Arabs adopt Steve Jobs back from US

While the world mourned the death of Apple founder Steve Jobs in California, many Syrians were quick to claim the computer genius as one of their own on Thursday through a little-known connection to his Syrian-born biological father, Abdulfattah John Jandali.

Only in recent years did Jandali, born in the Syrian city of Homs and an executive of the Boomtown Casino in Reno, Nevada, realise that the Apple chief was his son.

Many Syrians too were unaware of the connection but were quick to embrace Jobs when news broke of his death. Twitter users were quick to draw parallels with Syria’s uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, which has cost more than 2,900 lives by a UN count. “A sick world we live in when Steve Jobs has to die of cancer and Bashar al-Assad remains Syria’s cancer,” said a Twitter user, echoing sentiments of the Syrian leader’s opponents.

Others said Jobs would have been unlikely to have had such a stellar career if he had lived in the land of his father’s birth, where the Assad family has ruled for 41 years. “This is sad and we will miss a lot of his achievements, but the company will continue,” said Ali, a website designer. “If he had lived and died in Syria, he would not have accomplished anything.”