon is said to have imported the fabled cedarwood
 from Lebanon in biblical times to be used in the building of the
 temple in jerusalem.  So have the Egyptians and Phoenicians before
 him, as well as the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders and Ottomans
 in more recent times.

     During the first world war, the Turks decimated Lebanese
 forests, including a good part of the remaining cedars, to provide
 fuel for their railways in the area.  Further damage took place during
 the chaos of the civil strife in Lebanon between 1975 and 1991.

     However, the present peace in Lebanon may cause an even
 greater danger than the war to the remaining cedars of lebanon.  These
 dangers come from the following sources:

     a-    Atmospheric pollution caused by the coastal cement
         plants in Chekka (which have been expanding their
         production to help the reconstruction efforts after
         the war), as well as other industrial air pollution.
         Although the Chekka cement plants have now been
         required to install anti-pollution equipment, more
         stringent regulations against air pollution should be
         enforced.
     b-    An insect pest that has hit many of the cedars during
         the last few years, specially the Bsharri cedars.
         This requires further study and control.
     c-    Lack of proper protection and the consequent trampling
         and abuse caused by goats and visitors to cedar
         forests.  The present peace has greatly increased the
         number of tourists, both local and foreign to the
         cedars, who are now able to venture to areas that were
         not secure during the war.  This endangers the
         ecological balance in areas where cedars occur.


 B.  OCCURRENCE

     Despite the foregoing ravages, and the ravages of the past 16
 years of chaos in Lebanon, Cedrus Libani still occurs in several
 ranges of the western slopes of Mount Lebanon between 1400 and 2000
 meters above sea level.  Some of these forests have been relatively
 well preserved while others, unfortunately, are still being abused and
 are in danger of further decimation.

     The areas in which the remaining cedar forests of Lebanon
 occur are the following:

 1-  Chouf Mountains

     a-    Barouk Forest

         This is probably one of the better preserved cedar
         forests in the area and occurs on the western slopes
         of the Barouk mountains.  It covers an area of around
         100 hectares, with several thousand ancient trees
         still standing.

     b-    Ain Zhalta Forest

         Also in the Chouf mountains, this forest covers around
         110 hectares.  It is relatively well preserved and as
         a result of this, we have noticed that parts of it
         have started to regenerate themselves through the
         natural growth of the new cedar seedlings over the
         last few years.

     c-    Maasar El-Chouf Forest

         This is the furthest southern distribution of Cedrus
         Libani.  It covers around 6 hectares and is well
         preserved.  This forest is fenced and guarded by
         forest rangers who prevent any type of trespassing or
         activity in its environs, except by special permit.

         More work is required to protect and extend the Chouf
         mountain cedars.  The best way to do this, in our
         opinion, is to declare them both national and
         international wildlife reserves of great significance.


 2-  North Lebanon Mountains

     a-    Bsharri

         Altough this is the most famous of the ancient cedar
         forests in Lebanon, it is not very well preserved,
         with only 375 of the ancient trees still standing.
         This forest has been recently reopened to visitors and
         is used as a tourist attraction to the great detriment
         of the trees themselves.  Branches are still being
         chopped off and used to make souvenirs to sell to
         tourists, despite representations to the contrary.
         These cedarwood trinkets can be readily bought off
         street vendors around the Bsharri cedars.

         The Friends of the Cedars Committee in Bsharri has
         done some good work by planting several thousand new
         cedar seedlings in the last few years, and by trying
         to investigate the cause of the disease attacking many
         of the trees.  However, these efforts are still
         inadequate to ensure the continued preservation of
         this once great forest.  This requires closing it up
         to all visitors, except for special occasions, and
         putting it under the strict control of experienced and
         well trained forest rangers.

         The land of this forest is the property of the
         Maronite Church.  However, a church is situated in the
         midst of the forest and a main asphalt road passes
         under some of the ancient trees.  This situation is
         also detrimental for the preservation of this
         magnificient forest.

     b-    Ehden Forest

         Also situated in nortth Lebanon, this forest has a
         great number of Fir (Abbies spp) and several other
         species of trees, besides Cedrus Libani.  This forest
         has been recently declared a protected area by the
         Lebanese government, under law No. 121 of 9 March,
         1992, as a result of pressure from several
         environmental organizations, including SPNL.


 3-  Other Stands of Cedars

     These are generally smaller and more scattered occurrences of
     Cedrus Libani than the above mentioned forests:

     a-  Jeij, in Jubail mountains (central Lebanon).
     b-  Tannourine, in Batroun area of north Lebanon.
     c-  Wadi Jahannam, in Akkar area of north Lebanon.

     All the above occurrences still need to be properly surveyed
     in detail to determine their extent and present condition,
     before any action can be taken to preserve them.


 C.  CONSERVATION

     SPNL believes that, despite the many dangers still facing the
 existence of the Cedars of Lebanon, if swift action is taken, the
 species can still be saved and may flourish again.  If we can get
 these forests to be declared as protected areas and prevent both
 people and goats from trampling around, together with continuous new
 plantings of cedars around existing forests, then we may still be able
 to make them regenerate themselves.

     Efforts have increased in recent years to preserve and expand
 the existing cedar forests in Lebanon.  Among the most important of
 these developments are the following:

 1-    The establishment of a new Ministry of the Environment in
     Lebanon in 1993, as a result of pressure from many
     nongovernment organizations (NGO's), is a good begining.  But
     it is only a beginning.

 2-    A new association called the Sociaty for Arz El-Chouf, whose
     objective is to preserve the cedars of the Chouf mountains,
     has been established in early 1994 by Minister Walid Junblat.

 3-    SPNL and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) have proposed, in
     late 1993, a project to be funded by the United Nations
     Development Programme's (UNDP) Global Environmental Facility
     (GEF), in cooperation with the Ministry of the Environment, to
     establish a new department of wildlife and protected areas in
     Lebanon.  The objectives of this department will be to
     safeguard biodiversity and natural ecosystems in Lebanon
     through the establishment of a system of national parks and
     protected areas.

     Three areas have been selected to start this project, namely:

     a-  Barouk Forest
     b-  Ehden Forest
     c-  Palm Island (off the coast of Tripoli)

     The Ministry of the Environment still has to make a decision
     and take necessary action to make this project reality.

