Amal's father biography published. Interesting stuff!

I've never seen this photo before. Great find. I'm not normally a fan of facial hair but I loved Clooney's goatee the best. His facial expression, though!! I don't know if they just caught him before he could smile or if he was bone arse tired here.

Ps- it took my old self several tries before I discovered the link to convert this article into English! It is very interesting. I had to laugh at the part about how he didn't like Amal dating George at first.
I also enjoyed the story of how their relatives were offended that they didn't get invited to the wedding in Venice and they had to hold another event afterwards. Lol.
Good find, Party Animal!

Ida - Where did you find the translation link? I've tried but can't find it.

LizzyNY wrote:Ida - Where did you find the translation link? I've tried but can't find it.

Furthest upper left corner of the page (left to the word pdf), click on that. It will give you the option of several languages.  I clicked English and then it took me to their main page.

When I went back, the article had the option at the bottom for English and I was able to read it.

Thanks.It worked. I was able to read the site in English, but I couldn't find the article! Did it just come up or did you have to look for it? I tried a few sections, but no luck. I'm giving it one more try before I give up.

LizzyNY wrote: Thanks.It worked. I was able to read the site in English, but I couldn't find the article! Did it just come up or did you have to look for it? I tried a few sections, but no luck. I'm giving it one more try before I give up.

Try clicking on the 3 horizontal dots on the upper right hand side of the page. You should get the option to open in a new browser.  Hit that. You should get the chanceat the bottom of screen to translate into English.

Supplements culture
   
The memoirs of Amal Alam El Din Clooney's father... combine the personal and the public and chronicle an aspect of Lebanese life
“Ehki Sis” will soon be published by “Dar Nelson” in Beirut
Wednesday - 3 Shawwal 1443 AH - 04 May 2022 AD Issue No. [15863]

