Those were the days…

byHabib Battah
Jan 11, 2014

Photo: New Lebanon

Here’s a picture of Lebanese politicians during “better” times. From the left: Samir Geagea, Saad Hariri and Sayed Hassan Nasrallah. Thousands of young fighters and innocent civilians have been killed under their combined command in dozens of battles that stretch from the 1980s to present day.

But every few years, these men–along with other former/current Lebanese warlords– suddenly become friends again, sharing jokes and smiles. And with reports of a possible new government being formed, maybe we’ll be treated to more warm and fuzzy moments in the near future.

The only problem is we never hear what jokes they are making during such meetings because cameras are allowed in such meetings for only a few minutes, and when video is broadcast (by TV stations they own), the audio is always switched off for some reason. Perhaps they are laughing about us, the people who have the most to lose from their violent policies, yet continue to elect them out of fears they propagate.

Habib Battah

Habib Battah is an investigative journalist and founder of the news site beirutreport.com. Battah has covered Lebanon and the Middle East for over 15 years and teaches journalism and media studies at the American University of Beirut. He is a contributor to Monocle, The Guardian, BBC World, Al Jazeera and others, a former fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University and two-time recipient of the Samir Kassir Press Freedom Award. Battah's investigative work was recently recognized for outstanding local reporting by the Columbia University Oakes Award for Environmental Reporting. Battah earned a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.A. in Near East Studies and Journalism from New York University.

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Who Am I?

Habib Battah is an investigative journalist and founder of the news site beirutreport.com. Battah has covered Lebanon and the Middle East for over 15 years and teaches journalism and media studies at the American University of Beirut. He is a contributor to Monocle, The Guardian, BBC World, Al Jazeera and others, a former fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University and two-time recipient of the Samir Kassir Press Freedom Award. Battah's investigative work was recently recognized for outstanding local reporting by the Columbia University Oakes Award for Environmental Reporting. Battah earned a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.A. in Near East Studies and Journalism from New York University.