 4-    SPNL and the Lebanese government have requested the World Heritage
     Committee (WHC) of UNESCO to nominate the main cedar forests
     of Lebanon as historic sites of international importance.  A
     visit to Lebanon by Mr. Jim Thorsell of WHC was sponsered by
     SPNL in April 1993 to study this proposal.  But we still await
     further action by The Ministry of the Environment to bring
     this idea into actuality.

 5-    In the meantime, SPNL is conducting a campaign to plant new
     cedar trees.  To this end, SPNL welcomes financial
     contributions for planting cedar trees in various areas where
     Cedrus Libani already occur in Lebanon.

     SPNL will plant one cedar tree in your name against a
     contribution of only 30 U.S. Dollars.

     Please contact us at the following address for further
     information:

     SPNL
     P.O. Box 11-5665
     Beirut, Lebanon

     Tel.:  [phone]/344814
     Fax :  [phone]
     Telex: 20179 SARI LE

*******************************************************************************

14. What are the various Lebanese magazines and newspapers.

  Some of the newspapers are:

Al Hayat  (published in London, New York as well as in Beirut)*
Al Nahar
Al Safeer
Al Anwar

* addresses of al-hayat:
Main officce:
London
        KEINSIGTON CENERE,
        66 HAMMERSMITH ROAD,
        LONDON W14 8YT
        UK

        tel: [phone]
        Fax: [phone]
             071-3714225
    Telex: 925746
    Administration:
        tel: [phone]
        Fax: [phone]
        Telex: 925751
    Distribution:
        tel: [phone]
        Fax: [phone]
        Advertising: Media Force
        London : tel: [phone]
                 Fax: [phone]
        Jeddah : tel: [phone]
        Beirut : tel: 498967
        Ryad   : tel: [phone]

Whashigton office:
        AL HAYAT
        1185 National Press Building
        Whashington DC, 20045
        USA
    Tel: [phone]
    Fax: [phone]
New Yrok office:
    AL HAYAT
    Press Room C-321
    United Nation Bldg,
    New York 10017
    USA
    Tel/Fax: [phone]

 Some magazines:

Al Nahar al Arabi wal Duwali
Al Hawadess

"  Paul Salem, the assistant dean of Arts & Sciences at AUB has set up (I
think with the help of his father Elie Salem the ex-foreign minister) the
Lebanese Center for Policy Study, which deals with all political, social,
and economic aspects of the Lebanese arena with a special emphasis on
policy matters.

  They produce a monthly publication called the Lebanon Report and a
quarterly journal (a la Foreign Affairs) called Middle East Review. The
office they have in the US is mainly for the circulation of these
publications. "

They provide the following addresses:

The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies

Lebanon:  Tayyar Center
          Box 55215, Sin Al-Fil
          Beirut, Lebanon
          Tel. [phone]
          Fax  [phone]

USA:  P.O. Box 1377
      Highland Park, NJ 08904
      Phone: [phone]
      Fax: [phone]



  A very good source of information on economic developments in Lebanon
is the Middle East Economic Digest, which is published weekly, in English.
To subscribe, send a letter to the following address:

P.O. Box 14
Harold Hill
Romford
Essex RM3 8 EQ
U.K.

It costs 275 sterlings in the UK, 300 sterlings outside the U.K.
No special concessions are offered for students.
The AUB Alumni Science Subcommittee publishes a quarterly magazine (Sci-Quest)
that is distributed free of charge (in Lebanon--outside Lebanon, you may have
to pay a small amount to cover mailing charges). To get on the mailing list,
contact:

    Sci-Quest
    AUB Alumni Science Subcommittee
    AUB Alumni Club
    American University of Beirut
    P.O. Box 11-0236
    Beirut, Lebanon.
******************************************************************************

15. Where can I find Lebanese magazines and newspapers.

   In NY/NJ, you can buy it in the World Trade Center, in Penn Station, Newark,
NJ, and in Arab shopping areas (see below).

In Boston there is the "out of town news" which sells them. It is located
Harvard square, right outside the "T" station.
It has several newspapers including "al hayat" and "al hawadeth".

  In Norway, many big libraries have  magazines and newspapers relating to
the Middle East. In Arabic there is the Ahram or the British based alHayat
or Sharq al-Awsat.

  In Oslo the small Kiosk besides Saga cinema sells magazines and newspapers
that relate to the Middle East. The University of Oslo publishes a magazine
called Midtosten Forum that takes up issues related to the Middle East.
Most articles are in Norwegian, but there are some in English or other
Scandinavian languages. To get this magazine write to:

Midtosten Forum
Tidsskriftredaksjonen
1030 Blindern
0315 Oslo
Norway

In Montreal, There are the "Maisons de la presses internationales", that
have a wide variety of Arabic/Lebanese newspapers and magazines. They have
the daily Alhayat (printed in NY), Al-Hawadeth, Al-Wasat, Al-Watan Al-Araby,
etc.
"Les Maisons" have three locations on St-Catherines st. in downtown Montreal.
Other downtown Kiosques and arabic food stores, get Al-Hayat and other papers
and magazines.

A couple of local Lebanese papers are issued in Montreal weekly or bi-weekly,
the most important are Al-Mustaqbal and Sawt-Canada. These papers contain news
from Lebanon and the middle-east as well as news of the Arab and Lebanese
communities in Canada.

******************************************************************************

16. What has been written by Lebanese and/or about Lebanon ?

  What follows are titles of books by contemporary Lebanese writers available
in English.(They all deal with the war in one aspect or another).

Kamal Salibi, "A House of Many Mansions, The History of Lebanon
Reconsidered", 1988.

Emily Nasrallah, _Flight Against Time_ trans. Issa J. Boullata.
Charlettetown, P.E.I.: Ragweed Press, 1987.
  This is a very touching depiction of an older man's inability to get
  used to life in Canada, where his children live and where they want
  him to move because of the outbreak of the war in Lebanon.  The old
  man's attachment to his Lebanese village is conveyed in a simple,
  direct style, making his predicament that much more poignant.

Elias Khoury, _Little Mountain_ trans. Maia Tabet. Minneapolis: Univ.
of Minnesota Press, 1989.
  What I find really interesting about this book is its post-modern
  style.  The narrative point view, speaker, time, place, all shift
  without warning.  It is almost as though Khoury is trying to re-create
  stylistically the disjunctions and disruptions occasioned by the
  civil war in Lebanon. (his representation of women, however, is
  rather sexist in my view)

Etel Adnan, _Sitt Marie Rose_ Post Apollo Press, 1978.
  In this work Adnan narrates the experiences of a Maronite woman who
  falls in love with a Palestinian and is kidnapped by a group of men
  (her co-religionists  among whom is an old school friend of hers.
  Her experiences are witnessed by her students who are deaf-mutes.
  This is a very powerful and disturbing book.

