Samir Kassir

With yesterday's journalism prizes being given out in his name, I realised that it's been two years since Samir Kassir was killed. I was surprised that so much time had passed and couldn't understand why it didn't feel like two years. Then the revelation: for all this time, there has not been one moment of peace or peace of mind. There has been a continuous assault on Lebanese senses and brains so that the events have not passed into the past, they remain as part of our present. To put an even in history, we need a break with which we can identify the post-event times, we have not had that break, hence, the tragic event feels like it has just happened and is part of this continuous stream of tragedies.
I have his book about Beirut sitting on my bedside table waiting to be read. Now he is part of its story.