Category: Amazing Feats

Robert Purvis, Moroccan-American Who Helped 9,000 Slaves Gain Freedom

Robert Purvis.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1810, Robert Purvis was the grandchild of a woman known as Dido Badaracka. She was captured in Morocco at the age of 12 and transported to the US to serve as a slave.

According to American historian Margaret Hope Bacon, Purvis described his Moroccan grandmother as a “full-blooded Moor of magnificent features and great beauty. She had crisp hair and a stately manner.”

Purvis received his early education in Philadelphia at the Clarkson Hall, a school for black children, run by the Pennsylvania Abolition Society — one of the first organizations ever to advocate for ending slavery in the US. He also studied at Amherst Academy in Massachusetts.

Robert Purvis became a prominent officer of the American Anti-Slavery Society. He also served as president of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society between 1845 and 1850.

Robert Purvis, as the main organizer of the network, earned the nickname “The President of the Underground Railroad.”

The US Embassy in Morocco has paid tribute to Robert Purvis, an American man of Moroccan descent who dedicated his life to the abolition of slavery.

source: www.moroccoworldnews.com/yahya hatim

_____________

pix: moroccoworldnews.com

__________________________________

U.S.A / MOROCCAN-AMERICAN

Egyptian Ballet Dancer Luca Abdel Nour Wins 2nd Rank at International Ballet Competition Prix de Lausanne, Switzerland : February 2021

Luca Abdel Nour – Ballet Dancer claimed the second rank for classical ballet at the international ballet competition Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland which was held from January 31 to February 6.

Abdel Nour also won the “Best Swiss Candidate” award and the “Audience Favorite” Award.

78 dancers participated in this year’s competition. They were selected based on audition videos. 

source: egypttoday.com

______________

pix: egypttoday.com

________

EGYPT

Etihad Airways – First Airline in World with 100% of Flight Crew Vaccinated : February 2021

 Etihad Airways, the UAE national airline, has become the first airline in the world with all its operating pilots and cabin crew vaccinated to help curb the spread of COVID-19.


In January 2021, Etihad was awarded Diamond status for ensuring the highest standards of cleanliness and sanitisation in the inaugural ‘APEX Health Safety, powered by SimpliFlying’ audit.

This achievement was made possible through Etihad’s ‘Protected Together’ employee vaccination initiative which was formally launched in January this year.

Building on the UAE’s “Choose to Vaccinate” campaign, Protected Together is about helping staff take proactive, personal steps towards protecting themselves against COVID-19.

source: www.wam.ae

__________________

pix: wam.ae

________________________________________

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

UAE Makes History, Becomes 5th Nation in the World to Reach Mars. First Arab Nation : February 09th, 2021

“If you ventured in pursuit of glory, don’t be satisfied with less than the stars.”

The Iraqi poet – Al Mutanabbi’s writings were chosen by Nasa to congratulate the Hope probe project team.

Those words were chosen by US space agency Nasa in a congratulatory tweet to the UAE Mars Mission team after its Hope probe successfully entered the Red Planet’s orbit on Tuesday, February 09th, 2021.

Nasa told the UAE: “Congratulations on arriving at Mars!” before using the words quoted above.

Who is the Arab poet Al Mutanabbi ?

The man behind the words is the 10th century Iraqi poet Al Mutanabbi, considered to be the greatest in the Arabic language.

Born into a distinguished family in Kufa in 915 AD, Abu Al Tayyib Ahmad ibn Al Husayn Al Mutanabbi received an education because of his poetic talents. He is remembered in the country of his birth. A street is named after him, which is a historic bookselling centre of Baghdad. A statue of him still stands in the Iraqi capital today

source: thenationalnews.com

________________

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid personally thank staff from mission control in Dubai. / The National / pix: thenationalnews.com

____________________________________

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (U.A.E.)

Lbachir BenMohamed – Scientist, Immunologist. Cutting Edge Work on New Covid-19 Vaccine in the US

Moroccan scientist Lbachir BenMohamed is making headlines in the US for working on a universal COVID-19 vaccine — a vaccine that would work on all variants of the coronavirus, even those that have not appeared yet.

At the Institute for Immunology affiliated to the University of California, Irvine, BenMohamed is leading a nine-member research team tasked with developing a universal COVID -19 vaccine .

Vaccine on a patch

Another original concept that BenMohamed and his team are working on is the injection method of the vaccine.

While all currently-available COVID-19 vaccines are injected through a syringe, the in-development universal vaccine would be administered through a patch, similarly to the widely-available nicotine patches.

