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There are quite a few folks I have come across, who regularly suffer from sporadic bouts of forgetfulness. No, not the ones who put down things in one spot and within moments, cannot recall where they had placed it — that section is too large to be discussed. Here I am referring to those of us who, when faced with a stressful situation in a public place, lose their cool and start shouting: “Do you know who I am?”

The first time I heard this loud exclamation, my heart went out to the shouter. I was quite young at the time and took everything at face value, you see. I could not quite understand why the passengers standing behind this person, who was holding up the line at the check-in counter in the airport, were not sympathetic towards him. I mean, here was a gentleman who had apparently lost his memory and was not even ashamed to admit it. Granted he was bellowing in a shrill voice — in a very shrill and angry voice actually — but that was because of sheer panic, right? Imagine not knowing who you were! Envisage a situation where you got temporary amnesia and could not remember your own self. What can be more terrifying than that? I felt very sorry for the man, I must confess, and wondered at the callousness of my cotravellers, who seemed to be irritated by the scene that he was creating.

It was only when he asked the same question for the third time that a shifty chap travelling with him, revealed the questioner’s identity. But instead of replying to him, the guy informed the check-in clerk that the amnesic was a renowned politician who was also the president and CEO of several companies. This information was followed by an underlying pause, where certain privileges like free upgrades and special treatment, were telepathically implied. 

I was too far down the queue to find out if those benefits were indeed granted. But when I got over my disillusionment I discovered that people from my home country India, frequently used that particular phrase in order to emphasise their importance. In the eyes of others, that is. 

Afterwards I witnessed belligerent men and women in all kinds of places; restaurants, casinos, five star hotels, cricket stadiums, concert halls, religious temples and so on, make the same allegation. But they always operated in pairs and it was almost like a Mutt and Jeff show where one feigned disbelief at not being recognised, and the other consequently supplied the relevant introduction. It was supposed to impress the listener and function like “Open Sesame”, so to speak.

It worked in some instances but when every second person came up with a similar assertion, the service industry got wise. In New Delhi, for example, the staff was trained in such a manner that no amount of presenting yourself with exaggerated designations cut any ice with them. They were frostily polite but stood their ground. 

Outside a nightclub in a posh suburb of the capital recently, we saw some commotion.

“Do you know who I am?” an angry voice yelled. 

“Any doctors here?” asked a burly bouncer.

“Somebody has fainted,” I predicted.

“Go and help,” I nudged my physician brother-in-law.

“I am off duty,” he mumbled. 

“Where is the patient?” he requested reluctantly.

“That lady who is screaming,” said the bouncer. 

“She has forgotten who she is,” he continued sotto voce. 

“Aha! Delhi amnesia,” my brother-in-law diagnosed.

A surprising side effect of a therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder may lead to a new approach to treating Type 2 diabetes — and offer new insights into the links between obesity and the metabolic disease that afflicts nearly 10 per cent of adults in the US.

The therapy is deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens, a structure best known for its role in motivation, reward and addiction. It now appears that deep brain stimulation also increases the liver’s and muscles’ ability to take up and use insulin, researchers reported this past week in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

That is important because the ability to use insulin effectively is compromised in most people with obesity and seriously impaired in those with Type 2 diabetes.

This curious side effect of deep brain stimulation became clear after an obese man with diabetes who had the repetitive thoughts and behaviours of OCD was treated for the psychiatric condition with a device that delivers electrical impulses into the brain.

Once the device was implanted and turned on, it prompted the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine throughout the ventral striatum, in which the nucleus accumbens sits. The patient soon noticed that his blood sugar control improved, and his daily need for insulin injections decreased by roughly 80 per cent.

The research is likely to generate renewed interest in understanding the addictive powers of food for some people and whether the brain processes behind that addiction also make people with obesity more vulnerable to diabetes, depression, heart disease and even some cancers.

