Steve Jobs Syrian

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The latest jobs report shows modest growth, bringing some relief after global economic fears caused the largest one-day drop in the stock market in more than two years. But the economic picture remains mixed, as the bond rating agency Standard & Poor's downgrades U.S. debt for the first time, citing pessimism on "difficulties in bridging the gulf between the political parties over fiscal policy."

Why did the rating agency make its decision, and what impact will it have? Sunday on "This Week," Christiane Amanpour speaks with Standard & Poor's Managing Director John Chambers, who serves as chair of S&P's Sovereign Rating Committee.

As Congress leaves Washington following the conclusion of the debt ceiling debate, what can be done to improve the economic outlook going forward? Christiane speaks with Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, chair of the Democratic Governors Association, and Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee.

The "This Week" roundtable debates the resolution of the debt ceiling battle, the S&P downgrade, and the continuing struggle to create jobs for Americans out of work. Will the final budget agreement make any lasting impact on reducing long-term deficits? Can the soon-to-be-formed "super-committee" make the hard decisions needed to cut spending and increase revenues? And can anything be done by Washington to speed job creation and avoid a double-dip recession?

Christiane is joined on the roundtable by ABC's George Will and Cokie Roberts, as well as Steve Rattner, former Counselor to the Treasury Secretary and Lead Auto Advisor, Tea Party member Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), who voted against this week's debt ceiling increase, and Ariel Investment president Mellody Hobson.

Then, U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford has condemned the brutal Syrian military crackdown against a civilian uprising in the city of Hama, calling the violence there "grotesque" and "abhorrent." As international condemnation grows, what can the United States do to ratchet up pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his regime? An exclusive interview with Ambassador Robert Ford, only on "This Week."

Plus, Christiane speaks with one of the most visible symbols of the women's movement, feminist icon Gloria Steinem. From Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) to Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC), more female political rising stars are conservative than ever before.

Steve Jobs is a biological Arab-American with roots in Syria | Ya ...

Steve Jobs, arguably the most influential CEO in the world, is the biological son of an Arab American who was born in Homs, Syria, and studied at the American University of Beirut.

With accolades that include CEO of the decade and person of the year, Steve Jobs is routinely voted one of the most influential and powerful people in the world. He catapulted Apple to the world’s leading technology company through the iPod revolution and innovations that followed such as the iPhone and the iPad. The creative mind of Steve Jobs is often chronicled, including his life story as the adopted child of a modest American family.

What most fail to realize is that his living biological father is of Syrian origin. Abdul Fattah “John” Jandali emigrated to the United States in the early 1950s to pursue his university studies. Most media outlets have published little about Jandali, other than to say he was an outstanding professor of political science, that he married his girlfriend (Steve’s mother) and by whom he also had a daughter, and that he slipped from view following his separation from his wife.

An American historian, however, has now stirred controversy over the role of genes and their superiority over nurture in the case of Steve Jobs, by describing Jandali in a detailed critical article published briefly on the Internet before it was suddenly removed, as “the father of invention”, given that Jandali’s daughter Mona (Simpson) – Steve’s sister – is also one of the most famous contemporary American novelists and a professor at University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA).

The 79-year-old Jandali has deliberately kept his distance from the media.What is known about him lacks detail, and is both one-sided and a source of curiosity at the same time. Here is his story as Jandali himself told it to Al-Hayat.

Jandali in Syria

Abdul Fattah Jandali was born in 1931 to a traditional family in Homs, Syria. His father did not reach university, but was a self-made millionaire who owned “several entire villages”, according to his son. His father held complete authority over his children, authority not shared by his traditional and “obedient” wife.

“My father was a self-made millionaire who owned extensive areas of land which included entire villages,” Jandali said. “He had a strong personality and, in contrast to other parents in our country, my father did not reveal his feelings towards us, but I knew that he loved me because he loved his children and wanted them to get the best university education possible to live a life of better opportunities than he had, because he didn’t have an education. My mother was a traditional Muslim woman who took care of the house and me and my four sisters, but she was conservative, obedient, and a housewife. She didn’t have as important a part in our upbringing and education as my father. Women from my generation had a secondary role in the family structure, and the male was in control.

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