Etel Adnan, "five senses for one death." The Smith Special Issue 18, 1971.
  This is a long imagistic poem by Adnan.

Jean Said Makdisi, _Beirut Fragments: A War Memoir_ New York: Persea Books,
1990.
  Makdisi is a Palestinian-Lebanese who describes her experiences in war-
  torn Beirut.  For her those experiences, which she retells in very
  moving terms, and her determination to stay in Beirut make her a true
  Beiruti.  Her love for Beirut and her agony over what is happening to
  it are quite clear.  Employing different styles (chronicle, descriptive
  narrative etc.) in different chapters, Makdisi ends her book with a
  very moving poem.

Here's the poem :

"Is it possible to hope that from the rubble of war, which at certain
times seemed to haved ended civilization, a new form might arise and
permit future creativity?  There is something of the alpha and omega
in this hope, is there not?

Zbale   garbage surrounds us, everywhere we look, there are piles of
        rubbish, debris, there is stench and ugliness, we

Yield   always we yield to the force of things, we are in danger of
        surrendering to despair, and to the ease of

Xenophobia
        there is always someone else to blame for what has happened to
        us, it's never our fault, oh no, and meanwhile we are

Waiting always waiting, for the others, for the solution, waiting for
        them to let the water come gurgling into our empty taps, waiting
        for the walls to crumble

Weary   of the never ending

War     we listen, overwhelmed with sorrow and anger to the the empty

Words   the endless empty rhetoric which has only brought more

Violence
        while the

Veneer  of fashion glitters like a wrothless, forgotten coin in a
        mound of rubble as it catches the sun.

Ugliness
        surrounds us, the ugliness of a broken city, ugly buildings
        sprouting up everywhere, ugly streets, whole neighborhoods, the
        beauty of mountains is destroyed by utilitarian ugliness, and

Time    weighs heavily on us--our days are long, and we carry History
        on our backs, an intolerable burden--but History gave us also

Tyre    and

Tripoli and

Sidon   timless relics from the past, ancient, beautiful, but

Scarred by war and the suffering of

Refugees
        We are a land of refugees, a people of refugees, coming from
        everywhere, going nowhere.

Refugees
        make beautiful causes, but they are people--their trucks piled
        high with the pathetic remnants of former lives, mattresses and
        goats and children and stoves--they have found no

Quicksand
        in which everyone sinks.  We are in a

Prison  of violence and forgotten ideals.  Still,

Peace   will come, and

Oppression
        will end, must end, and

Nemesis will come, but not with more

Militias
        certainly not with more fighting men, nor with more

Lies    the lies told by everyone to preserve the war and to preserve the

Knitting
        together of the unravelling whole.

Justice In war there is no Justice, and it is not from War that Justice
        will come.

Jbeil   ancient Byblos, and

Jounieh with its ancient harbors and stunning bay, emerald mountains
        dipping into the blue sea and searching into the azure skies,
        they are in danger of drifting away from us, but someday perhaps
        there will be

Joy     and

Jubilation
        when this war ends and the

Internecine
        butchery ends.  They say

Hope    springs eternal and so it does, in spite of the

Guns    and the

Fawda   the anarchy which threatens us at every turn, because

Earth   around us is beautiful: the gray rocks on the sheer cliffs, the
        shimmering silver leaves of the olive trees, the deep dark green
        of the ancient cedars, the sweet smell of the pine forests, the
        oranges dotted like yellow stars in the sparkling groves that lie
        by the blue seas.  Meanwhile, our

Days    pass, drearily, with explosions shattering the stillness of the
        nights.  Our senses are dulled by the

Catastrophe
        that has been upon us here in

Beirut  --poor, ugly, stricken beirut, broken Beirut, unloved city, lost
        Beirut, like the child in the tale, torn between two mothers, but
        no Solomon here, no true mother.

Beirut  pleads to be redeemed, but not by

Another

Army.
............................
(This poem is more effective as a culmination to Makdisi's memoirs.  It
is reproduced here without permission.)

Hanan Al-Shaykh, -The Story of Zahra_ trans. Peter Ford. New York: Quartet
Books, 1986.

  Zahra is a shia Lebanese living in Beirut during the war (though she also
goes to West Africa for a while).  I won't give away the plot but only
mention that she has a very complex relationship with a sniper.  I really
liked this book.  It deals very frankly with sensitive issues such as sex
and politics, and especially with the struggles of women.

  Other Lebanese writers I like but for whom I have yet to see anything
published in English are Ghada el Samman and Layla Baalbakki.  Excerpts
of their works are available in English in anthologies such as -Opening
the Gates_ edited by Margot Badran and Miriam Cooke. Indiana UP, 1990
and _Middle Eastern Muslim Women Speak_ edited by Elizabeth Warnock
Fernea and Basima Qattan Bezirgan. Univ. of Texas Press, 1977.  There
are several other anthologies out as well.

  The University of Chicago library has an excellent collection of books
in Arabic.  You might search there for what's available. UC Berkeley
also has a very good collection.  There is at least one bookstore that
I know of in San Francisco called The Arabic Book Center that also
supplies books in Arabic as well as English.  They will order books
for you as well.

  If you want to read good books by Lebanese writers, Amin Malouf has
written "Samarcande", "Leon l'africain", and "Les croisades vues par
les Arabes".  These books were best sellers in France.
(Samarcande in particular is HIGHLY recommended).

  Amin Maalouf's books have been translated into English.
Here are the English titlesof two of them:

  "The Crusades Through Arab Eyes" trans. Jon Rothschild. Schocken Books,
New York, 1987.

  "Leon l'africain" has also been translated.  The English title is
Leo Africanus.

