Veteran journalist Robert Fisk dies aged 74
Fisk, who died in Dublin, was highly regarded for his conflict reporting but also became controversial for his Syria coverage and criticism of US and Israel policies.
Robert Fisk was unwell on Friday and was admitted to St Vincent's hospital where he died a short time later, The Irish Times reported on Sunday, November 1, 2020.
Veteran journalist, author, and commentator Robert Fisk has died of a suspected stroke in the Irish capital, Dublin.
Fisk, 74, was unwell on Friday and was admitted to St Vincent's hospital where he died a short time later, The Irish Times reported on Sunday.
Highly praised but controversial, the British foreign correspondent was known for covering the Lebanese civil war, the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, the Iranian revolution, the Iran-Iraq War, and the ongoing Syrian war.
"The world of journalism and informed commentary on the Middle East has lost one of its finest commentators," Ireland's President Michael D Higgins said.
"I have had the privilege of knowing Robert Fisk since the 1990s, and of meeting him in some of the countries of which he wrote with such great understanding. I met him in Iraq, and last year I had my last meeting with him in Beirut, during my Official Visit to Lebanon.
"Generations, not only of Irish people but all over the world, relied on him for a critical and informed view of what was taking place in the conflict zones of the world and, even more important, the influences that were perhaps the source of the conflict," he said.
"He was fearless and independent in his reporting, with a deeply researched understanding of the complexities of Middle Eastern history and politics," Micheal Martin, the Irish taoiseach, said.
"He helped many people understand those complexities better."
RIP Robert Fisk, one of the few honest Western chroniclers of the wars & intrigues imposed on the Middle East & sharpest critics of the absurd language pundits and politicians reflexively resorted to to paper over their colonial relationship w/ the region https://t.co/2T2DBHhnmc
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) November 1, 2020
Saddened tonight to hear of the death of journalist Robert Fisk. He was fearless & independent in his reporting, with a deeply researched understanding of the complexities of Middle Eastern history and politics. He helped many people understand those complexities better. RIP.
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) November 1, 2020
Fisk’s works on the Middle East - especially Palestine and Iraq - had a profound influence on me growing up. I didn’t agree with a lot of his later Syria commentary but his Pity The Nation remains one of the great books. A true classic. RIP. https://t.co/2CsZ8kiKBE
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) November 1, 2020
I had lunch with Robert Fisk as an MA student in 2005, Australia. I was awed by his bravery, resilience, writing style, and passion for the truth. Then came post-2011 Fisk who whitewashed Assad’s crimes. It saddened me. I could not reconcile the two Fisks https://t.co/qRogbjMOQi
— Amro Ali (@_amroali) November 1, 2020
Very sad to hear. I read a lot of Fisk in the 00s, when we didn’t see many journalists doing what he did, taking the positions he took. Saw & met him in 2007, at a talk w/young journalists where he said ‘You don’t give the slave and the slavemaster equal time’. Stayed w/me. https://t.co/wckXSWrfxR
— Sana Saeed (@SanaSaeed) November 1, 2020
Robert Fisk passed away at 74, Rest In Peace. The one journalist who understood the connection between Kashmir and Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/tBCJNC0AHW
— Tony Ashai (@tonyashai) November 1, 2020
One of Robert Fisk's great contributions was documenting the massacre of thousands of Palestinians by Israel and its proxies at Sabra and Shatila in 1982. He was among first on the scene. It took courage few journalists show todayhttps://t.co/TipnZsx8wUhttps://t.co/nKBfI640sn
— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) November 1, 2020
Way too young. I liked and respected Robert. One day in South Lebanon when I arrived from the wars in former Yugoslavia he sniffed my flak jacket (he wasn’t a fan of body armour) and claimed he smelt slivovitza. I retaliated by saying I’d read his reports at school. RIP Fisk https://t.co/73NJyGnWjK
— Jeremy Bowen (@BowenBBC) November 1, 2020
Copyright © 2024 TRT World.