Najwa Kassem ( ar, نجوى قاسم, romanized as ''Qasem'', ''Qassim'', and ''Kassem''; 7 July 1967 – 2 January 2020) was a Lebanese journalist and television presenter (anchor) for Al Jadeed,

Future TV Future Television ( ar, تلفزيون المستقبل, ''Televiziyon al-Mustaqbal'') was a Lebanese free-to-air television station founded in 1993 by the Future Movement leader Rafik Hariri, a former Prime Minister of Lebanon. Future TV was als ...

and

Al Arabiya Arabiya ( ar, العربية, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is an international Arabic news television channel, currently based in Dubai, that is operated by the media conglomerate MBC. The channel is a fl ...

. Kassem has received many professional awards, and she was named by Arabian Business Magazine as one of the 100 most powerful women in the Arab world.

Personal

Najwa Qassem was born on 7 July 1967 in

Joun Joun (also Joon, Djoun in Phoenician, ar, جون) is a Lebanese village sitting on seven hills in the Chouf ( ar, قضاء الشوف) district of Mount Lebanon at a distance of 13 kilometers from the city of Sidon in Lebanon. Joun means "the c ...

, Lebanon, a few years before the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

. Qassem initially aspired to study architecture but soon fell in love with media and televised broadcasting.

Career

She first appeared on television in 1991 on Al Jadeed (New TV Lebanon) as a program presenter, then in 1993 moved to

of Beirut. In 2003 she became a part of the team for

. Since 2003 Qassem has been a senior anchor and correspondent of the Al Arabiya news channel. She has covered numerous wars and assassinations during her career including the

assassination of Rafic Hariri On 14 February 2005, former Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafic Hariri was killed along with 21 others in an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon. Explosives equivalent to around 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of TNT were detonated as his motorcade d ...

in 2005, and is considered a veteran news reporter. Throughout her years of experience she has put herself in the front lines of danger, and has covered some of the dangerous events going on in the world: The War on Afghanistan, Israel Occupations and Subsequent Withdrawals in South Lebanon. A year after joining the Al Arabiya team, she experienced and survived a bombing attack on the Al Arabiya's Baghdad news station. Eight people died in the bombing. Najwa Qassem reported updates on the

Iraqi war {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

from the front lines in Baghdad. During her last week in Baghdad, the capital of

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, restrictions were placed on journalists making it dangerous to move around. Najwa Qassem received extensive coverage during the Israeli war on Lebanon as she was one of a number of female Arab reporters who were reporting from the front lines. Qassem and her colleague Rima Maktabi observed the bombing of a heavily populated region of south Lebanon being attacked from the air as well as the sea.

Awards

Najwa Qassem was awarded Best Female Presenter in 2006 at the Fourth Arab Media Festival.

Death

On 2 January 2020, Qassem died in her sleep from a heart attack, although having had no prior health problems.

Personal

Career

Awards

Death

See also

References

Further reading