[Begin French]

  Le dernier roman d'Amin Maalouf s'intitule "Le rocher de Tanios". Ce dernier
roman a pris le pris de Gouncourt 1993 [le prix le plus important en France]
voici ce que dit le journal francais Le figaro dans son numero de 9 Nov 1993:
[debut le figaro]
Le FIGARO 9 Nov 1993
[Titre]: "Le Rocher de Tanios": contre tous le fanatismes
Par Laurence Vidal

    Il n'a eu quelques jours pour devenir nerveux. Amin Maaalouf, il y a
une semaine encore, n'osait sans doute pas esperer leGoncourt. Depuis fin aout,
deja, tout le monde jurait un autr, Marc Lambron, favori des Academiens.
Ceux-ci ne dementaient pas. Il a fallu le coup d'eclat des dames du Femina qui,
devancant les Dix de trois jours, leur ont rafle leur candidat, pour la place,
devenue libre, commence a susciter de nouveaux espoirs. Dans la redistribution
des cartes, Amin Maalouf semblait le mieux dote. C'est chose faite. Le Rocher
de Tanios (1), Goncourt 1993: un prix merite. Unchoix heureux, quels qu'aient
ete les aleas coups de theatre et jeux de massacres quil'ont precede.

    Heureux, d'abord, parce que le romain, cette legende revisitee des
annees 1830 au mont Liban, a quoi charmer le public large sans demeriter pour
autant aux yeux du lecteur difficile(2). Heureux, ensuite parce qu'est
recompense un auteur, un ecrivain, qui, depuis dix ans, eleve inlassablement
le double de conteuret de foi d'humaniste andide.

    Descendant d'une famille qui, depuis le XVIIIe siecle a donne au Liban
une vigntaine d'ecrivains, Amin est fils de Ruchdi Maalouf, journaliste et
ecrivain  lui-meme, enseignant, peintre, poete et grande figure du Beyrouth des
annees 40 a 80. Dans le sillage de ce pere aime et respecte qui "revait d'une
democratie ideale et a beaucoup souffert de l'echec d'une republique
fraternelle", Amin Maalouf aprend tres tot le sens du mot "paix". Ce chretien
du Liban eleve par les jesuites a ete facone par la double culture, arabe et
francaise, par le gout des lettres et l'esprit e tolerance.

    Diplome de sociologie et d;economie politique, Amin Maalouf,  tres tot,
reprend l'un des flambeux paternels et devient journaliste. Il est a Saigon a
la fin de la guerre du vietnam. On le retrouve dans l'avion qui ramene en Iran
l'ayatollah Khomeini. Quant a la premiere fusillade entre Palstieniens et
Phalangistes, qui fitplus de 20 morts et mis le feu aux poudres de Beyrouth,
elle eut lieu sous les fenetres de son appartement familail.

    L'annee suivante Amin Maalouf s'installe a Paris. Et c'est en 1983 que
parait son premeir ouvrage: Les croisades vuespar les arabes(3). Une vie passee
a jeter un pont entre ses deux meres, l'Orient et l'Occident, vient de
comencer.
Car cet homme a vecu vignt-sept ans sur une terre dechiree par des conflits a
caracteres religieux, cet erudit souriant qui eclare parfois ecrire " parce que
j'ai besoin de reflechir sur ma vie, sur mon siecle", n'abandonnera jamais les
freres ennemis, qu'ils soient d'ici ou d'ailleurs.

    C'est 1986, Leaon l'Africain (3), biographie tres romancee de Hassan
Al-Wazzan, alias Jean Leon de Medicis, ce musulman ne en  Grecnade en 1488,
mort en Tunis vers 1555, et entre-temps baptise a Rome par le pape Leon X, dont
il fut le conseiller et l'ambassadeur. Portrait d'un homme qui resume en lui,
et reconcilie, toutes les contradictions, les dechirements et les affrontements
d'une epoque. Place ensuite a Omar Khayyam, poete, astronome et philosophe
persan. que l'on retrouve dans Samarcande (4). Une sceptique dans la lignee
d'Avicenne, un chantre du Carpe diem qui preferait les femmes et le vin au
fanatisme religieux. Puis toujours en quete de figures symboliques, Amin
Maalouf s'interesse a Mani.

    C'est le jardin des lumieres (3) en 1991, ou se revele un prophete qui
n'a rien a d'un manicheen au sens ou on l'enetend aujourd'hui, mais qui
recommande, au contraire de nourir la lumiere qui se cache en chaque etre et
chaque chose; qui prone une foi reconciliee, melange de christianinsme, de
boudisme et de zoroastisme(les trois religions dominantes dans la perse des
Sassanides). Belle constate d'un ecrivain  qui, dans le Premier Siecle apres
Beatrice (1), nous depins une humanite du XXIe siecle qi nous ressemble comme
une soeur, se dechire, et menace de se detruire.

    Avec Le Rocher de Tanios, pour la premiere fois, Amin Maaalouf a rompu
la distance qu'il avit toujours maintenue vec ses livres. C'est le retour au
Liban, a Kfaryabda, village des ancetres, en un siecle ou deja les interets
etrangeres soufflent la tempete sous les branches du Cedre. La encore dans ce
roman ou plane " toute la subtile et trouble poesie du conte oriental"(2),
c'est le refus de se laisser entrainer dans l'enchainement des vengeances
qu'il illustre. Dans un monde qui "se bestialise", auand " les citoyens les
plus paisibles se transforment soudain en tueurs" parce qu'ils sentent leur
communaute menacee, c'est, encore toujours, la proffession d'une foi
inderacinable chez cet homme blesse a mort par tous les fanatismes: " Il n'est
qu'une valeur immuable: la liberte de la personne humaine".

    Ainsi parle Amin Maalouf prophete dans le desert, prix Goncourt 1993.

(1) Grasset
(2) Figaro 17 Sep
(3) Latte`s
(4) Latte`s, 1988 Prix de maison de presse

[fin le figaro]

un autre roman c'est  "Les jardins de lumiere".
Il raconte l'histoire de "Mani", un oriental qui a vecu au 3eme siecle,
et fonde une nouvelle religion, le "manicheisme".
Son principe de base etait le respect de toutes les religions
(Christianisme, Boudhisme, ... l'Islam n'existait pas encore).
Apres s'etre repandu un peu partout (de l'Inde jusqu'en Europe, en passant
par la Perse, le Moyen Orient, l'Egypte ...) cette religion a disparu vers le
12eme siecle a cause des nombreuses persecutions de la part des autres
religions (Christianisme, Islam ...). Bref, le roman est une sorte
de biographie imaginaire qui constitue neanmoins une vraie lecon de tolerance
et pose beaucoup de questions sur l'interet des religions ...
  Personnellement, j'ai lu les trois romans d'A.M. : "Leon l'africain",
"Samarcande" et "Les jardins de lumiere". Tous les trois sont excellents
(a mon avis) mais j'ai eu une legere preference pour "Samarcande".
  En realite, je pense que ce qui plait aux occidentaux dans les oeuvres de
Maalouf c'est son style de "conteur" (Haqawaati), auquel ils sont peu habitues
(parfois il va un peu trop loin dans l'invraisemblance des  coincidences...)