“The connection between brain and metabolism is only partially understood,” said. Miguel Alonso-Alonso, who directs Harvard University’s Mind Brain Behaviour Interfaculty Initiative. Most research to date has focused on the hormonal influence of the hypothalamus, a structure adjoining the ventral striatum, on basic bodily functions, he added.

“This is a new and exciting direction with the involvement of the striatum, a key reward centre,” Alonso-Alonso said. At the same time, he cautioned that “we first need to establish the nature of this association, understand its magnitude and its clinical relevance” before the findings could be considered the basis for treatment.

That a single patient’s metabolic function improved after he got a pacemaker in the brain might have met with a shrug anywhere else. But to the Dutch authors of the new research, it was a clue that warranted further investigation.

To explore the brain’s role in metabolism more rigorously, the researchers, led by Kasper W. ter Horst of the University of Amsterdam’s Academic Medical Centre, recruited 14 patients who also had had a brain stimulator implanted at the edge of the nucleus accumbens as treatment for OCD.

None of the 14 subjects recruited had Type 2 diabetes. But even healthy people vary daily and hourly in the ability of fat, liver and muscles to take up insulin from the bloodstream and use it to convert food to energy.

This measure of metabolic health is called “insulin sensitivity”, and it is one of many metabolic functions that go awry in people with obesity. In those who develop Type 2 diabetes, sensitivity to insulin becomes so impaired that the body is tricked into believing less insulin is needed, and it pares back its production. The insulin-producing cells in the pancreas will often atrophy and die in response. As a person’s insulin production declines, an external supply of insulin is needed to control blood sugar and deliver fuel to muscles and organs.

As the researchers turned the 12 subjects’ brain stimulators on and off, they could see the subjects’ insulin sensitivity rise and fall. Metabolic function was better when their brain stimulators were turned on than when the devices were silenced.

The Dutch team ruled out that the performance improvement came from changes in other hormones that can affect metabolism, such as cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine. The action of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens appeared to be effecting the changes.

The researchers also gleaned a potentially important insight about how obesity may lead to worsening metabolic function. The effect of the deep brain stimulation appeared to be greater in the seven research subjects who were lean than it was in the seven who were either overweight or obese. Since long-term obesity is linked to changes in the striatal dopamine system, the differing responses of lean and overweight subjects suggest that those changes may start development of Type 2 diabetes.

In a further experimental group of ten healthy people, the researchers found that using drugs to reduce dopamine levels across the body generated the opposite response, decreasing insulin sensitivity.

In mice, too, the researchers explored the role of the dopamine-fuelled neurons of the nucleus accumbens. Using a technique called optogenetics, they bred mice with certain brain cells that could be activated when light of a particular frequency is shined on them.

Light stimulation of the dopamine-expressing neurons in the brains of mice “was sufficient to improve glucose tolerance” and improve insulin sensitivity, the authors reported. That suggests “a key role for striatal neuronal activity in the central regulation of metabolism ,”they added.

LOS ANGELES — The force was not with “Solo: A Star Wars Story” at the box office.

The latest instalment struggled over the Memorial Day weekend, securing $103 million in 4,381 North American locations over the four-days, according to Monday estimates. It came in way under projections, opening with $84.7 million over three days and just $148 million globally.

“Solo” represents the lowest opening for a “Star Wars” film since Disney took over the franchise starting with 2015’s “The Force Awakens”. As the first film in the sequel trilogy, “The Force Awakens” launched with a massive $248 million three-day total. A year later, “Rogue One” debuted with $155 million, while the most recent installment prior to “Solo” — “The Last Jedi” — bowed just five months ago in December 2017 with $220 million.

“Solo” did help land the best domestic Memorial Day weekend since 2014 when “X-Men: Days of Future Past” was the top film. However, it was not enough to land the highest Memorial Day opening. That title still belongs to “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”, which debuted with $139.8 million in 2007.

The second standalone “Star Wars” anthology film has received mixed reviews. It currently holds an A- CinemaScore, along with a 71 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

“Solo” was the only wide release this weekend, meaning the rest of the North American box office consists of a series of holdovers.

