Saturday, May 3, 2014

Jirge Qlooney and the Las Vegas Druze connection.

Above is a Beirut/NTSC collage of the famous Las Vegas strip sign with the Druze star on top.

In case you have been living under a rock, you'd be forgiven to know that international heartthrob George Clooney - sometimes known for his acting, most of the time known for his womanizing with dashing creatures - has gotten engaged to Amal Alamuddin a Lebanese-British barrister hailing from a Druze family in Baakline, one of the strongholds of Druze faith in Lebanon. But as the saying goes "you can take the girl out of Baakline but you cannot take Baakline out of the girl".
So, it seems our national fiance - for we have all adopted him as part of the family - has picked up a fight with Las Vegas hotel mogul Steve Wynn. And we're not talking a small skirmish over cutlery here but more like a daggers drawn all out sword fighting thing. Yeah, the big bash. You can learn all about the issue here and let it be known, Jirge Qlooney (with a Q to emphasize the Druze heavy pronunciation of the letter), did not mince his words, he called an incredibly rich man "id7 tiz" (that would be a**hole in English).
Of course this has sent the Lebanese, specifically the Druze, into a blood boiling frenzy and now there seems to be a whole diplomatic incident in the making. Forget the fact that it all originated from Wynn calling a certain Barack Obama an expletive, it's our son in law's dignity that matters here.
"Wynn bistir hayde Las Vegas?" (the Wynn was a tossed-in joke) asked the young man clad in traditional Druze clothing which includes a funky t-shirt, a sarouel and a head takiyye (quite close to the Jewish kippah) in a very upset tone as he carried with him a baton and one of the pistols kept at home.
"3tine bintna wil sohr sanad el dahr"  (translation: we gave him our daughter and the son in law is the back spine of the family) said a middle aged man who was boiling with rage, as he shut down his shop in preparation for a gathering and manifestation in support of Jerge Qlooney which heading toward the residencies of the prominent politicians of the faith (the Jumblatts and the Arslans).
Calls to boycott Wynn hotels, Las Vegas at large, imperialist America (that's a given anytime), Winnie the Pooh and "Dancing with the stars" were already issued. In case you are confused, Winnie the Pooh could or could not be related to Wynn so why take chances, as for "Dancing with the stars" its latest season features Danica McKellar who played Winnie Cooper in "The Wonder Years" (again, why take chances of her being related to Steve Wynn?) so best to err on the side of caution and boycott it.
The whole thing was best summed up by an angry matron wearing the traditional white headscarf of the faith, "Las Vegas? Ya3ni njoum? Eh ra7 farji njoum el dohr la Wynn hayda!" (Las Vegas? Doesn't that means stars? Well, I will make him Wynn guy see stars during the day").

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