[End French]

  Robert Fisk,"Pity The Nation - The Abduction of Lebanon", Oxford Paperbacks,
1990, ISBN 0-19-285235-3, approx $16.00

  Fisk is an AP correspondent who reported on the war in Lebanon *from*
Lebanon since its inception in the mid 70's.  A devastating book.
  'Required' reading for anyone interested in an unbiased account
of the wars in Lebanon. Covers events through the late 80's.


  Thomas Friedman, "From Beirut to Jerusalem"

  Charles Glass, "Tribes With Flags"

  Jonathan Randall, "Going All The Way"

  N. Alamuddin

Title:      Turmoil: Druzes, Lebanon and the arab-israeli conflict

Publisher:  Quartet books (London)

ISBN        07043 7050 6     (hard back)
        07043 0189 x     (paper back)

        Price:      14.95  (english pounds), hard back.
            9.95        //         , paper back.

The book has recently been published and it is useful to those interested
in the lebanese politics and the history of Lebanon.

For those interested in the affairs of the Arab world, especially, the issue
of identity, Xavier de Planbol offers his ideas in a new book in french.
The book :

Les nations du prophete, manuel geographique de politique Musulmane.

Author: Xavier de Planbol.

Evelyne Accad :
_Sexuality and War :  Literary Masks of the Middle East_
New York :  New York University Press,  c1990
The topics in this book seem to include:
 Arabic fiction--Lebanon--History and criticism.
 Arabic fiction--20th century--History and criticism.
 Lebanese fiction (French)--History and criticism.
 Sex in literature.
 Feminism in literature.
 Violence in literature.
 Sexual animosity--Lebanon.
 Sexual animosity--Arab countries.
 Lebanon--History--Civil War, 1975-1976--Literature and the
 war.

Stefan Wild, Libanesische Ortsnamen, Typologie und Deutung, Beirut 1973.
(lebanese place names: their typoligie and meaning). This books belongs to a
series called: Beiruter Texte und Studien, vol. 9

Wild's book is in German  :(, yet he has an excelent summary in English.
Here is a quotation from the summary:

"A very interesting feature [in Lebanese place names] is presented by
sound-shifts due to an etymologizing tendency. This phenomenon was called in a
recent most illuminating study by Joshua Blau (On Pseudo-Corrections in Some
Semitic Languages) 'hyper-correction due to over self assertion'. In
correnction with Lebanese place-names it means that an Aramaic place-name, when
taken over by an arabophone population may be changed in its consonantic and/
or vocalic structure in accordance with an etymologically related Arabic model.
We find Sibliin < Aramaic Shibbliin 'ears (of wheat)' an Aramaic plural form,
with its initial 'sh' shifted to 's' under the ifluence of the etymologically
related Arabic 'sabal' with the same meaning. Another example is Biskinta <
Aramaic bee Shkinta 'house of dwelling', under the influence of the Arabic root
'skn'. The etymology is, of course, not necessarily 'correct' from a linguist's
point of view. A name like Nakhli most probably derives from the Aramaic
'naHla' 'valley, waadi'. Since Aramaic 'H' frequently corresponds to to Arabic
'kh', the Arabic word 'nakhl' 'palm-trees' could easily but wrongly be
assosiated with the Aramaic form..." (p.327)
"It is reasonably plausible to suggest that similar developments took place
when the Canaanite-speaking population gave way to Aramaic speakers, and even
before, when pre-Canaanite (pre-Semitic?) place-names were moulded into
Canaanite. BUt our data are insuffcient to quoet examples." (pp.327, 328)

"The great majority of place names in Lebanon, in fact about two thirds, is now
Arabic. The rest are chiefly Aramaic, some Canaanite (not more than 2%) and a
sprinkling of Greek names like Traablus < Tripolis, Turkish names like Qashlaq
< Kishlaa 'winter quarters', and French like Bois de Boulogne...."

"This clear cut division [of plcae names into Arabic, Aramaic etc.] is,
however, misleading. A large number of names must have shifted morphologically
from Canaanite to Aramaic and/or from Aramaic to Arabic. This is demonstrable
in cases like 'Jbail'. THis name sounds now like a purely Arabic toponym, a
very common 'f@ail'-diminutive of 'jabal' 'mountain'. We happen to know,
however that the same palce is attested as 'ku-ub-la' in Sumerian texts of the
thrid mellenium BC., a time when it is impossible to think of an Arabic
origine. While the original meaning of the name is unknown, the structure
mankes it highly probable that it was a Semitic name, and we may be justified
in calling it Early Canaanite. If we did not know the pre-Arabic evidence, and
this is the point, we should be obliged to interpret 'Jbail' as a quite recent
purely Arabic name. The only was to prove that an existing  Arabic-looking and
-sounding name is in reality pre-Arabic, is of course to find an attested
pre-Arabic form. As the majority of Lebanese place-names which can be attested
at all before the 20th. century, are to be found at best in late mediaeval
sources, a pre-Arabic origin can normally be suspected [as Frayha does], rarely
proved. There is however one further piece of circumstantial evidence
indicating that the shift of place-names must have frequently. We may safely
assume that the general eco ogical conditions determining, why names were given
to places remained fairly stable from Canaanite times up to the beginning of
industrialization in the 20th. century. We are therefore justified in assuming
that the proportion of compound place-names like '@ain'... 'spring of' or
'bait'... house of' was in early times as great as it is now. The most

important of the appelatives used to form place names are the same in
Canaanite, Aramaic and Arabic: @ain, @ainaa, @ayin 'source'; bait, baitaa,
bayit 'house'; karam, karmaa, kerem 'vineyard'; tall, tellaa, tel 'hill'; and
many others. The close structural and etymological relation between place-names
the three languages involved has made the transformation of place-names very
easy, and conversely often renders distinction between place-names of
Canaanite, Aramaic and Arabic origin very difficult. The place-names which have
preserved their Canaanite or Aramaic character are the exception rather than
the rule." (pp. 328, 329)

