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Steve Jobs, an Arab Muslim, Irreplaceable Icon
By siliconindia
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Friday, 07 October 2011, 16:17 IST |
33 Comments
Bangalore: Abdul Fattah Jandali, a young Syrian Muslim immigrant in Wisconsin, never met his son Steve Jobs. When a baby was born to the 23-year-old Jandali now known as John and his 23-year-old German-American girlfriend, Joanne Schieble, in 1955, there was no chance he'd be able to grow up with his biological parents.
An article written by Shirin Sadeghi, former producer, the BBC and Al Jazeera made this interesting revelation revolving Steve Jobs life.
Joanne, who belonged to a white, conservative Christian family, could not convince her parents to marry an Arab, a Muslim, according to Jandali, who called her father "a tyrant". In fact, according to Jandali, she secreted off from Wisconsin to liberal San Francisco to sort out the birth and adoption without letting either him or her parents know.
The nameless Arab-American baby was adopted by an American family. Clara Hagopian and her husband Paul Jobs had been married around seven years and had not been able to conceive. The little bundle that would be Steve was very much wanted in the Jobs household.
Steve Paul Jobs grew up without ever knowing his biological father. It seems he had no interest in knowing him later in life, either.
In August 2011, the London tabloid The Sun, contacted Jandali, he publicly reached out to Steve saying, "I live in hope that before it is too late he will reach out to me. Even to have just one coffee with him just once would make me a very happy man." But Steve never replied. Less than two months later, he has passed away.
One wonders what Jobs knew of his background that his biological father was no ordinary Syrian. According to an interview he gave to the Al Hayat newspaper in February 2011, he was born in French-mandated Syria in 1931 in the town of Homs to a "self-made millionaire" father with no university education who owned "several entire villages" and a homemaker, traditional mother. He was one of five children the only son of a family with 4 daughters.
According to Jandali, he had no idea until just a few years ago that the baby his then-girlfriend secretly gave birth to in San Francisco was the man the world knew as Steve Jobs. But Steve must have known for decades, through his relationship with Mona.
In the August New York Post interview, Jandali tried to let his son know that he didn't know of Joanne's San Francisco plans. That he was saddened when he learned of it. "I honestly do not know to this day if Steve is aware of the fact that had it been my choice, I would have loved to have kept him," he said.
And unless Jobs's upcoming November authorized biography addresses the issue, Jandali may never know. Instead, with news of Jobs's death, Jandali has refused any further interviews about his long lost son and will always wonder what could have been. In that, he will not be alone.
