Gisele Khoury ( ar, جيزيل خوري; born 1961) is a Lebanese-French journalist and

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...

host on

BBC Arabic BBC Arabic ( ar, بي بي سي عربي) may refer to the Literary Arabic language radio station run by the BBC World Service, as well as the BBC's satellite TV channel, and the website that serves as an Literary Arabic language news portal an ...

. Her show is called Al Mashhad where she interviews prominent figures and high-profile guests from the Arab World. She is the widow of

Samir Kassir Samir Kassir ( ar, سمير قصير, 5 May 1960 – 2 June 2005) was a Lebanese- Palestinian journalist of '' An-Nahar'' and professor of history at Saint-Joseph University, who was an advocate of democracy and prominent opponent of the Sy ...

Early life

Gisele Azzi ( ar, جيزيل قزي) was born in Beirut, originally from Okaibe,

Keserwan District Keserwan District ( ar, قضاء كسروان, transliteration: ''Qaḍā' Kisrawān'') is a district ('' qadaa'') in Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate, Lebanon, to the northeast of Lebanon's capital Beirut. The capital, Jounieh, is overwhelmingly Maro ...

. She studied History at the

Holy Spirit University of Kaslik The Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (french: Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik (USEK); ar, جامعة الرّوح القدس – الكسليك, ''Jāmiʿah al-Rūḥ al-Quddus – al-Kaslīk''), is a private, not-for-profit Catholic univer ...

, and Media at the Lebanese University.

Career

She started her career in late 1985 on

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadca ...

Channel as a presenter of cultural talk shows. She joined the pan-Arab media group MBC in 2002 and contributed to the launch of the 24-hour Al-Arabiya news channel. She hosted a weekly political talk show on Al-Arabiya from the 2003–2013 duration. During the time Khoury worked on the political show ''Bil Arabi'', part of Al Arabiya news channel, she hosted political decision makers,

heads of states A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

prime ministers A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is no ...

and ministers of foreign affairs. The show covered current events and the latest

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

developments from the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

and beyond. In 2009, Gisèle co-founded “Al Rawi” production company whose first project was a four-episode biography of the Palestinian leader

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

BBC Arabic

In 2013, Gisele Khoury has been hired by BBC Arabic and to present the programme, "The Scene" (Al Mash’had), that part of new programmes scheduled by BBC Arabic. It began its launch in early 2014. Produced by Mona Hamdan in Lebanon, (Al MaMsh’had) brings into focus some of the most compelling eyewitness accounts of recent history in the Middle East. Khoury travels to different countries to meet with predominant Arab and international figures and hear their accounts of events that have shaped history.

Personal life

Gisele was married at age 20 to doctor Elie Khoury, whom she kept his last name. Later on, Khoury was married to journalist, writer and historian

until his assassination on June 2, 2005. Since her husband's death, Gisele Khoury has been active in promoting Kassir's thoughts and with the help of friends and family, she founded the Samir Kassir foundation and the SKeyes centre for media and cultural freedom. She has a son, Marwan, and a daughter, Rana, from her first marriage.

Honours

* French Order of Chevalier of

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

Footnotes

1961 births Living people Lebanese television presenters Lebanese women television presenters Eastern Orthodox Christians from Lebanon People from Beirut Lebanese journalists Lebanese women journalists Holy Spirit University of Kaslik alumni Lebanese University alumni {{Lebanon-journalist-stub