Gebran Tueni

Gebran Tueni was born in Beirut on 15 September 1957. His father, Ghassan Tueni, was born into a prominent Lebanese Greek Orthodox family and was a veteran journalist and politician. His mother was the famous Francophone, Lebanese Druze poet, Nadia Hamadeh. His paternal grandfather was Gebran Tueni, a famous journalist and an Arab Renaissance figure who founded Al Ahrar and later on An Nahar. Gebran Tueni was named after his grandfather. His maternal grandfather, Mohammed Ali Hamadeh, was a diplomat and writer.[1] His maternal uncle is the former Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh and the former journalist of An Nahar newspaper and who was in Saad Hariri political party, Ali Hamadeh.

At age 18, Gebran Tueni experienced the horror of sectarian intolerance with the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war. He Also Served In The Lebanese Army Under A Then Law Requiring Students To Serve For A Year As Reservists, Either After Highschool Or After College Graduation. He Served At Henry Chehab Barracks, And After Boot Camp He Worked In The Administrative Section Of The Barracks In 1976, he was kidnapped for 36 hours by Christian militiamen in 1977.[2]

Tueni received Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from École des Hautes Études in 1980. At the same period, he studied journalism at Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme de Paris and graduated in 1980. He also studied management at CEDEP-INSEAD in 1992.[3]

Tueni's journalism career started when he became the general manager, editor in chief and editorialist for the weekly magazine An Nahar Arab and International that he and other journalists launched in Paris in 1979 and that was published until 1990.[1][3] Then, he served as the general director of the daily paper An Nahar from 1993 to 1999 and the general director of the monthly magazine Noun from 1997 to 2000.[3] His friendship with General Michel Aoun led to his exile to Paris from 1990 to 1993.[1] He became an active member of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) in 1990 and WAN's advisor on Middle-Eastern affairs. He was also a member of WAN's Fund for Press Freedom Development, created in 1994.[1] Tueni was the publisher, chairman of the board, director and editorialist of An Nahar beginning on 1 January 2000 until his death on 12 December 2005.[3][4]

He came to international prominence in March 2000 when he wrote a front-page letter to Bashar Assad, son and then-heir apparent to then-Syrian president Hafez al Assad calling for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon[5] following the 1990 Taif Accords that ended Lebanon's civil war.[6] With this editorial, he broke an important press taboo.[6] His letter was published when a summit between then-US president Bill Clinton and then-Syrian President Hafez Assad was held in Geneva.[2] Tueni's letter led to a public objection from some newspapers and Lebanese officials. However, other writers agreed with its premises.[6] In April 2001, he cofounded the Qornet Shehwan Gathering together with nearly thirty Lebanese Christian politicians and public figures.[7]

In March 2005, he contributed to the Cedar Revolution demonstrations during which he gave the famous speech, "In the name of God We, Muslims and Christians, Pledge that united we shall remain to the end of time to better defend our Lebanon". In May 2005, he was elected a member of Parliament of Lebanon for the Eastern Orthodox Christian seat in Beirut's first district on an anti-Syrian slate, namely Martyr Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's Beirut Decision List, led by Saad Hariri.[8][9][10]

Tueni strongly supported the freedom of speech. He also encouraged the questioning of the Hafez al-Assad's government. He regarded Bashar al-Assad as a "new generation" leader and had hopes that Syria would finally change its politics towards Lebanese.[4] However, since Bashar al-Assad aligned himself with then-Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, instead of backing Lebanon's "democratic forces", he was disappointed over time.[4] Then, he became a fierce critic of the Syrian government and its policies in Lebanon.[6][11][12]

Although Tueni continued his editorials in An Nahar, he was out of Beirut until shortly before his death. After the assassination of Rafic Hariri, he learned that he was on the top of a hit list and started taking preventative steps, like switching cars every other day.[4] In June 2005, his star columnist Samir Kassir was assassinated. Then, he left Lebanon and stayed in Paris for a while and came back just before 12 December 2005, the day of the assassination.[4][6][13]

Tueni was assassinated by a car bomb on 12 December 2005 in Mkalles, an industrial suburb of Beirut, while he drove from his home in Beit Meri (Mount Lebanon) to his newspaper's offices in Beirut's Martyrs' Square.[1] Two of his bodyguards were also killed in the blast.[14] He was the seventh target in a series of assassinations of politicians, journalists and security personnel that had begun in Lebanon in 2005.[15]

His body was buried at Saint Dimitrius church graves after the funeral that took place at Saint George church in Beirut. Tens of thousands of mourners filled the streets of Beirut for Tueni's funeral on 14 December 2005. Many mourners blamed Syria for his death due to his anti-Syrian policy and they chanted anti-Syrian slogans. The members of the Lebanese parliament also observed a moment of silence during a special parliamentary session. Continuing the play on words with "An nahar" (The Day), family members stated that night would not fall on the newspaper.

Gebran Tueni was first married to Mirna Murr who gave birth to two of his daughters, Nayla and Michelle. Mirna Murr is the daughter of Michel Murr, a Lebanese politician. They later divorced. His second spouse was Siham Asseily.[3] He had twin daughters, Gabriella and Nadia, from his second marriage, who were just a few months old when he was killed.[8]

• List of assassinated Lebanese politicians