"... Place names show the Lebanon as a resort of te pious, where Canaanite
gods, Christian saints and Muslim sheikhs mingle. Velleys and rivers, springs
and forests, peaks and mountain stamp the life of the people. Place-names, the
linguistcially petrified remnants of cultural history, preserve the memory of
the cedar, where there are no more cedars, and recall roaming wolves and bears
where is today no more tha the occasional fox. Generations of hunters and
farmers, shepherds and hermits have left their unmistakable imprint on Lebanese
toponomy. At a time where, in the Syrian desert, the Bedouin are beginning to
use place-names like ij-jfuur (the pump-station H4), and the industrial age in
Lebanon is dawning, the spektrum of Lebanese place-names shows us an
enthralling and extraordinary vivid picture of yesterday." (p. 330)

  Here is a review that recently appeared in TIME magazine of Ziad Rahbani's
latest play:

>From TIME Magazine (May 31, 1993)

SIGHTINGS by Emily Mitchell (p.61)

THEATER Lebanon
You Gotta Have Wasta
"Of Dignity and Stubborn Folk"
Written and Directed by Ziad Rahbani

ACT I: BEIRUT, 1998.
Syrian and Israeli troops have withdrawn from Lebanon, and the
country can determine its own fate. But greed is ascendant, and
mayhem is at hand. In kaleidoscopic scenes, belly dancers
alternate with news flashes and fake TV commercials, while people
boast of their "wasta" (connections). When an old Armenian is
electrocuted trying to repair a generator that is the only power
source, an announcement is made: " He was the last Armenian in
Lebanon - nothing technical will work again . "

ACT II: BEIRUT, 2003.
Though the country is in its death throes, sectarianism has not
expired. Animals join the few surviving Lebanese, and an
orangutan wants to vote. "What is your religion?" the humans
demand. Cannibals garbed in animal skin- and holding
walkie-talkies - proclaim a new credo:" We only eat our
friends."

In this bleak, gallows-humor play, Ziad Rahbani parodies Lebanese
society and evokes the pessimism of Orwell's 1984. The daily
"Hayat" notes that "Rahbani is like those animals that feel the
earthquake before it happens."
"Of Dignity and Stubborn Folk" is selling out in Beirut's
620-seat Piccadilly Theater, and audiences sense that the tremors
may already have begun.


There is charles glass's book "tribes with flags", an
account of his travels from Iskandaron to lebanon (i.e. until he was
kidnapped).

there is one part of the book that you might enjoy, a brief
description of the Levant. (note: levant are the eastern coasts of the
mediterranean)

    "The battlefields were also vineyards, and fruit trees sprouted from
    ancient graves. Where men had drawn swords, hurled spears and fired
    automatic rifles, children played. Rivers that armies ahd forded in
    the night to surround an enemy provided family picnic sites. The sea
    in which navies displayed their cannon was beautiful to look at and
    cool to swim in.  With what little there was from the land and sea,
    the people made their lives rich and lavish.  The divisions that
    were a source of conflict also gave wealth...In a small area, there
    seems to be the sights, sounds and smells of all the world"

another interesting quote

    "A man may find Naples or Palermo merely pretty
    but the deeper violet, the splendour
    and desolation of the Levant waters
    is something that drives into the soul."

            James Elroy Flecker (british poet)
            Beirut, October 1914






Another book is titled "The Struggle Over Lebanon" by Tabitha Petran.  It
was published in 1987 by Monthly Review Press (New York). The book is
a well-written analysis of the making of modern Lebanon and chronicles
the war years.  The analysis is particularly rich in identifying the
roles and actions of external actors and does a superb job linking
these outside interests with the local leadership that allied itself
to them.

The back cover holds strong recommendations for the book by three
authorities on the area.  They are Rachid Khalidi, Edward Said, and
Noam Chomsky.  Said calls it "an astonishing chronicle...a powerful and
magisterial narrative dense with human dram and political insight."
Petran is unique among westerners that have written about Lebanon in
that she was not an "in and out quick" journalist.  Unlike so many who
wrote about the  Lebanese war, she did not visit the country for a few
weeks, squeeze in a dozen interviews and then provide western audiences
with a shallow tale of how horrible life was at the Commodore hotel.

Petran lived in Lebanon from 1962 till 1986.  She had a clear view of
the pre-war conditions and of the modern history of the country.  She
lived through the crucial Lebanese history years of 1967-1975.  Her
book is rich with deep analysis and a wealth of historical facts.  Of
the 383 pages of text, she allocates over a hundred pages to a
wonderfully succint summary of Lebanon's modern history.  The rest of
the book covers the 1975-1986 period.  There are 30 pages of notes
that would particularly useful for interested scholars.


******************************************************************************

17. Where can I find works written by Lebanese and /or on Lebanon ?

  Check your local or University Library, most of the  books listed above can
be obtained in major bookstores or on special order from your local bookstore.

  You can also see :
Saqi Books
26 Westbourne Grove
London W2 5RH
vox 071 221 9347
fax [phone]

They are bound to have it. They are specialists in Arabic language and
Levantine books. also you can try the following two that are on line :
     Quantum Books, Cambridge MA
     phone:     [phone]
     fax:       [phone]
     email:     [e-mail]
     mail list: [e-mail]

     Computer Literacy Bookshops, Inc.
     PO Box 641897, San Jose, CA  95164-1897
     phone:          [phone]
     fax:            408-435-0895
     email orders:   [e-mail]
     order problems: [e-mail]
     other into:     [e-mail]

There is a company in Watertown, Massachussetts (USA) called "Beit Al-Fikr"
that sells a large collection of Arabic books, Arabic Compact Discs,
Arabic Calligraphy, Posters, Postcards at very reasonable prices.

If you are interested in getting catalogs of their products you can contact
the company at the following address:

    Beit Al-Fikr Booksellers
    P.O.Box 426
    Watertown , MA 02172
    U.S.A.

If you have any specific questions or comments you can send mail to:

    [e-mail]


******************************************************************************

18. Are there Arabic word processors ?

  Bassem Medawar has compiled a large FAQ on the subject of Arabic on
computers.  It is very comprehensive and is available on the SoL archive
in
     borg.poly.edu  in  /pub/reader/text/faq2   (notice the 2 in faq2)

  There is Arab TeX.  A message was posted about it on scl and Leb-Net
some time ago.  It is public domain, based on TeX which is also public
domain.  TeX is NOT user friendly -as compared to the Macs.

ArabTeX 3.00 is available by anonymous ftp from ftp.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de

The directory is /pub/arabtex, the "README" file gives details.