“Deadpool 2” slid to No. 2, where it made $55 million from 4,349 screens over four-days. That brings its domestic total up to $219 million.

In third is another heroic blockbuster, “Avengers: Infinity War”. The Marvel and Disney title’s scored $21.2 million in 3,768 locations. In five weeks, its domestic tally has topped $626 million, while globally it has made $1.9 billion.

“Book Club” landed in fourth during its sophomore outing. Paramount’s latest comedy took in $9.5 million for the three days on 2,810 screens. Its domestic total now reads $34.2 million after earning $12.5 million for the four-day weekend.

That leaves Warner Bros.’ “Life of the Party” at No. 5, with $6.9 million from 2,937 locations for the four days. Its three-day total was $5 million, while its three-week domestic grosses lands at $40.9 million.

Also in the top 10 is the little documentary —  “RBG”. The title centred on the life and career of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made $1.5 million on just 415 screens over the four-day weekend. In four weeks, the Magnolia and Participant Media film has grossed an impressive $6 million.

“Solo” still boosts the domestic box office 23.1 per cent compared to Memorial Day weekend in 2017, according to comScore. Meanwhile, the year-to-date box office is up 7.6 per cent.

Arriving to Middle East markets earlier this month and launched internationally late last year as a 2018 model, the fourth and latest generation of Audi’s full-size luxury flagship A8 model is among the most technologically advanced in the world. 

Set to introduce the world’s most advanced production car automated driving capability and other advanced features based on Audi’s Artificial Intelligence system in stages to various markets as legislation catches up to technology, the A8 debuts regionally with a new entry-level engine and the more spacious long wheelbase body. 

Imposing presence

Though longer and taller — if slightly narrower — the latest A8 is built on a frame that is lighter than its aluminium-bodied predecessor. Employing a combination of materials including aluminium, steel, carbon-fibre and magnesium, the new A8 achieves a 24 per cent improvement in body stiffness, which translates into better safety, ride comfort and handling ability. Thoroughly well appointed and equipped, the A8 L 55 version driven weighs in at 1945kg and provides generous rear legroom. Meanwhile, clever packaging ensures similarly accommodating rear headroom, despite a more rakish and coupe-like roofline than its predecessor.

With its new and huge hexagonal single-frame grille taking centre stage aesthetically, the new A8 has a more imposing and grander sense of presence. Statuesque, the A8’s grille is flanked by slim and strongly browed headlights with bisected LED elements. With flowing roofline and relatively level waistline from profile, the A8’s surfacing is meanwhile meticulously detailed, with sharp ridges and creases, and a complex bonnet shut line that rotates from vertical to horizontal. At the rear, its full width lights are a nod to the 1980s Audi 200 and original V8 models, and seem to look best with dark blue or grey colours.

Frugal and flexible

With V8 and W12 engine models not yet regionally available, the just launched A8 L 55 TFSI is, however, more than capable of delivering a swift, smooth and versatile driving experience, and is mated to a slick and quick 8-speed automatic gearbox with a broad range of close ratios to deliver good performance, consistency and efficiency. Displacing 3-litres, the turbocharged direct injection V6 engine found in the 55 TFSI features short gasflow paths and a variable geometry turbo to achieve a similar level of responsiveness as its supercharged predecessor, but with enhanced efficiency. 

With negligible turbo lag from launch, the A8 L 55 TFSI develops 335BHP at 5000-6400 and 368lb/ft throughout a broad and easily accessible 1370-4500rpm mid-range, and is able to propel Audi’s flagship from standstill to 100km/h in 5.7-seconds and onto a 250km/h maximum. Smooth, versatile and willing, the 55 TFSI accelerates with a clean and sweeping consistency from idling to redline. Meanwhile, its fuel efficiency is further enhanced by standard 48V mild hybrid system standard across the A8 model range, which contributes to a 0.7l/100km reduction in fuel consumption.

