Ghassan Aboud

Ghassan Aboud
Native name	غسان عبود
Born	(1967-08-04) 4 August 1967 Idlib Governorate, Syria
Residence	Belgium
Nationality	Syrian
Education	Damascus University, Journalism
Occupation	Journalism, trading
Years active	1991–present
Religion	Islam
Parent(s)	Mustafa, Fahima

Muhammed Ghassan Aboud (Arabic: غسان عبود‎‎; born 1967) is a Dubai based Syrian entrepreneur, philanthropist,^[1] and a founding member of the Syrian Business Council.^[2] He is mainly known as the founder of Orient Media which runs the largest pro-opposition television, radio, and online media network in Syria. in June 2011, he led and organized the first major conference of Syrian intellectuals, activists, businessmen, and civil society organizers to discuss the future of Syria following the onset of the Syrian revolution in 2011. His outspoken stance against the Assad regime, opposition to ISIS, and extensive support for humanitarian aid in Syria has made him a frequent target of threats. Following his refusal to hand over a majority stake of Orient Media to Rami Makhlouf, an influential businessman and cousin to Bashar al-Assad, Ghassan’s house and personal property in Syria were all confiscated by Syrian security forces. He has since lived in exile in Dubai and Belgium.

Personal life

Muhammed Ghassan Aboud^[3][4] was born on August 4, 1967 in the city of Idlib in northern Syria. He is married to Mrs. Nahed Nebhan and has five children (Jude – Alma – Taima – Mustafa – Ali) He attained his bachelor's degree in Journalism from Damascus University.

He moved to the United Arab Emirates in October 1992 where he first worked in the public relations field before founding the Ghassan Aboud Group, a holdings company that oversees Ghassan Aboud Cars and Orient Media.^[5]

Professional life

Ghassan Aboud began his business career in the United Arab Emirates. by establishing Ghassan Aboud Cars in the emirate of Sharjah in 1994. Ghassan Aboud Cars specialize in the re-export of cars, spare parts, and accessories and quickly grew as one of the leading regional car and accessory re-export business throughout the region. Having begun as a small family owned business, Ghassan Aboud Cars has grown over the past 16 years to employ hundreds throughout its offices in the UAE, Europe, and North America. Currently Ghassan Aboud Cars exports to nearly 100 countries with nearly 1,200 employees. Despite the Syrian government confiscation of his property, the growth of his business has some Western media outlets declaring Ghassan Aboud as "one of Syria’s most successful businessmen" In addition to his business, Ghassan Aboud has also helped establish employment programs and small businesses and tailoring workshops for female refugees who have been displaced from their homes in northern Syria.^[6]

Organizations

Ghassan Aboud Cars

This business was established in United Arab Emirates in 1994 in Sharjah. Soon it expanded its works by opening four branches in Dubai in 2002, then a branch in Syria which was recently followed by a branch in Jordan and another in Brussels, Belgium. The company then opened its new main branch in November 26 of the year 2015.

The economic activity of the organization is re-exporting of totally new cars and their spare parts.

Currently,the organization has about 1,200 employees working there, distributed among all branches.

Orient Television and Live Point Organization

In 2008 he established Orient News, a satellite channel^[7] and a TV production company LivePoint based in Dubai and Syria. His media company quickly expanded to also include bureaus in the United States, Belgium, Jordan, and Turkey. Orient News became the first full-time news channel following the 2011 Syrian revolution dedicated full-time to covering the social, political, and military dynamics of the Syrian conflict.^[8]

Orient news is one of the few regional satellite stations that maintains full-time correspondents in the field in Syria, to include on the front lines of the conflict .^[9] In 2014, three Orient news correspondents were killed when a missile struck their vehicle in southern Syria ,^[10] also the channel runs children programming to educate Syrian children,^[11] many of whom have been displaced by the ongoing conflict, that there are alternatives to conflict and violence. Orient news has also aired multiple programs and public service announcements denouncing the ISIS organization^[12] following the group’s expansion throughout northern and eastern Syria. As a result, ISIS has on multiple occasions targeted Orient news correspondents, field hospitals run by the Ghassan Aboud Group,^[13] and threatened to kill^[14] Ghassan Aboud himself.

Orient Radio

Orient Radio is a Syrian radio-station broadcasting varied content; news, economic, sports, social shows, and Arabic music. It aims to reflect what it considers as Syrian collective values, culture and daily life. The station based in Jordan and broadcasts into all provinces of Syria except for Raqqa.

Orient for human relief

Ghassan Aboud established Orient for Charity and Human Relief^[15][16] in 2012^[17] to provide medical, educational, and social services to the millions of Syrians that have been displaced or injured in the Syrian conflict. The organization runs eight large surgical hospitals in northern Syria in addition to field clinics that provide treatment for communicable diseases that have been spreading as a result of damages to the health infrastructure of the country due to the war. Orient Humanitarian provides free medical services to thousands of patients each month and employs around 450 medical specialists.^[18] Orient Humanitarian also runs a displaced camp in the city of Atmeh on the Turkish border^[19] which accommodates more than 5000 displaced individuals and their families, in addition to distributing more than three thousand tons of flour every month into areas badly damaged by the conflict throughout northern Syria. The organization receives doctors from international organizations such as the Syrian American Medical Society, USAID, and HAND IN HAND from the United Kingdom.

Orient Vision Center for Studies

Orient Vision Center is specialized at studies and researches related to Syria. It gives special care to studies of identity to country where different communities and ethnic groups coexist for so long.

The Center is concerned with field studies that attempt to monitor the daily variables that affect the Syrian life inside and outside the country, through solid scientific and academy means, such as researchers working on ground and the direct contact with the sources of the study, approving surveys and design research questionnaires and analyzing them. The Center organizes research workshops with senior specialists regarding topics linked to the Syrian status in order to achieve an objective vision that helps to recognize the quick developments of real life in Syria . The priority of the Center is specialized research seminars and open forums regarding specific topics, invited to which by the most significant specialized researchers. The Center is eager to be one of the authorized sources in understanding the Syrian reality, providing decision makers and those interested with clear vision to what really happens on the ground.

Political activities

Ghassan Aboud^[20][21][22] does not belong to any political parties or Syrian opposition coalitions. He organized the first conference^[23][24] of Syrian intellectuals, dissidents, and activists following the Syrian revolution in the Turkish city of Antalya in June 2011. He has also spoken in an annual conference held in Paris for a major Iranian opposition group. He launched a civil society initiative in 2011 to create a bloc of Syrian technocrats and businessmen to help lead the transitional phase in a post-Assad Syria. He participated in the international seminars related to Syria which were held in Tunisia, France,^[25] and California, in addition to his participation in the meeting of the Arab League in Cairo for the purpose of uniting the forces of the Syrian opposition.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ghassan Aboud.