Currently:

  • Professor, of Immunology,University of California, Irvine (2014). Founder and Head of Cellular and and Molecular Immunolgy
  • Assistant Researcher, University of California, Irvine (2002)

Education:

  • Diploma – Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Alghadir, Morocco
  • Licence (Bachelor’s equivalent) – Biochemistry
  • Diploma of Advanced Studies in Immunology – University of Paris VII (aka) Paris Diderot University
  • M.S. in Immunolgy and Parasitolgy – Pasteur Institute, Paris
  • Ph.D. in Immunology – Pasteur Institute, Paris (1997)

____________

The immunologist and his team are developing a universal vaccine against COVID-19.The immunologist and his team are developing a universal vaccine against COVID-19. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) / pix: moroccoworldnews.com

_________________________________

U.S.A. / MOROCCAN AMERICAN

Dana Shubat – 2nd Arab-American Appointed by U.S. President Joe Biden as Senior Legal Affairs Advisor: January 2021

Dana Shubat was appointed by U.S. President Joe Biden to the White House Team as Senior Legal Affairs Advisor.

  • Served as Senate, Vice President of the Congressional Middle East and North African Staff Association
  • Served as Legislative aide to Colorado Senator Michael Bennet

_________

pix: english.alaraby.co.uk

___________________________________________________________

AMERICAN / ARAB-AMERICAN / JORDANIAN-AMERICAN

Maher Al Bitar – Palestinian American Appointed as Director of Intelligence Service in US National Security Council (NSC): January 2021

U.S. President Joe Biden appoints Maher Al-Bitar as Director of Intelligence Service in the NSC.

Highlights:-

  • Served as general counsel to Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee
  • Worked as Director of Israeli Occupation-Palestinian affairs on the National Security Council under former president Barack Obama.
  • Worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia
  • Worked with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in the Near East in Jerusalem.

Education:

  • Bachelors Degree : Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Sevice
  • Masters of Science : Forced Migration – Oxford University’s Refugee Stricken Centre
  • Juris Doctor (JD) – Law – Georgetown Law

____________

pix: en.royanews.tv

_____________________________________________________________

AMERICAN / ARAB-AMERICAN / PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN

Reema Dodin – First Palestinian-American to Serve as White House Staffer : January 2021

Biden appoints Jordanian-American Reema Dodin as White House Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs

Serves as Co-Deputy Director, White House Office of Legislative Affairs.

Education:

  • BA – University of California, Berkeley – Economics and Political Science (2002)
  • JD – Law Degree – University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign(JD) – (2006)

Book:

  • Book – Co-Author : ‘Inside Congress: A Guide for Navigating the Politics of the House and Senate Floor (2017)

_______________

Senate staffer Reema Dodin speaks at the Gibran Gala in 2018. (Screen capture/YouTube)

__________________________________________________________________

U.S.A / ARAB-AMERICAN /PALESTINIAN- JORDANIAN -AMERICAN

Radwa Rostom – Founder and CEO of ‘Hand Over’, a Non-Profit Sustainable Green Enterprise , Egypt

Radwa Rostom. Engineer. Social Entrepreneur. Changemaker.

Founder and CEO of ‘Hand Over’.

A non-profit dedicated to develop models to reduce the cost of construction by 50 percent or more. Ensuring construction models to bringing sustainable buildings to Egypt’s masses.

Education:

  • Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering (Civil) – Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

Awards/ Honours:

  • An Ashoka Fellow
  • Ranked by Arabian Business Magazine as No.30 of the 100 most powerful Arabs Under 40 2015)
  • Awarded a grant from the World Bank for the ‘Women for Resilient Cities’ competition (2015)
  • Winner ‘Tamayouz Excellence Award’ for Women in Architecture (2021)

__________

Echoing Green Finalist Portrait / pix: fellows.echoinggreen.org

________

EGYPT

Ouahib Timoulali, First Moroccan to Win NY Academy of Sciences Cybersecurity Challenge : June 2020

Ouahib Timoulali claimed a win in the Global STEM Alliance competition.

Timoulali is an industrial engineer from the National School of Applied Sciences (ENSA) in Kenitra.

He worked within a team of different nationalities. Their idea labeled the “Cybercastle,” won the “Cybersecurity in the Age of IoT” challenge.

First Moroccan national to win the competition in the history of the New York Academy of Sciences.

_____________

pix: moroccoworldnews.com

_____________

MOROCCO