Smooth and sophisticated

Powered by regenerative braking, the A8’s 48V mild hybrid system powers ancillary systems — rather than helping to drive the car — and when fully operational, allows the stop/start system to shut down the engine from 22km/h and for brief coasting at
55-160km/h, which helps the A8 achieve low 7.8l/100km combined consumption. Not yet available regionally, the A8 48V system also powers an optional electromechanical system, which in conjunction with Audi AI, will “read” the road and adjust individual wheels through electric motors to deliver a silky smooth ride and superbly controlled handling agility. It can even raise the car in anticipation of a collision.

Driven at regional launch on Dubai roads with standard and improved five-link adaptive air suspension, the long wheelbase A8 was in its element on the largely smooth and fast roads. Reassuringly stable and planted at speed and through sweeping bends, the A8 felt settled and buttoned down on rebound and over imperfect surfaces, and seemed to smooth out road textures without feeling distant or disconnected. Through corners, its steering was direct and quick, while body control was taut and flat. Inside, its ride is comfortable and well refined from noise, vibrations and harshness.

Committed and comfortable

Fluently adapting to road surface textures, the A8 is more than just a comfortable cruiser, but also offers tenacious traction and committed road-holding owing to its standard Quattro four-wheel-drive. Able to distribute power between front and rear, the A8’s Quattro system allows for confident cornering stability. Meanwhile, numerous electronic driver assistance systems help maintain safety and stability, and though not available regionally at launch, the A8 host of advanced systems include an optional four-wheel-steering system, which allows it to handle and manoeuvre with the agility of a considerable smaller car.

Spacious and luxurious inside, the A8 is finished with fine woods, leathers a

nd metals and seems well assembled with not audible squeaks. Space is generous and seat adjustability accommodating front and rear, while visibility is good for this segment, and is aided by numerous camera, radar and sensor based systems. Designed with an emphasis on horizontal lines, the A8 is tasteful and uncluttered inside, and features a configurable instrument panel and twin infortainment screens with heptic feedback touch buttons.

As for its most advanced system, when it becomes optionally available, the A8’s level 3 autonomous driving capability will allow the car to stop, start, steer and brake without constant monitoring, at up to 60km/h under the right conditions.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Engine: 3-litre, turbocharged, in-line V6-cylinders
• Bore x stroke: 84.5 x 89mm
• Compression ratio: 11.2:1
• Valve-train: 32-valve, DOHC, direct injection
• Gearbox: 8-speed automatic, four-wheel-drive
• Ratios: 1st 4.714; 2nd 3.143; 3rd 2.106; 4th 1.667; 5th 1285; 6th 1.0; 7th 0.839; 8th 0.667
• Reverse/final drive: 3.317/3.076
• Drive-line: self-locking centre differential, optional limited-slip rear-differential
• Power distribution, F/R: 40 per cent/60 per cent
• Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 335 (340) [250] @5,000-6,400rpm
• Specific power: 111.8BHP/litre
• Power-to-weight: 172.2BHP/tone (unladen)
• Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 368.8 (500) @1,370-4,500rpm
• Specific torque: 166.9Nm/litre
• Torque-to-weight: 257Nm/tone (unladen)
• 0-100km/h: 5.7-seconds
• Top speed: 250km/h (electronically governed)
• Fuel consumption, urban/extra-urban/combined: 10.3-/6.4-/7.8-litres/100km 
• CO2 emissions, combined: 178g/km
• Fuel capacity: 72-litres
• Length: 5,302mm
• Width: 1,945mm
• Height: 1,488mm
• Wheelbase: 3,128mm
• Track, F/R: 1,644/1,633mm
• Approach/departure angles: 14°/13.7°
• Aerodynamic drag co-efficient: 0.27
• Luggage volume: 505-litres
• Unladen/kerb weight: 1,945/2,020kg
• Steering: Electric-assisted rack & pinion
• Turning Circle: 12.9-metres
• Suspension: Five-link, adaptive air dampers
• Brakes: Ventilated & perforated discs
• Tyres: 265/40R20

Canadians who cannot afford to eat regularly or to eat a healthy diet have more than double the average risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a study suggests. 

