Самир Кассир: Жизнь и трагическая гибель ливанского журналиста.

Lebanese journalist (1960 2005)

Samir Kassir (سمير قصير, 5 May 1960 – 2 June 2005) was a Lebanese Palestinian journalist of An Nahar and professor of history at Saint Joseph University, who was an advocate of democracy and prominent opponent of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. as part of a series of assassinations of anti Syria Lebanese political figures such as Rafic Hariri and George Hawi.

Samir Kassir was born on 5 May 1960. He hailed from an Antiochian Greek Orthodox family. Kassir received his degree in political philosophy in 1984. He gained a DEA (roughly equivalent to a Master's degree in the British university system) in philosophy and political philosophy from Pantheon Sorbonne University in the same year. He obtained his PhD in modern and contemporary history from Paris Sorbonne University in 1990, with a thesis on the Lebanese Civil War. The investigation into his assassination is still underway, but to date no one has been indicted. Since he had been constantly receiving threats from Lebanese and Syrian Intelligence Officers, there is widespread speculation in Lebanon that the perpetrators were the Lebanese Syrian security apparatus or remnants of this force (as Syria has claimed that all its intelligence officers were out of Lebanon; in addition, the head of the Lebanese security forces had resigned). The Syrian government has denied these charges. On 4 June, a funeral ceremony was performed for him in Beirut with the attendance of hundreds.

Kassir was married to Giselle Khoury (1961–2023), a former talk show host on Al Arabiya television, at the time of his death. He had two daughters, Mayssa and Liana, from a previous marriage.

His wife, Giselle Khoury, and a group of Kassir's friends, students and colleagues from l'Orient Express, including writer Elias Khoury, created the Samir Kassir Foundation. One of the foundation's objectives would be translating his works into English, Italian, and Norwegian. A special edition of l'Orient Express was published in November 2005 to celebrate its tenth anniversary under the title "The Unfinished Spring" and was dedicated in memory of Kassir. This project was initially Kassir's idea who was working on it before he was assassinated. A square in downtown Beirut, behind the Annahar building, was named in Kassir's honor. The EU Delegation to Lebanon and the Kassir Foundation initiated a journalism prize in 2006. Dina Abdel Mooti Darwich, an Egyptian journalist, won the first Samir Kassir Prize in 2006. The Kassir Foundation erected a bronze statue of the journalist there on 2 June 2006, exactly a year after his assassination.