The identical package is also available from the CTAN server network:

Aston (ftp.tex.ac.uk, /pub/archive/languages/arabtex/),
Huntsville (ftp.shsu.edu, /tex-archive/languages/arabtex/),
Stuttgart (ftp.uni-stuttgart.de, /pub/tex/languages/arabtex/)

A new public domain release of my X-Windows based text editor
for arabic and any other Right-to-left language was recently announced.

The system was designed with flexibility in mind and ease of configuration.
Any one can configure the keyboard and font mapping to suit their language
and the keyboard they are used to.

The system can also be instructed to generate TeX files suitable for the
language in question. The System was tested on ArabTex with
satisfactory results. The README file provides more information.


The archive containing all the source code needed is available from:

ftp.ecs.soton.ac.uk /pub/incoming/xaw.tar.Z
borg.poly.edu       /in.coming/xaw.tar.Z

(it was not possible to find xaw.tar.Z on the two server mentioned above, maybe
the best way is to get in contact with the author directly)

If you have any problems or queries and suggestions please contact:
A M Shihab <[e-mail]>

  There are Arabic word processors. But the solutions are a little more
complicated than we would want them.  There is one program
which runs on any Mac operating system, i.e. any language. I produces text
that can directly be pasted into other word processors. This program is
called AlKatib, but is very old and has very many restrictions. Don't
expect much from it.

  Otherwise the way to go is to use the Mac's Arabic Operating system
(AOS).  This system is designed to work with any program.  Yet again this
is not completely true. Most programs that are worth their price, are not
compatible with AOS. Only very primitive programs that uses the editor
routines of the operating system correctly and are very limited in
their features. There are however a few programs that work correctly
with AOS.  There are the products of a company called WinSoft
(based in France?). They have a word processor, WinText and a database
WinFile. I use the word processor and am sort of satisfied. It is not very
expensive either. On the other hand, there is an Arabic (and a Hebrew)
version of Nisus. I have not used it, but some colleagues who did are
satisfied. I am not sure of the price.

  For those who need a useful and cheap database, you could opt for
FileMaker Pro. It is not completely compatible with the AOS (you can not
search Arabic text) but is useful and quite efficient. Another program
that I used earlier was SuperPaint 1.xx. It is a paint/draw program which
is compatible with AOS.

  For those interested in Islamic studies, there is also Koranic software.
The Alim is an "Islamic Study Toolkit". It offers the entire text of:

  - The Qur'an in Arabic
  - Transliteration of the Qur'an
  - Yusuf `Ali's translation
  - Yusuf `Ali's commentary
  - M. Pickthall's translation
  - All nine volumes of Sahih Bukhary
  - Islamic Subjects Database
  - Maududi Sura information
  - Chronological History of Islam
  - Biographies of Companions
  - Islamic terms dictionary

  The Alim runs a clean and powerful text based windowing system.
Several windows can be run at once. It also has a powerful pattern
searching feature.

  The databases are cross-referenced. Separate modules can be
purchased, they include Sahih Muslim, Tirmizy, Al-Muwatta and Assad's
translation among other volumes.

  The standard package has an introductory price of $99.00 and costs
$149.95 in retail. Macintosh, Windows, OS/2 and OSF/Motif support is
expected in the first quarter of 1993. I saw the package and it is
EXCELLENT. It is certainly worth the price. If were to buy the books
in paper form it would cost more than $100, plus you would not be able
to cross reference or search.

  The current version is distributed on 7 high density DOS disks and
when decompressed takes 15Mb on a Hard Disk. You need at least 1.5Mb
on your Hard Disk to run the Software and you can decompress the
components you need. You also need EGA graphics or better. It also
runs on a Macintosh with Soft-AT.

  The Software was developed over six years by a two person company
called ADVENT (800-397-5561). It is distributed by IQRA Bookcenter:
800-521-ICRA or 312-274-2665.

  For users of Wordperfect, there is an Arabic module that can
be added to Wordperfect.  The module enables one to write in English and
Arabic.  It's extremely user friendly!  The regular price is
expensive but the educational price is about $135 (with student or faculty
id).  However that you need to have/buy the standard version
of Wordperfect in order for the module to run.  So it's great for those who
already use Wordperfect, but it may be too expensive for those who don't
since they would need to buy both the standard version and the Arabic
module.

Recently Arabic text editors for the Mac have undergone some major upgrades,
here is a critique of threeMac  Arabic text editors that have recently
been published.  These are: Tex-Edit, MuEdit and Style.

The problem with using Arabic on the Mac is that, while the Arabic system
itself is free and available, you can't use your standard word processor
properly with Arabic, and the Arabic-compatible programs like WinText and
Nisus Int. are expensive and always copy protected. The only alternative
has been to use small and fairly primitve "text editors", program-lets that
allows you to type text, but not very much more; not very useful.

However, recently some new text editors have appeared that makes this
option  more attractive. How do they handle Arabic? I have looked at three
of these new text editors, Tex-Edit, mu-Edit (formerly Quill), and Style,
to check how useful they are for the Arabist Mac user. These are some brief
remarks, based mainly on typing, editing and printing a couple of pages in
each.

A general remark first: These are still text editors. That means in
particular that they are limited in size, you can only write up to 32K
(about 10 pages) per document; any they may slow down when you approach
this limit. They do not have things like footnotes, style sheets, and
formatting beyond what is explicitly stated; none of them have rulers. But
they are free.

              Evaluation: Tex-Edit
A capable text editor. Has standard text styles like bold, italics,
outline, shadow, condensed and extended, as well as colour. You can freely
choose font and size and mix several in a document. All these three allow
multiple documents to be open at the same time.
     Tex-Edit has find/replace, with functions for finding returns, tabs,
linefeeds, whole word only, match case, and Replace all.
     Like Word, if you select a word by doubleclicking, it will include the
space after the word. Useful detail. Triple-clicking selects a sentence.
     It can strip unwanted control characters, and can paste time & day and
page number. It does not have a ruler, but when printing will ask for
margin sizes and may include page numbers. This does not work properly,
however, if you try change the margins on a document about a page or two,
the program hangs, and then crashes on command-period.
     You can justify left, right and center, but this will relate to the
whole document. Works under system 6.0.3 and newer, and with Macintalk will
read out typed text for you. (The name, incindentally, seems to refer to
Texas, not TeX.)