To reduce the burden of diabetes on individuals and the national healthcare system, policymakers should consider intervening in this pathway early by reducing food insecurity, the study team urges in the journal PLOS ONE. 

Household food insecurity is defined as having uncertain or insufficient food access due to limited financial resources. Being on a limited budget may result in having to rely on cheaper, high-calorie foods that contribute to weight gain and the risk of chronic disease, the authors write. 

“Increasingly, food insecurity is being recognised as a significant social and health problem in Canada, but there isn’t a great deal of evidence that has linked food insecurity to the risk of future chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes,” lead author Christopher Tait told Reuters Health in an e-mail. 

Tait, a researcher at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, and colleagues analysed data from a 2004 national health survey. Survey participants were representative of 98 per cent of the Canadian population, and the analysis focused on 4,739 men and women over age 18, including 277 who were classified as food insecure. 

The study team also matched these people to a national database of people diagnosed with diabetes through 2016, making for an average of nearly 12 years of follow-up. 

People who were food insecure at the time of the original survey tended to be younger, female, non-white, lower in income and had lower-quality diets compared to food-secure individuals. Food-insecure adults were also more likely to be smokers, less physically active and obese. 

By the end of the follow-up period, 577 participants had developed type 2 diabetes. Those who were food-insecure had 2.4 times the risk of those who were not. When researchers accounted for obesity, the diabetes risk was still two-fold higher with food insecurity. 

The findings speak to the importance of understanding the health burden associated with food insecurity, which has been steadily increasing in Canada over the past decade, Tait said. 

“Our findings also emphasise the need to continue to monitor this important marker of economic deprivation. This is particularly relevant given Statistics Canada’s decision to make food insecurity measurement optional at the provincial-level as of 2013, which may be a missed opportunity moving forward, he added.

Testing strategies for reducing rates of household food insecurity will be important, Tait said, citing the Ontario Basic Income Pilot as an example of such a strategy. Also, he said, efforts are needed to meaningfully address the broader systemic factors that shape food environments, access and availability. 

It’s well known that high and frequent intake of fast foods and processed foods are related to increased risk of obesity, unhealthy blood fat levels and diabetes type 2, among other diseases, said Sandra Arevalo, director of nutrition services and community outreach at Community Paediatrics, a programme of Montefiore and The Children’s Health Fund in New York City. 

“What I have seen in my practice in the South Bronx, located in the second poorest congressional district in the US and working with the NYC homeless, is that people who are food insecure consume more foods with low nutritional value, which are more affordable,” said Arevalo, who wasn’t involved in the current study. 

“Healthier foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, low-fat milk, lean cuts of meat and low-sodium foods should be subsidised as a measure to prevent the increasing incidence of diabetes type 2 and to support diabetes control among patients,” she said in an e-mail. 

More diabetes prevention programmes and diabetes self-management education that includes points for selecting healthier foods, shopping tips to save money, meal planning and cooking classes are needed, Arevalo added.

SUGAR: a simple five-letter-word that spells out CHAOS to my system every time I allow myself to indulge. I wake up every morning telling myself “this is the day I will quit eating any sweets”, only to find myself breaking my promise by sundown! 

The magnetic pull that sugar has on us is nothing to ignore. It is more than a matter of willpower. It is more of an addiction that is very difficult to break. I have discovered that the more I have of it, the more I want sugar. Sometimes it’s best to just stay away from it.

I am not joking when I tell you about sugar addiction. I didn’t think I had a problem as I was doing quite well until I ran into some stressful situations that caused me to reach for comfort foods high in sugar. This is called Emotional Eating and it does serve a purpose as it temporarily takes our minds off of the stressful situation we are trying to avoid thinking about. The problem is that only works for a little while; the sugar ends up giving some of us a migraine on top of the weight gain and other inflammation issues.

