Picture via HumansOfLebanon
I remember Ali back from my university years but I honestly never got into a talk with him. I recall offering him snacks and drinks from time to time but that’s about it. Rumors about Ali were that he was a Math or Physics professor at AUB before he got diagnosed as schizophrenic. Some claim that Abdullah’s mental illness was a result of the civil War, as he was tortured at the hands of a foreign army in the 1980s and he was never able to recover from the trauma. [Source]
Ali’s death has shocked many AUB students and Hamra residents and incited some to start a Facebook group for “Fighting homelessness in Beirut” so that Ali’s death doesn’t go in vain.
I don’t want to sound pessimistic here but I tried once as a student to help a homeless guy and it didn’t end so well as the guy was mentally ill just like Ali and wouldn’t accept help that easily. I did earn his trust after many visits and convinced an organization to take care of him but he didn’t want to leave his so-called home, which was a small spot under a tree on a sidewalk. I feel bad everyday that I couldn’t do more for this guy and many others but that’s the way life is sometimes.
Having said that, maybe if the AUB administration allocated a small place inside the campus for homeless people to sleep in at night, and let students donate food and clothes, then we’d have a temporary solution because finding a shelter in Beirut is not a sustainable solution.
Either way, Ali is dead now and all we can hope for is that he’s in a better place. May he R.I.P.
You convinced an organisation to take care of him? Spare us the bullshit pal! I thought that reporting false and unconfirmed news was your only flaw, but it you’re quite gifted in terms of spilling out bullshit.
I am not sure how long I should tolerate comments like that. How the hell do u know what I am talking about?
Too much hate!! What is this about? Walaw?
I have no damn clue. He probably misread and thought I was talking about Ali. I really don’t understand people anymore.
Even if this is the case, something’s really disturbingly wrong! I’m starting to worry about people myself :/
hal2ad msh 7ebib l blog shou alla jebro yfout ?:P
msh modtarr yeje yo2ra w ydayi3 wa2to … shou hal 3ade l say2a hay 😀 😛
Roy is a disturbed creature (life is not treating him well (we should help him)), he was bored so he decided to check this blog, he first read about the fake photo that was posted (mistakes happen with everybody, less probable with trusted people but it happens (inno isa a blogger posted 1000 threads, it is very probable that he will commit few mistakes)), this mistake released some of his frustration (other people are also making mistakes…).
Later on he moved to Ali’s article. While he was reading it, he became very emotional, he thought about the dead guy (who was troubled like him) and he proceeded by reading about the emotions that the writer showed towards homeless people therefore his negativity let him say the following: “whatttt??? this blogger appears to b nice and decent, I’ll destroy him…) and so he spilled his hatred in his comments…
Personally, I believe that calling a trusted association is the best you can do (for sure sheltering the homeless in your house is better, but i believe nobody can do it), it is not about the money u consumed to help (9 cents for a phone call, how silllyyy). If you can give money then give it to an association and not to the homeless who will most not probably manage it well, he might use it for drugs…
What’s “disturbingly wrong” is trying to convince us that you really gave a shit about the poor guy. Just like the rest, you walked past him without sparing a look. As for Rachelle, take a chill pill.
khaberna shou 3melt ?
Ever year, I gave Ali clothes (for winter and summer).
Every Monday, pocket money for food drinks to last a week.
What i didn’t do is “call” an organization. Wow, that must’ve cost you 9 cents ma heik?
I totally understand your frustration then. But just to be fair, I think you misunderstood Najib; he wasn’t talking about Ali himself, it was about another experience he encountered.
In addition, I think you shouldn’t judge people based on what you have done yourself.
You could have bothered and asked what I did to the homeless guy (Who is not Ali just in case you misunderstood me again!) I helped once instead of talking nonsense and spreading insults.
I went to visit him every week for months even though he was far from AUB and my home I got him clothes and food and meds and even money at some point. I used to wake up on Sundays at 6 am to go see how he’s doing before he goes out walking in the city. I forced him to quit drinking raw Arak and cut off the smoking as he was already sick. It took me weeks to get him to talk to me and listen. I even tried to contact his family and see why they left him that way and got ahold of his brother.
Meanwhile, I was looking for a decent shelter for him and I convinced one organization to take care of him and give him a room to stay in for a period of time (all expenses covered by myself and some friends) until we find him a job at some monastery or NGO or whatsoever so he stops living in the street and is taken care of.
Yup all this cost me 9 cents only and that’s one of a zillion things I did to help poor and homeless families.
I can’t believe I am actually writing this as I hate to brag about such stuff but your replies were truly disrespectful.
eh wonderful ktir mni7 iza hek Roy…its just kel 7ada howe w damiro .. w alla yer7amo bass mafina nghayer l 3alam … kell 7ada 3a add ederto aw add ma bishouf ino lmafroud yse3id …
w alla yer7amo w yse3id l 3alam …
Saint “Roy”;
I applaud you for your generosity. However; it seems your abuse of najib is unwarranted and strange. Do you know him personally? have you had bad experiences? BTW; why did you give him “pocket money”?…If you knew any better you would have contacted an NGO who specialize in helping out the homeless (or sick) like Ali. Your coins most likely would have ended up in a bottle of cheap alcohol!!
Pocket money to buy alcohol and cigarettes? 🙂
grrrrrrrrrr
Jungar msa7a bhal da2en 😛
Eh bi sharafak baleha! 🙂
Habibe, I think you should redirect your anger and relax a bit ta na3rif ne7ke
I think our comments have dragged us away from the subject here. I don’t know Ali, and I don’t think it would have made any difference in his life even if I did, he might have had some influence on mine in fact. We owe him respect rather than sympathy.
Personally, people like him make me more convinced that one should not expect anything from others and should keep struggling alone till the last breath. This is a cruel, fake, unfair, hypocrite world… No one deserves to live like this or die like this…
I only hope that what they say about the other life is true, I wish I could believe for sure that after a life of pain and misery, there is Light for people who deserve it… If Life isn’t fair, maybe Death will be.
Honestly I don’t agree with the idea abt an area in aub for homeless people, it is not logical. However, I agree with all other things uve said. Allah yer7amo
If he really was an AUB professor (and most of us are saying so). Why didn’t the administration or the community help him in some way?
I remember seeing Ali almost everyday in my AUB years (200-2004).
Honestly I don’t know what to think; if he’s homeless why didn’t anyone try to take him off the streets to a shelter where he would have a bed, clothing and food?
It’s a tragic story, that unfortunately he became a subject matter to discuss only after he died.
First of all, Ali never accepted money.
Secondly he wanted to stay on the streets, it would drive him insane if he was living enclosed in 4 doors.
And yes he will be missed because he was always there, around somewhere.
So instead of fighting just pray he’s somewhere better.
I heard on LBC that Ali Abdullah was not his real name, I only remember the first name they gave, Antoine, I think, I can’t remember the last name. They said he was Palestinian and a civil engineer. Does anyone know if he has any family, here or abroad, it seems there is an interesting story there. I wonder how many ‘homeless’ people are abandoned and forgotten by their own families in this country because they are ‘sick’ or have a mental conidtion and are too much trouble to handle.
SHAME ON US AND ON OUR CORRUPTED LEADERS