Handling of Arabic: Text entry and editing is acceptable, with a caveat
below. There are however some cursor problems with line breaks. Sometimes
when it should position the cursor at the beginning of a line, it is put at
the end instead. Eg: Moving back one step from the beginning of line 4 to
puts the cursor at the beginning of line 3; and typing will put new text
before the text in line 3.
     You can set the justification to right-oriented, but this is not saved
and has to redone every time you open the document. All these three editors
link fonts and script, thus changing script also automatically switches to
the previously used font in that script.
     Find/replace works with Arabic, but the dialog box shows only Chicago,
i.e. Roman characters (like Word would). However, what is inserted into the
text appears in the correct font.
     Positive: You can set the default font to an Arabic one, like Geeza
12. The editor will then start up with the Arabic script active.
     Negative: Actually, you have to do this. If the default font is a
Roman one, cutting and pasting will not work correctly. On pasting in the
middle of an Arabic block, the default will switch to Roman, and the Arabic
block will be split; the first part coming the left of the last. This can
be repaired, but is a nuisance. Also, if you write an English text, Arabic
is still default, so if you click somewhere in the English text, the script
often (not always) reverts to Arabic.

                  MuEdit
MuEdit appears to be designed for Arabic, thus it has a menu option for
"Orient left to right" and "Orient right to left". Generally, it has
capabilites similar to Tex-Edit: Multipe fonts and styles in a document;
multiple windows, text styles include extended and condensed; find &
replace. It has "find previous", but only options for whole word and case
senstive searches. It allows changing case, has a word count, and can
strip/add linefeed and carriage returns, but not as Tex-Edit, all control
characters. Like T., it has colour, but not  "smart quotes". Print margins
are set in the Page Setup dialog box.
     It works under System 7 only. Interestingly, cut and paste between
these two editors work better than between standard word processors:
Script, font and size information is remembered from one to the other. Both
read each other's files; Tex-Edit can read font and style (but not
justification) of a MuEdit document; MuEdit can only read the text of the
Tex-Edit.

Handling of Arabic:
Typing and editing Arabic text is unproblematic. Selection, cutting and
pasting work as they should. Justification does not automatically follow
scipt, but both are saved with the document.
      It has a couple of bugs, though:
      -- When you open Mu-Edit by double-clicking on a file, the line
breaks do not appear properly. However, if you open MuEdit first and then
the document, they appear as they should. There is an option for "word
wrap", what happens is probably that it is improperly set "off" when you
open document and program together.
     -- Find-replace does not work properly: It finds the Arabic, but the
"replace" string is inserted in Roman, i.e. as garbage characters; breaking
the line in two and reversing their order, in spite of the Right-Left
general orientation.  Instead, you have to copy the correct text, and then
use Find-Paste instead.
     -- Another peculiar bug when I use MuEdit with other text editors: If
right-left orientation is chosen in the MuEdit window; and I switch
directly to another editor, the text window there appears (incorrectly)
right-adjusted. Only by switching through the Finder is this corrected, and
the editor's window redrawn. This happens when I switch both to Tex-Edit
and to Eudora, but not to Word. Either it is problem in MuEdit, or in the
Arabic resources themselves.

                Style:
Style, an Italian offering, is the least capable of the three, and is not
really adapted for writing Arabic. It has the standard styles, and
Find/Replace, but no options for setting page width in printing. More
seriously, the word wrap does not break at the edge of the window, but at a
predefined length that seems to be calculated from a 13 or 14" monitor.
Thus, on my SE/30, I cannot see a full line, and I have to scroll
horizontally manually in order to see what I am writing. This is clearly
not acceptable. You can, however, mix styles and fonts in a document. Style
does not save in TEXT format, as the two others do, but has an XTND file,
so you can use it with MacWrite and other XNTD-programs. In version b.3,
the Open command did not work, perhaps due to a conflict with Super
Boomerang.
     In handling Arabic, another problem is that you cannot set
justification; it is stuck on left-adjusted. Thus you are always writing
'backwards', as it were, and printing will also be left-adjusted. Also, I
have been unable to add anything at the end of a line. The cursor will
then, whatever I do, place the correction at the beginning of the line.
Further, the cursor moves incorrectly. The left-arrow keys moves the cursor
forward, as it should, but at the end of the line, it jumps up to the
previous, rather than down (and vice versa for the right-arrow key). I.e.,
as in Roman text.
     Although Style handles Arabic text entry and editing, it is thus not
useful for Arabic; and hardly for for European languages, at least if you
don't have a 12"+ monitor.

                Summary
I will not recommend Style in its current version. The two others are,
however, very useful contributions, although both have some drawbacks. Each
has a bug; Tex-Edit the incorrect placement of the cursor at the beginning
of the line; MuEdit defaulting to no word wrap when you open the program
with a document. You can live with both, however. Tex-Edit can be set to
Arabic as standard script, so you can open it and just start typing Arabic.
MuEdit has an orient right->left option that makes it apt for Arabic, and
which is saved with the document (unlike Tex-Edit's justification).
     As it currently stands, I have problems choosing between them. If you
use System 6, you have to choose Tex-Edit, as MuEdit requires System 7.
Otherwise, the printing bug in Tex-Edit, if it is general and not just on
my machine, would tip the scales against it; I do not fancy being stuck
with a half-inch margin. On the other hand, the Find-Replace bug in MuEdit
is serious, but can be circumvented using Paste instead of Replace. Thus,
with the faults I have found to date, I would choose MuEdit; but both are
very useful, and to be recommended.
     If you want to include Arabic in a major work, like a book, you must
still buy a commercial Arabic-compatible word processor. But for simple
things, these editors are now almost as capable as the standard word
processors; and they are free.

     Versions tested:
     Tex-Edit 1.8.1 (8 April 1993). Freeware. Recommended memory: 390K
     MuEdit 1.0d0 (9 May 1993, formerly Quill) Freeware.
     Recommended memory: 360K
     Style 1.1b3 (US) (5 April 1993). Freeware. Recommended memory: 256K
     Tested on a Mac SE/30, 8 MB. All are on Sumex, in /info-mac/app.

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19. Is there a standard Arabic alphabet representation in Latin ?

  The standard is called cat (for Classical Arabic Transliteration) and
is the work of Bassem Medawar.

  The file can be retrieved from the SoL archive by anonymous ftp to

    borg.poly.edu   in   pub/reader/text/translit/cat

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end of part1/2


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______________________________________________________________________________
Alaa DAKROUB                E-mail : [e-mail]
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