You would think that the negative side effects to sugar consumption would stop us from reaching for more, but unfortunately the opposite is true.

Because it’s addictive and like any addiction it’s not easy to break. It takes hard work and persistence to quit this dangerous habit and it’s not going to happen overnight. 

10 sugar-fighting tips

I now start my day with plenty of water, drinking two glasses before I head out to work. Staying hydrated helps cut my sugar cravings, especially if I squeeze some lemon into my water.

I avoid buying sweets in the first place. The supermarket is my first line of defence. I know that once that sugar enters my home territory, I’ve lost that battle! Better to leave those temptations on the grocery shelf!

I satisfy my sweet tooth with fresh fruit that is packed with nutrients that benefit my body.

If I indulge in sweets, I opt for the lighter varieties that have zero corn syrup and no artificial sweeteners.

There’s no reason I need to eat an entire cake! A tiny sliver satisfies me. So I abide by the three bite rule and then put my fork down. Nothing tastes better than the first three bites anyway, so why bother eating the rest when you can save those calories! I walk it off or dance it off! When I consume something sweet I get moving so that I can start burning, instead of storing those empty calories. 

Whatever I do, I don’t quit. Even when it’s not my best day and I can’t resist staying away from sugary sweets. I make sure to give myself credit for the positive things I did instead of just focusing on the negative aspects.

We were invited to a dinner feast and I wasn’t supposed to touch the 20 things on the dessert table, but I broke down and let myself have the one item I really wanted. It was a very tiny piece and I sat down and enjoyed it, and I was proud that I didn’t do what I did last year when I loaded my dessert plate with every selection offered. So as far as I’m concerned, that’s 100 per cent improvement in my book!

Instead of dreaming of sweets at my events, I focus on the sweet conversations I want to have and let the highlight be the social aspect to take my mind off food. Talking to people costs zero calories! And if you’re worried that you won’t find any sweet people to talk to, then you can just call it a “Sweet & Sour” event and just add the sweetness yourself! I have some fun with it and try to get to know people better by asking questions and really be interested in what’s going on in their lives. That keeps my mind off the dessert table. Just think, you get to decide between listening to your neighbour’s latest drama or gain another kilo eating that kunafeh!

I keep making myself accountable. I don’t let myself off the hook. I’m only cheating myself if I sneak sugar, I sip on herbal tea to help me through the winter blues instead of reaching for the sweets. Especially on the days when I seek comfort, there’s nothing more relaxing than a hot cup of camomile tea as I curl up with my favourite book.

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

PARIS — Still looking for the secret to effortless weight loss? It may be as simple as chewing gum while walking, Japanese researchers suggested on Saturday.

In experiments, they said, the heart rate of 46 people, aged 21 to 69, increased when they were given gum to chew while walking at a natural pace.

And while masticating caused a measurable physical difference in participants of both genders and across all age groups, it was most pronounced in men over 40, the team reported at the European congress on Obesity in Vienna.

“Combining exercise and gum chewing may be an effective way to manage weight,” the researchers said — particularly in countries such as Japan where walking is the “most widely performed movement”.

Previous research had found that gum chewing boosts heart rate and energy expenditure in people at rest.

This was the first study dedicated to studying its effects in people while walking, its authors said.

Volunteers completed two walking trials, each 15 minutes long.

In one they chewed two pellets of gum that contained three kilocalories. In the other, for comparison, they walked after ingesting a powder containing the same ingredients as the gum.

The team then measured participants’ resting heart rate and walking heart rate in both legs, as well as the distance they covered at a natural pace, walking speed, and the number of steps taken.

In all participants, the mean heart rate was “significantly higher” in the gum trial, said the researchers.

In men over 40, it also boosted the distance walked, number of steps taken, and energy expended.

Though the study was not designed to explain the link, the team speculated it may have something to do with “cardio-locomotor synchronisation”, a natural phenomenon whereby the heart beats in rhythm with a repetitive movement.

