Award-winning, Beirut-based war correspondent/conflict journalist, commentator, filmmaker. Reports from the ground.
Donetsk/London/Beirut/Moscow
Joined December 2010
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As a foreign journalist that lives and works in Lebanon I never wanted to be the centre of attention. After Israel launched an attack on me and my dear friend @AliRida_SB I was unwittingly catapulted into the limelight.
I have never courted "fame" and until recently not engaged too much in social media, which, while it has positives, is a breeding ground for misinformation and a proliferation of grifters speaking over the top of the people to whom this land belongs.
Over the past years I have made hundreds of films, but always raised the voices of the people, centring them and as a journalist for an international news organisation endeavoured to bring their stories to the world. It is a basic journalistic principle and one I try my best to adhere to.
More often than not war ends up as a cash cow for influencers, YouTubers and the like seeking internet fame and donations to allow them to continue their “work”. Sadly they often have no regard for the people on whose land they are treading or their safety - rarely, if ever, bothering to speak to them.
Lebanon is not “a war zone”. It is a land that belongs to its people. The “bombed out buildings” you pose in front of are people’s homes, their businesses, their lives and should be treated with dignity and respect - not simply a place for crass “hero shots”
This is the land soaked in the blood of thousands of martyrs, those that have given their lives to defend their homes. We must walk with dignity and humility. We are not and should never be the story.
Our job, especially as guests in this country is to raise the voices of the people, not for vanity shots or to promote ourselves as “brave” Unless you are bringing context, history, details and most importantly, speaking to the people then what you are doing becomes nothing more than tourism - exploiting the people for clicks, internet fame or money.
Journalists in the field should always defer to their Lebanese peers, the people that live here and know the land better than anyone, not act as “white saviours.” Lebanon has many great journalists, commentators, analysts, writers whose knowledge is invaluable to understand this country and its history.
We stand on the shoulders of giants and for as long as we are in the field our mic will remain the tribune of the people.
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"The Palestinians can go to any other Arab country, except Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, because those are ours, or we'll kill them."
And there are still people who deny that zionism is racism.
Last week we filmed I$raeli soldiers, Merkava tanks and D9 bulldozers in Zawtar al-Sharqieh, southern Lebanon.
This is what they are doing there. Destroying people’s homes. But this is a mere snapshot of what’s happening across the so-called “yellow zone”. Demolitions and detonations of homes and infrastructure. Some 60 villages flattened.
This is what a genocide looks like.
Huge detonation between Taybeh and Qantara in southern Lebanon with the blast powerful enough to shake the ground for miles in the surrounding area
Credit: Wissam Hussein
Filming today in Zawtar al-Gharbieh, southern Lebanon, close to the so-called “yellow zone” of occupation where I$raeli military activity continues.
Over the course of the day we heard at least 10 demolitions and artillery fire and filmed I$raeli troop movements and Merkava tanks in neighbouring Zawtar Al Sharqieh.
This comes as a Lebanese military delegation is in Florida for talks to end the occupation, talks which have provided nothing concrete for the people on the ground, and as I$rael Katz boasts of the Gaza model and permanent occupation, while threatening to bomb Beirut.
Steve Sweeney retweeted
Never has the concept of Liberal Zionism looked more absurd and contradictory. It almost makes you feel sorry for people who simply can't accept the evidence before their eyes that the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians was inevitable from the very beginning of Zionism. As Theodor Herzl wrote in his diary on June 2nd 1895: “We must expropriate gently the private property on the estates assigned to us. We shall try to spirit the penniless population across the border by procuring employment for it in the transit countries, while denying it employment in our own country. The property owners will come over to our side. Both the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly.”
Steve Sweeney retweeted
Weeks ago, I published a photograph of a burned truck in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, not knowing the story of the man killed inside by an Israeli attack. His son reached out to me, telling me that this was his father's vehicle, and that Israel had killed him while he was transporting food to the area. My latest: ukcolumn.org/article/the-iro…
Steve Sweeney retweeted
Carole, you'll be delighted to know that Sergey Markov was never Putin’s spokesman.
What's more, he left the Russian parliament 15 years ago and has since been designated a “foreign agent” by Moscow, reportedly over his links to Azerbaijan.
Although there's a certain irony in denouncing the BBC for spreading misinformation while relying on misinformation supplied by the BBC.
Olive harvesting season in southern Lebanon…
Three Lebanese citizens have been killed by Israel in southern Lebanon in less than 48 hours:
Edgar Jallo, a First Sergeant in the Internal Security Forces, was killed this morning by the explosion of unexploded Israeli ordnance on the outskirts of Ain Ebel while working in an agricultural field.
Ali Abdel-Hassan Sweidan, a retired First Warrant Officer in the Lebanese Army, killed on the outskirts of Yater when an Israeli tank shell directly targeted him.
Engineer Hussein Ali Ramadan, killed by unexploded Israeli ordnance while harvesting olives on his land in Froun.
Steve Sweeney retweeted
Ali Abdel Hassan Sweidan was killed this afternoon in the southern Lebanese town of Yater after being targeted by an Israeli artillery shell while surveying his land.
Olive harvesting season in southern Lebanon…
Steve Sweeney retweeted
Lebanese engineer Hussein Ali Ramadan was killed by the detonation of unexploded Israeli ordnance while harvesting olives on his land in the southern Lebanese town of Froun.
Steve Sweeney retweeted
Three years of war in Lebanon, these years of devastation. More than 7 per cent of the country occupied by Israel. The south ravaged. Thousands killed in Israeli strikes. A slew of ceasefires that were never upheld.
This is what’s left of Mansouri, a village outside the occupied area, reduced to rubble after the June ceasefire.
I$rael destroys olive trees in Zawtar Al Sharqieh as locals in neighbouring Zawtar Al Gharbieh harvest their crops. As we filmed Merkava tanks and D9 bulldozers made their way through the streets of the occupied zone. This is olive season in southern Lebanon.
Full film to follow…
A tale of two Zawtar’s: on one side in Zawtar Al Gharbieh locals were picking olives, on the other in Zawtar Al Sharqieh inside the so-called “yellow zone” the Zionists were destroying olive trees using what we believe to be white phosphorus.
Full film to follow…