It All Started in Nazareth

Maurice N. Khoury

Description

This book gives insight into Arab business and society as related to oil wealth. It shows the impact of local and global politics on those societies.

It All Started in Nazareth is about the author’s life in Palestine, then in Beirut, where classmates, teachers and life offered wide horizons. An appointment as head of the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company at age 25 followed, with new experiences among the Jordanian elite of the time and the politics of the country.

In the 1950, 60s and 70s, the world of business in the Arab region was exciting and challenging. New job types emerged and required new approaches. The discovery of oil created unbelievable wealth, which changed economies and societies throughout the region.
During his career as a management consultant, he held jobs in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon among other places. Throughout the period of his work, political instabilities were dominant in social and business life. It was a journey of success, frustration and learning.

The Arab region has been troubled politically and socially since the victors of WWI divided the Ottoman provinces into small, weak areas of British and French influence, sowing uncertainties in the new nation-states. The resulting Middle East suffers to this day from the momentous effect of the Sykes-Picot agreement.

Sujets

• Economics
• Business
• Beirut
• Jordan

Informations

• Publié par: Archway Publishing
• Date de parution: 13 juin 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781665745185
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

IT ALL STARTED IN NAZARETH: A MEMOIR
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
MAURICE N. KHOURY
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Copyright © 2023 Maurice N. Khoury.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
 
 
Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Cover painting by Adel K. Afifi
 
ISBN: 978-1-6657-4517-8 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-4516-1 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-4518-5 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023910823
 
 
 
Archway Publishing rev. date: 06/12/2023
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I dedicate this work to Grace—my wife, my partner, and my love—and to Lulu, who prodded me, lovingly, to write.
Cape May, New Jersey
2022
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A Project of the Arab Cultural Tr ust
 
“I’ll tell you how I came to think of it,” said the Knight. “You see, I said to myself, “The only difficulty is with the feet: the head is high enough already. Now, first I put my head on the top of the gate—then I stand on my head—then the feet are high enough, you see—then I’m over, you see.”
“Yes, I suppose you’d be over when that was done,” Alice said thoughtfully: “but don’t you think it would be rather hard?”
“I haven’t tried it yet,” the Knight said, gravely: “so I can’t tell for certain—but I’m afraid it would be a little hard.”
Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking G lass
Contents
PART ONE
 
Preamble
March 8, 1946
 
Introduction
 
Life in Haifa
My Formative Years / My Immediate Family and Surroundings / Haifa, Port City and Center of Business / Our Life and Family and My Father’s Work / Our Family Origins
 
The British Mandate
Deceptions
 
Wadi el-Nisnas
Experiment with My Brother Yusuf / We Attended Parochial School
 
Nazareth
Our Life in Nazareth / Churches / The Land / Our House and Home / Childhood Games / Other Nazarene Families / We Attended Government School / Clerical Interventions / Summer Jobs / The Boy Scouts / A Crazy Act that I Regret / Changing Times / Leaving Nazareth
 
History: The Sykes-Picot Agreement
 
Beirut
Early Life in a New City / Adjusting to Property and Financial Losses
 
Academic and Other Education
I Joined the International College / Challenges and Early Jobs / I Joined the American University of Beirut / Dean Harvey Baty / Dr. Stephen Penrose and Me / Aub: Incubator of Ideas and Ideals / Aub Students’ Cooperative / Other Jobs and Continuing to a Master’s Degree
 
Jordan
Beginnings in Amman / Grace, Home, and Friendships / Anecdotes from Jordan / The Dead Sea Scrolls / Sir John Bagot Glubb, Arab Legion General / Reflections on My Early Years / Life and Work in Jordan
 
The Jordan Phosphate Mines Company
A Short History of the Company / Consulting for JPMC, 1954–1955 / Termination of Services of the Financial Officer of JPMC / Appointment as General Manager at JPMC, 1956–1958 / Candidates for Major Positions at JPMC / King Hussein’s Special Visit to Rusaifa Mines / The Monarchy in Jordan
 
The Road to Aqaba
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
 
The Muslim Brotherhood
Ideological Islamic Groups
 
Back to Amman
My Last Offcial Trip to Europe / Return to Amman by Official Invitation / Emperor Haile Selassie / Thoughts on Jordan
 
A Summary of My Consulting Jobs in Jordan
The Liquidation of the Copper Mining Company / The Marble Mining Company (MMC) / Water Distribution in Amman / The Municipality of Amman, 1956–1957 / The Jordan Electricity Company
 
PART TWO
 
Preamble
 
Management Consulting
Associated Management Consultants, SAL (AMC) / Associated Business Consultants, SAL (ABC)
 