Obesity has become a global scourge. It increases a person’s risk of developing heart disease and stroke, diabetes, and certain cancers.

Born in Jerusalem, Born Palestinian: A Memoir

Jacob J. Nammar

US: Olive Branch Press/Interlink, 2012

Pp. 152

This book is both charming and painful to read. It is also very instructive: It dovetails with the overall Palestinian narrative of dispossession and ethnic cleansing, yet also conveys a unique experience.

Born in 1941, Jacob Nammar had almost seven years of normal, somewhat idyllic, childhood in a big, close-knit, Christian family in Baq’a, a new quarter built outside the Old City walls on the western side of Jerusalem. He begins with a beautiful account of their way of life: his mother’s delicious, fresh food; her enchanting storytelling; playing in the nearby woods; visiting friends in Battir village; trips to the communal bathhouse and occasionally to the cinema; and the exciting tales brought home by his father who travelled throughout Palestine and farther afield, driving a tourist bus. 

Though neither of Nammar’s parents had a formal education, they spoke multiple languages, as did he and his siblings. Most significantly, they had well-defined cultural and spiritual values: “They emphasised the Ten Commandments and the traditional Palestinian value of respect for others, irrespective of their religion, race, or ethnicity. They taught us not to hate but to love everyone as children of God, and to believe in ‘karamah’—dignity and generosity.” (p. 18)

Telling his story in retrospect from his adopted home in the USA, where he emigrated as a young man, the amazing thing is that Nammar recounts the next phase of his life — the 1948 Nakba and its consequences — so vividly but without hate. While clearly delineating the injustices done to his family, parallel to the catastrophe inflicted on the Palestinian people as a whole, and his outrage at the ethnic cleansing that is still going on, he did not stop living by the values his parents taught him.

While in some ways the Nammar family was very typical, in other ways they were exceptional. Jacob’s mother was Armenian and a divorcee, and his father married her despite the opposition of his extended family, something which was not very common at the time. 

In the foreword, Palestinian scholar Salim Tamari notes that the extended Nammar family was the only family in Jerusalem after whom a neighbourhood was named. More crucially, while most Palestinians living in the western sector of the city and its environs were expelled eastwards, Jacob’s family remained on the western side of the city, though not in their own home. 

Nammar poignantly describes how he was affected by the violence that led up to the creation of Israel: an attack on his school bus as it passed the Montefiore Jewish Colony, killing two classmates; the Irgun blowing up the King David Hotel where his brother worked; the Deir Yassin and Dawayma massacres. When Zionist militias began attacking the Palestinian suburbs on the western side of the city, most of the neighbours fled. Jacob’s parents were determined to stay, but as the war came closer, opted to seek temporary refuge at the German Colony Hospital. On the way, his father and oldest brother were abducted by Zionist soldiers. When the rest of the family returned to their home about a week later, they found it looted and vandalised. 

The Nammar family experienced a peculiar version of the Nakba: under a military administration law, they were forced to relocate to an unfinished, primitive apartment building in a fenced security zone which Nammar terms: “a ghetto and a large open prison camp, surrounded by eight feet of barbed wire, with armed guards preventing anyone from leaving or entering. There was no communication with the outside world… we became a minority under siege and an extension of the war. We were innocent young children, yet we had to learn to survive as individuals. We measured our ability to sustain ourselves by the way we supported each other and stayed strong as a family”. (p. 62)

Thus began a time of poverty, dependence on UNRWA rations, lack of schooling and Shin Bet harassment. After some years, Nammar’s older brother and later his father were released and reunited with the family, but his father was never the same again. 

Nammar’s account of the ensuing years exemplifies how the racism inherent in Zionism precludes coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis and slams the door in the face of Palestinian success. Eventually, Jacob and his siblings were able to return to school and found various jobs to keep the family afloat, but virtually all were to lose these jobs due to discrimination. For his part, Jacob had many Jewish friends and excelled in sports, especially swimming and basketball. He was selected for the Israeli National Basketball Team and ranked the seventh best player in the country, but as preparations for the Olympics were under way, he was abruptly dropped from the team. Ironically, at games, there were those who yelled at him: “Go home!” 

