Amidst disappointments… Lebanese achievements worthy of “international” status

By Jana Sader
The year 2023 was not a flat year, but witnessed many ups and downs, as well as disappointments and achievements. Between touching the bottom and starting to rise again and achieving a quasi-monetary stability, to experiencing an active summer tourism movement that restored hope to several economic sectors, and finally involving itself in a war that resulted in casualties, displacement, and a decline in the economy and tourism, Lebanon seemed, as usual, a country of all possibilities. But the human being remains the supreme possibility that was able, despite all the ups and downs, to achieve accomplishments in several fields.
Across the most prestigious global platforms, the names of Lebanese innovators emerged in various fields: technology, business, arts, social media, sports, medicine, literature, and others. Young men and women from Lebanon in the first steps of their professional journeys, or pioneers and experts in their fields, occupied advanced positions on the global stage to provide a distinctive addition to human thought. Forbes American magazine, the Arab Genius Awards, the BBC classification of the most influential women in the world, platforms that witnessed the crowning of names that Lebanon can be proud of. In this investigation, we shed light on achievements that were among the most prominent in 2023, even if some of them remained obscure.

Lina Alghamta

Building Stone and Humans

in the World of Architecture This year, several female names emerged as winners on more than one platform. Professor Lina Al-Ghatmeh won the Arab Genius Award in the category of architecture and design after presenting around 65 distinguished architectural projects around the world. It is worth noting that the Arab Genius Award is an initiative launched by the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to discover, appreciate and empower geniuses in the Arab world.

What is distinctive about Al-Ghatmeh’s work is the connection of her designs to the cultural environment of the country and her use of materials from the local environment. Museums, exhibitions and towers through which Lina Al-Ghatmeh, who has won awards from the French Ministry of Culture and the French Academy of Architecture, embodied her own architectural vision. Al-Ghatmeh had previously won the international architectural competition to design the National Museum in Estonia.

For her part, architect Carol Akkari won the Public Service Award for Interior Design at the “International Property Award” dedicated to architecture, interior design, development and real estate in Dubai. She received the highest points in the winning Arab category for her luxurious and contemporary interior design for Dr. Kosti Al-Habr’s clinic in Beirut. In addition to her specialization in interior design, Akkari is a lighting designer and landscape and environmental specialist and has been nominated for a regional property award that will soon be held in Europe.

Locally and in the world of architecture, the name of Ghada Saad, a student at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Architecture in the first branch at the Lebanese University, also stood out, as she won first place for the best graduation project in architecture at the “Jaderji Award” for architecture students in Lebanon in its 23rd edition. Saad presented an architectural project idea that focused on reformulating the concept of social housing in Palestinian communities, specifically a residential complex in the Al-Sikka neighborhood in the city of Sidon, where her idea outperformed 17 participating projects from a number of universities.

In September, Lebanon was buzzing with the news that two young students, Laetitia Fayyad and Paula Majdalani, had received a 20/20 mark for their master’s degree project at the National Higher School of Engineering in Paris (ENSA). They achieved the highest mark for a graduation project. The project focused on redesigning the Holiday Inn hotel in the neglected Saint Charles building into a modern space that could be used in a new way instead of demolishing it and erasing part of Beirut’s memory with it, as the Lebanese are accustomed to doing with landmarks that have accompanied their memory.

Sporting and human excellence

On the human and sports levels, the BBC selected Lebanese international runner Aziza Sbeity among the list of 100 women under the title “The Most Influential and Inspiring Women in the World” in 2023, alongside prominent international figures such as former US First Lady Michelle Obama and Claudia Gold, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, among others. Sbeity was chosen because she is the fastest runner in Lebanon’s history and holds the Lebanese record for the 60-meter and 100-meter races. She previously won the gold medal in the West Asian Championship and the Arab Championship, which were held during the current year.

Sbeity participated in local, Arab and international championships and competitions and won dozens of colored medals, through which she raised the Lebanese flag in foreign forums. This distinguished runner is considered a force for change in the world of Lebanese sports and a supporter of emerging sports talents despite the difficulty of the journey and the many challenges she faced, the most prominent of which was racial discrimination. Hence, she was chosen by the BBC because, in addition to her sporting role, she was able to raise awareness in society about the need for equality between citizens regardless of their color and affiliations.