Kuwait: Jobs in the 1960s
Adviser to General Motors and Al Ghanem, 1960–1964 / The Conclusion of Gm Work in Kuwait / The Chrysler Corporation / The Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) / Kuwait Transition and Development / The Al Ghanem Family / New Kuwaiti Currency Replaces the Rupee
 
Al-Ra’ed al-Arabi
 
Iraq-Kuwait Political Turmoil, 1961
A Kuwaiti Delegation to South America
 
Interlude
Thoughts and Miscellaneous / Jordan National Bank Looking for Investments / Iran, 1969 / Algeria, 1976
 
Saba & Company
 
Saudi Arabia, 1965–1970
General Motors / A Digression / Saudi Arabian Airlines, 1960s
 
Jordan Radio and Television
Early 1960s and On
 
ABC East Africa, 1967
Kenya / Sights and Safaris
 
About Beirut in the 1960s
Amazing Dr. Dahesh / A Tale by Visitors to Dr. Dahesh / The Beautiful Young Girl / Dr. Dahesh, Art Collector / Beirut Optimism
 
The June War of 1967 and After
 
Lebanon, 1965–1970s
Market Research / Image Studies / Partner Consulting Companies / Traffic Study, 1968 / Hotel Management / The Oberoi Family
 
The Bahrain Franchise, 1972–1975
 
The Years 1973–1976
Rania / The Market Collapse, 1973–1974
 
Beirut, 1975
The Intercontinental Hotel, Jordan, 1976
 
Lebanon: The Civil War, 1975
I Was Shot by a Sniper / The Lebanese Forces
 
Dubai Municipality, 1978
 
The 1980s
Leila, 1982 / Al-Hakawati / Nicosia, Cyprus, 1985–1989 / Intelligence Agencies
 
The Last Decade of the Twentieth Century and After
 
Lebanese Personalities
Kamel Al-Assad / Sheikh Maurice Gemayel / President of Lebanon / Salim El-Hoss
 
Beirut: Two Major Projects Entrusted to Me
The Public Corporation for Housing / The Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL)
 
The Young Men’s Club
 
APPENDICES
 
Appendix 1     Hussein–McMahon Correspondence: 1915–1916
Appendix 2     The Sykes–Picot Agreement, 16 May 1916
Appendix 3     The Balfour Declaration, November 2, 1917
Appendix 4     The British Mandate for Palestine, 1920
Appendix 5     Israeli Absentee Property Law, 5710-1950
Appendix 6     Some Twentieth-Century Wars and Coups in the Middle East
PART ONE
Preamble
This is the story of a Palestinian in diaspora whose life, times, tales, and tribulations were many and diverse, some difficult and many verging on the bizarre. I record a sequence of events that changed my life and the lives of my parents, siblings, and aunts, following a terrible incident; it became the turning point in generations of my family’s roots and home. The Greek Orthodox Church and the Melkite Greek Catholic Church records in Nazareth, supported by the Ottoman Nufus Registers, have the family’s ancestry living in Nazareth for three hundred years.
This Palestinian, in his diaspora but with roots and history in a parallel universe, tells his story.
MARCH 8, 1946
On the eve of a cold Friday, March 8, 1946, at about 7:30 p.m., armed men carrying handguns and wearing Arab garb attacked my family’s home in the old section of the town of Nazareth. All the members of our household—brothers, sister, aunts, and parents—were at home. I was in the liwan, which is the principal room closest to the side door, and in answer to a knock, I opened the door. I was startled by the sight of men carrying guns, who, without words, began shooting at me, the only target in the room. And so it happened that I bore the brunt of an attack, the purpose of which was and still is a mystery.
Without even thinking of the enormity of the task, I fought back, attacking the men, seven of them, with my bare hands. At least for the minutes that the fight went on, my young arms did not fail me. I continued fighting. Finally, I tried to force shut the door outside of which they were still standing and firing.
The door was heavy and try as I might I was unable to push it shut. For just a moment, I nearly succeeded. Shortly, I started feeling dizzy, less sure, and less in control of my legs; my steps faltered. I was struck by five bullets: three through my face, two in my chest. I was exhausted from fighting, trying to keep the men at bay. The loss of blood from the wounds made these men more aggressive and, with a renewed attempt, they pushed me inside the house and into the dining room. I fell back under the table, unable to move, and that is where I got the second bullet in my chest.
I heard my Aunt Alice calling for help out of the window. She and my other aunts were screaming in fear and confusion throughout the gun fire and calling for the neighborly help one expects. My mother had to prevent my father, a sick person at the time, from leaving his bed and going for his handgun. Shots continued to be fired. The interior glass d