Nammar’s memoir is both a celebration of Jerusalem’s multiculturalism long before the term became fashionable, and an indictment of the racism and ethnic cleansing that have reversed the city’s historical legacy. Above all, it is a deeply human story of a Palestinian family who did the best they could in extremely trying circumstances.

SAN JOSÉ, California — A Federal Court jury on Thursday ordered Samsung to pay Apple $533 million for copying iPhone design features in a patent case dating back seven years.

Jurors tacked on an additional $5 million in damages for a pair of patented functions. The award appeared to be a bit of a victory for Apple, which had argued in court that design was essential to the iPhone.

The case was keenly watched as a precedent for whether design is so important that it could actually be considered the “article of design”, even in a product as complex as a smartphone.

“We don’t think it is supported by the evidence,” Samsung Attorney John Quinn told US District Court Judge Lucy Koh after the verdict was read in her courtroom in Silicon Valley.

“We have every concern about the determinations about the article of manufacture.”

Quinn declined an offer by the judge to send jurors back for further deliberation, saying Samsung would pursue post-trial motions to address its concerns about the verdict.

Juror Christine Calderon said the panel agreed that one of the design patents — the grid of coloured icons — did represent the whole phone, while the other two at issue in the trial were seen as the display assembly that gave the iPhone its look.

She compared it to the Mona Lisa: “You use the paint, but it is not the article of manufacture.”

“I had to really think about it,” the 26-year-old Calderon, a technical writer, said after Koh dismissed the jury.

“We kind of felt like we ended up at a happy medium.”

Long legal road

The case had been sent back to the district court following a Supreme Court decision to revisit an earlier $400 million damage award.

Apple reasoned in court that design was so integral to the iPhone that it was the “article of manufacture” and worth all the money Samsung made by copying the features.

The lower figure sought by the South Korean consumer electronics titan would have involved treating the design features as components.

The jury had been asked to determine whether design features at issue in the case are worth all profit made from Samsung smartphones that copied them — or whether those features are worth just a fraction because they are components.

Apple argued in court that the iPhone was a “bet-the-company” project at Apple and that design is as much the “article of manufacture” as the device itself.

The three design patents in the case apply to the shape of the iPhone’s black screen with rounded edges and a bezel, and the rows of colourful icons displayed.

Samsung no longer sells the smartphone models at issue in the case.

Two utility patents also involved apply to “bounce-back” and “tap-to-zoom” functions.

An original trial finding that Samsung violated Apple patents preceded a lengthy appellate duelling over whether design features, such as rounded edges, are worth all the money made from a phone.

Technology versus style

Samsung challenged the legal precedent that requires the forfeiture of all profits from a product, even if only a single design patent has been infringed.

The US Supreme Court in 2016 overturned the penalty imposed on the South Korean consumer electronics giant.

Justices ruled that Samsung should not be required to forfeit the entire profits from its smartphones for infringement on design components, sending the case back to a lower court.

“Today’s decision flies in the face of a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in favour of Samsung on the scope of design patent damages,” the South Korean company said in response to an AFP inquiry.

“We will consider all options to obtain an outcome that does not hinder creativity and fair competition for all companies and consumers.”

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

The key question of the value of design patents rallied Samsung supporters in the tech sector, and Apple backers in the creative and design communities.

Samsung won the backing of major Silicon Valley and other IT sector giants, including Google, Facebook, Dell and Hewlett-Packard, claiming a strict ruling on design infringement could lead to a surge in litigation.

Apple was supported by big names in fashion and manufacturing. Design professionals, researchers and academics, citing precedents like Coca-Cola’s iconic soda bottle.

The case is one element of a $548 million penalty — knocked down from an original $1 billion jury award — Samsung was ordered to pay for copying iPhone patents.