Ramzi Alamuddin with his daughter Amal and son-in-law George Clooney
Beirut: Sawsan Al-Abtah
Ramzi Alamuddin proves, in his book “Ekki Sis” that it is not necessary to be a devoted writer, with a supernatural style, in order to write a book that reads like falling water, all at once, from boredom, or a desire to stop or even take a break.
I was initially interested in the book, because its author is the father of lawyer Amal Alamuddin, who turned into one of the most famous women in the world after marrying Hollywood star George Clooney. But the surprise, in addition to what I searched for, was that circumstance and spontaneity, in which the man narrated, a biography full of adventures, travels, and the relationships that linked him with great writers and poets such as Said Akl and Nizar Qabbani, in addition to politicians such as Salim al-Hoss, this is except for his company For his uncles, especially the writer Saeed Taqi al-Din, who has been with him for nearly ten years and is deeply affected by his personality, even his style. The author says: "I loved writing, but I did not find enough time to write, and express what was in my mind." He describes his book as "the first and certainly the last".
The first and second marriages
talk about his first marriage to Asma Mustafa Fathallah, from whom he had his two sons, Ziyad and Samer. Then he discovered: “She loves reading and museums, and I love sports and social activities. Our parting was on an understanding.” Hence his second and 'last' connection brilliantly. “I met Baria Meknes when she was working as an editor at Dar El Sayad. She came to me to write an extensive article about the project in which she participated... She came with beauty for the first time, and we started talking... After she came several times to write about the project... We agreed to fall in love, and it was the beginning of a journey that ended in a happy marriage. The couple had two daughters: Amal and Tala.
The writer is keen to keep a smile on his reader's gap, choosing from his life its funny clips, even turning it into humor. He limps on his wife's lack of skill in driving a car. "She was calling me on the road asking for help to get her out of trouble because of her driving... I remember once I went to check on her and see what the problem was, so the car was stuck on a rock 5 meters high...".
Amal’s difficult birth,
and when his wife was pregnant with her daughter Amal, he first heard about placenta previa, or placenta previa, and they were both living in Dubai. After several weeks in the hospital, he preferred to transfer her to the American University of Beirut Hospital, although the doctors warned him of a danger to her life and the life of the fetus if any bleeding occurred while she was on the plane.
“We put our trust in God and I prepared a complete plan for transportation - Abella ingeniously lifts to the plane by the food ladder… A doctor and nurses travel with us to Beirut. 6 first class chairs for the delegation.
(Middle East) has secured everything in Dubai, during the flight, and in Beirut, when we arrive her doctor is waiting for us at the door of the plane. After all these preparations on the plane and before take off, Baria asked to be taken to the bathroom!!! Knowing that she should not move. What do we do? We take her to the bathroom!!! All is well...thank God.”
The mother arrived well at her home in Beirut. “This scene almost made us cry, as it was the first time in weeks that she had left the hospital with a master! After several days, we had to transfer her to the hospital again because she was subjected to severe bleeding... Our beloved Amal came to the world on February 3, 1978... after suffering (but she is suffering from every torment!!)".
Literature sessions
The home of the businessman and his wife, a brilliant journalist, was a shrine to many poets, writers and artists. “Our relationship with Fairuz, our ambassador to the stars, and with poets Nizar Qabbani and Saeed Akl, artist Omar Khorshid, Magda Al Roumi, Wadih Al Safi and Hani Muhanna, was close. And the atmosphere of our house increased with joy when Magda (she was only twenty years old) sang for us or Omar Khurshid played melodies on his guitar. And it increased brilliance when we listen to Nizar Qabbani and Saeed Akl reciting the most beautiful verses and the most beautiful poems. "Nizar used to say in front of friends and visitors in our house that whoever has accounts or concerns that worry him should go to the balcony, but here our topic is poetry." The book deals with the injury of Nizar after the murder of his wife, Bilqis, in the explosion of the Iraqi embassy in Beirut during wartime, and then the relationship of the Alamuddin family, who trusted him and his daughter Hadba, after the two families moved to London. The poet Said Akl described him as "an influential figure and a great dreamer".
- The day Fairuz sang at the embassy
He remembers that a dinner invitation was given by Fairouz to the Kuwaiti ambassador to Lebanon, Abdul Hamid Al-Baijan. “Shortly before dinner, Fayrouz came to the phone and dialed the number of one of them, then she said to His Excellency the Ambassador: With your permission, I invited the artist Philemon Wahba. The presence of Philemon Wahba, his wit, and his distinguished playing on the lute had the presence of pepper in the food. Fayrouz sang on that evening as she had never sung before, she sang and did well on “Warqa al-Asfar, the month of September” and “The People Asked Me.” He describes that evening as “one of the most beautiful days of my life.”
When his daughter, Tala, was born, “they were puzzled by what they call her: the poet Said Akl suggested to us the name Randali. As for Assi Rahbani, he suggested that he call it (summer or winter), and the poet friend Nizar Qabbani said, rather (Nada). But the friendly Iraqi novelist Daisy Al-Amir suggested the name (Tala), and so it was.
- Testimonials of friends
The writer devotes pages to his uncles and aunts, George Clooney, Amal's wedding and his eightieth birthday, which Amal set up for him in her home in Italy and gathered all the family for him, and other pages for travel and the adventures he experienced, in addition to testimonies from his friends, including Nidal Al-Ashkar, colleague Samir Atallah, Marwan Iskandar, and his daughter Thala and his wife. Among the anecdotes of the book is the publication of Alam Al-Din for his epithet as he envisioned it and wrote it with his own hand, as well as many family photos. Pages for his children, Samer and Ziad, Tala who entered the world of fashion design, and then Amal, who he describes as "since entering the first primary school in Britain, she has proven her worth and superiority." He is proud that she became one of 12 women named by Time magazine as "Woman of the Year". In this way, he resembles his uncle, the writer Saeed Taqi al-Din, who used to say to his daughter: “I do not want them to say that you are the daughter of Saeed Taqi al-Din, but rather that they say this is the father of Diana Taqi al-Din.”
- Crazy about George Clooney
Ramzy Alamuddin had not heard of George Clooney, before he saw the picture of his daughter with him published in the newspapers. He writes: “The news shocked me. A photo of Clooney and his two daughters, Amal, in a taxi after they had dinner at a restaurant. I went crazy, and I said in front of Tale that I can't stand it... My daughter is accompanying a famous actor. This is not permissible. And I informed Amal of my opinion of this.”
After a short period of time, Amal called him to learn that George would like to get to know him and invite him to visit him in Italy to play golf together. “I told her that I am the son of a mountain, so if he wants to get to know me, he should come to me... Since Lebanon was unsafe for him, we agreed to meet in a neutral place with my wife’s family (the Meknes) in Dubai, and so it was. After spending three days together, he found him. Full of descriptions, handsome, intelligent, humble, generous, loving, loyal and digestible.”
Absorbing the curse after Amal and Clooney's wedding
As for the famous wedding party in Venice, it caused many problems, because the newlyweds decided to invite only 100 people, from the closest people. Ataba is the writer's American-based cousin. “She asked me to invite her and I apologized. She asked me to send her an invitation, and she will not come, to show it to her friends, so I said to her: But what if she breaks the promise? She said, "I promise I will not come."
To satisfy the admonishers, "we had to hold a dinner in England after the wedding for more than 250 people... where we absorbed some resentment for not inviting them to the wedding in Italy."
Ramzi Alameddine traveled a lot, and he had wings that could take him where he wanted, but he chose to live between Beirut and his house in the Chouf: “I used to and still love Baakline and its people very much, and I enjoyed hearing the Druze qaf crackling!! I also enjoy the beauty of its nature, its tall trees, and its fresh, dewy air.”
- love of sports
The book opens by speaking about his father, Sheikh Khalil, who was director of the American University Hospital in Beirut for 33 years, and before that he was the mayor of Baakleen and a professor of mathematics, and his mother, Adal Taqi al-Din, the older sister of six men, Khalil, Bahij, Munir, Badi’ and Nadim, and they used to call her the Minister... and they were all known and assumed great positions. A lover of sports of all kinds. “I kept persevering in sports, creating time to play tennis, which I loved. After a while I turned to playing golf. But I noticed that the older the person got, the smaller the ball. So from basketball to football to tennis to golf.” He decided, since graduating, to never seek a job.
He started his life by establishing a travel agency in Beirut, and he does not know anything about the profession. Nevertheless, he worked hard and managed to bring tourists by charter planes from Finland. He was elected President of the Travel and Tourism Syndicate in Lebanon, and Vice-President of the Union of Arab Tourist Organizations. He was elected as a member of the Executive Committee of the World Travel and Tourism Federation (UFTA), then Vice President, and then Treasurer of this global institution. He also worked as a lecturer in tourism in several Lebanese universities.
These memoirs, issued a few days later, by "Dar Nelson" in Beirut, are for a man of intelligence, spontaneity and experience, which makes it a pleasure to read. In a humorous and light way.

I remember the story that George was in Dubai.

Ida - Thank you so much. I had pretty much given up on reading the article. I've been dealing with an Instagram troll all day and just didn't have the patience to hunt for this again.

It's interesting how his opinion of George changed after meeting him. George must have really turned on the charm. That he found George "digestible" (that has to be a Google translation! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] ) is hilarious!