The honorable achievements in the world of sports continue for the year 2023, especially on the women’s level, as the ultra-marathon runner and international champion Katia Rashed was able to achieve a great and historic achievement for herself and Lebanon by breaking her previous record of 168 km in 24 hours of running, which she set in the Asian Championship in India last year. In June, Rashed succeeded in running a distance of 201.2 km in one go in the Canadian Championship in the race held in the Canadian province of Alberta, and won first place in the women’s category and fourth place in the overall ranking (men and women), and was considered the first Lebanese runner to cross the 200 km barrier. Rashed has held the title of “Elite Runner” in the ultra-marathon races specialized in her for several years, and she is one of the most prominent in Lebanon, the Middle East and the Asian continent.

Katia Rashid and a historic achievement

Lebanese shooter Ray Bassil also qualified for the Summer Olympics, which will be hosted by the French capital, Paris, in 2024, after winning the gold medal in the Asian Olympic Trap Shooting Championship held in South Korea.

Ray Bassil

In order for men not to be absent from the list of those who excel in sports, it is necessary to mention the heroes of combat sports who excelled in the Thai capital. Hussein Qaik won the gold medal in the Muay Thai World Championship, Fadl Nasrallah qualified for the semi-finals, and Ali Badr al-Din qualified for the finals. Despite their modest training and financial capabilities, these young men put Lebanon on the world map in combat sports.

Youthful excellence

in terms of individual excellence and in a field that seems new to women in Lebanon, the name Jana Sader marked a new opening for women after Jana became the first woman/officer in Lebanon to pilot a warplane. This girl, who loved flying since she was young, decided to join the Lebanese army to become an officer. She learned to fly planes in Lebanon and in 2020 was able to pilot a warplane and land it alone for the first time. She traveled to the United States of America to train to fly other types of warplanes, and after two years, she returned to Lebanon in 2023 to begin her career flying a Super Tucano A-29 attack fighter aircraft to achieve her dream and contribute to protecting her country, as she says, despite all the challenges she faced.

Forbes magazine and the Arab Genius Award included in their lists for 2023 the names of many distinguished Lebanese people in various fields, and young people had a large share in the lists, especially in the Forbes list of successful people under the age of thirty.

Nifin Khashab

Three Lebanese names have secured a spot among six honorees from across the Arab world within the Arab Genius Awards. In addition to Engineer Lina Ghatmeh, Professor Nevin El Khashab’s name stood out in the Natural Sciences branch. This distinguished university professor has presented more than 275 research papers in the field of organic chemistry and nanoscience. Her research and innovations have contributed to the development of the field of medicine, as she has contributed to the invention of new nanoparticles that decompose automatically upon exposure to light. She has also been able to design nanoparticles according to the patient’s condition, which has contributed to making the medicine more customized for each case. The uses of the scientific innovations and smart materials developed by Professor Nevin Khashab have varied in several sectors, including at the medical, pharmaceutical and therapeutic levels, and at the industrial level, in addition to the environmental level and finding solutions for sustainable agriculture…

Fadhel Adeeb

In the field of engineering and technology, Lebanese Professor Fadel Adeeb, an associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), won the first prize in this category of Arab geniuses. Professor Adeeb has published more than 80 research papers and patents in the fields of engineering and technology, and has made notable contributions in the field of wireless sensing, including his research and innovations in the field of wireless communication, especially in identifying objects and vibrations behind walls and under rubble, which helps in rescue operations during disasters. The researcher has also contributed to the invention of sensors that operate underwater without batteries and rely on waves and vibrations to detect objects.

Hussein Ayoub

The Forbes list of successful people under 30 included nine Lebanese names in various fields, including Walid Hallani and Miss Lebanon Yasmina Zaytoun in the social influence category, in addition to the young designer Jad Hobeika and photographer Patrick Sawaya. Less famous names also emerged, but they had an impact on their surroundings, including Hussein Ayoub, who contributed through his company to developing education and creating a platform for teachers and students to exchange ideas about the needs of the labor market; Paolo Khayat, who founded a platform for selling original used clothing brands, and his company witnessed significant growth; Reine Metlaj, who works on converting organic waste into domestic gas; Hassan Jaafar, who works through his company for sustainable agricultural development to provide farmers with mobile solar energy units; and Basil Jalal Al-Din, who contributed to educating more than 16,000 students remotely using artificial intelligence technologies.

Paolo Khayat

Snowy rain

Hassan Jafar

Basil Jalal Al-Din

If the names of these people have come to light, there is no doubt that Lebanon, with its youthful talents, is still full of thousands of names that deserve awards and honors, hoping that the year 2024 will be a path to them.