The last time I saw Lokman Slim, the Lebanese publisher and independent activist, was a few weeks ago, on a sunny midweek day in Beirut. He was standing next to Riad Al Soloh square, the site of so many protests, smoking a cigarette, holding two pieces of paper in his hand and waiting to go inside a building housing many regional and international studios for one of his live interviews.
I was wearing my mask and several layers when I spotted him, and feared he might not recognise me through it all.
“I recognised you since I saw you taking a picture of the graffiti on the wall,” he said.
We laughed. It had been too long since we had last seen each other. I did not see him again on the way out. I also didn’t know it would be the last time I would see him in the sun.
I met Slim in 2012, as the Syrian revolution was dominating the world’s news, and criticism against Hezbollah, a Lebanese ally of the Syrian regime, was mounting. He was famous for his criticism of Hezbollah. I was a young journalist battling my way onto the scene, with so much to say. He invited me, through my boss at the time, to a round table between Lebanese and Syrian activists in Hamra, Beirut.
We soon became friends on social media. I used to admire him because, me being a recent graduate, in him I saw everything I had hoped to see in my university professors: a critical thinker, a fierce yet calm fighter with a distinguished voice, a listener. I was always amazed by the fact that Slim was a man dealing with politics every day who never interrupted me as I spoke, me the young female journalist squeezing her way into a challenging career.
After our round table, I learned that he was born in Haret Hreik, where in 1990 he founded an independent Lebanese publishing house called Dar Al Jadeed. Many of his and the Dar’s publications were deemed controversial because they stirred discussions, tested ideologies and put forth questions that conservative sections of our society often did not want asked.
He never left Haret Hreik. He continued living there to develop his work and never shied away from his causes – be they political, social or historical. Slim was an eloquent opposition figure. He knew what he was up against.
The fact that he came from Hezbollah’s own Shiite community lent an added layer of authority – but also challenges – to his already-controversial views. Pro-Hezbollah media labelled him as a “Shiite of the US embassy”, a term often used against those who reject Hezbollah’s ideology in an effort to paint them as “traitors”. They published recurring, indirect threats to him and other opposition members at the time. He responded with historical facts, tackling the political psychology of his society and referring back to something stronger that any propaganda: research with analysis based on reason.
And because politics were never enough, his love for Lebanon and Beirut’s memory was so immense that in 2004 he cofounded the Umam Documentation and Research Centre, where he and his team worked on collecting a large portion of resources to document Lebanese history. Preserving history was one of his missions, he used to say repeatedly, because Lebanon has so much history, and to him it was too precious to go to waste.
One of his main causes was to keep the memory of the missing Lebanese in the Syrian regime’s prisons alive. The Syrian revolution was also a cause that he strongly believed in; in 2016, he co-directed the documentary “Tadmor”.
I didn't know it would be the last time I would see him in the sun
In the fall of 2019, during an event in Beirut, I was moderating a panel about memory and history in Beit Beirut, a building which I knew Slim enjoyed so much. After discussing innovation, politics, technology and the memories of Syria, it was time to talk about Beirut.
When I asked him about the role of the memory in the revolution (which was still happening back then), he answered with a smile: “There is no revolution without memory.”
Thought never dies.
A few weeks later, his house in Harit Hreik was in the spotlight when a large group of Hezbollah supporters protested in his garden, asking him and his family to leave, sending them clear messages by hanging papers on the walls outside that said “Lokman Slim, the traitor agent”, “Lokman the Zionist” and “Glory to the one who silences him” – all terms that refer to what would eventually transpire today, his assassination.
Slim was a prominent personality who had no real political aspirations, but only hopes that Lebanon would remain a cultural hub and a space to maintain freedom of thought. It was, for him, a space to share even with those with whom we do not necessarily agree.
With Lokman Slim’s death, Lebanon lost a part of its memory. I’m afraid now that Lebanon is entering an era where all good memories, including those Slim strongly believed in, will be silenced or disappeared, one way or another.
Luna Safwan is a Lebanese freelance journalist who works on press freedom
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
Favourite book: Harry Potter
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UAE SQUAD
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Ahmed Raza, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Chirag Suri , Zahoor Khan
RESULTS
Lightweight (female)
Sara El Bakkali bt Anisha Kadka
Bantamweight
Mohammed Adil Al Debi bt Moaz Abdelgawad
Welterweight
Amir Boureslan bt Mahmoud Zanouny
Featherweight
Mohammed Al Katheeri bt Abrorbek Madaminbekov
Super featherweight
Ibrahem Bilal bt Emad Arafa
Middleweight
Ahmed Abdolaziz bt Imad Essassi
Bantamweight (female)
Ilham Bourakkadi bt Milena Martinou
Welterweight
Mohamed Mardi bt Noureddine El Agouti
Middleweight
Nabil Ouach bt Ymad Atrous
Welterweight
Nouredine Samir bt Marlon Ribeiro
Super welterweight
Brad Stanton bt Mohamed El Boukhari
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
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Feeding the thousands for iftar
Six industrial scale vats of 500litres each are used to cook the kanji or broth
Each vat contains kanji or porridge to feed 1,000 people
The rice porridge is poured into a 500ml plastic box
350 plastic tubs are placed in one container trolley
Each aluminium container trolley weighing 300kg is unloaded by a small crane fitted on a truck
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: ten-speed
Power: 420bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: Dh325,125
On sale: Now
The Bio
Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village
What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft
Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans
Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface
T20 SQUADS
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shinwari, Hassan Ali, Imad Wasim, Waqas Maqsood, Faheem Ashraf.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
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Other key dates
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Finals draw: December 2
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Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game): June 5–9, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-off draw: November 22, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-offs: March 26–31, 2020
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
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The Specs
Price, base Dh379,000
Engine 2.9-litre, twin-turbo V6
Gearbox eight-speed automatic
Power 503bhp
Torque 443Nm
On sale now
Tips for SMEs to cope
- Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
- Make sure you have an online presence
- Open communication with suppliers, especially if they are international. Look for local suppliers to avoid delivery delays
- Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
Courtesy: Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, which provides term finance and working capital finance to SMEs. Only SMEs that have been trading for two years are eligible for funding from Beehive.