In November, during the French book fair in Beirut, the magazine L’Orient-Express – previously the monthly supplement of the daily L’Orient-Le Jour – was published as a special 10-year anniversary issue. The idea was the brainchild of the former editor, Samir Kassir, but when he was assassinated last June, it was up to the onetime staff members to prepare the content without the guidance of the irrepressible man who had been the magazine’s vital force. The regret one felt in knowing Kassir never saw the issue was nothing compared to the disappointing reality of the aftermath of his death. The far-too-constrained national reaction showed how cheaply he had gone, so unacceptable coming from a Lebanese society that had, by the time Kassir was killed by a bomb placed under his car, regained its sovereignty. At the essential moment of newfound emancipation, an avatar of that effort, a writer who had
Michael Young is a senior editor at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut and editor of Diwan, Carnegie’s Middle East blog. Previously, he served as a contributing editor at Executive magazine in Lebanon. Young also worked as opinion editor and columnist for The Daily Star newspaper .
He writes a biweekly commentary for The National (Abu Dhabi) and is the author of The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon’s Life Struggle.
Young holds degrees from the American University of Beirut and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
