
It’s been 20 years since the Assad regime assassinated Samir Kassir, the Lebanese-Syrian-Palestinian historian, journalist and writer in Beirut on June 2nd 2005.
For episode 197, Lebanese-French political researcher and academic Ziad Majed, a friend and comrade of Kassir, joins Elia Ayoub and Leila Al-Shami to talk about his legacy in the two decades that have passed given how much has changed since for Lebanon, Palestine and of course Syria.
This is a special cross-over episode between The Fire These Times (TFTT) and Syria: The Inconvenient Revolution (STIR). We are both part of the From The Periphery Media Collective. To support all of our projects please head out to Patreon.com/fromtheperiphery
Elia’s Links
Support: You can support my work with a one-off or monthly donation on Ko-fi.
Masterclass on Modern Lebanon: Registration is now open for May 2026.
Newsletter: Subscribe to Hauntologies
Social Media: I’m on Bluesky, Instagram and Mastodon.
Contact: To collaborate, reach out on ayoub@thefirethesetimes.com
The Fire These Times
Listen: Wherever you get your podcasts such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible, Pocket Casts and RSS.
Social Media: TFTT is on Bluesky and Instagram.
Transcription: You can help Antidote Zine transcribe TFTT episodes here.
Recent Articles
- 972Mag: Is Israel trying to foment civil war in Lebanon?
- 972Mag: Israel’s renewed war on Lebanon is about more than just Hezbollah (archived)
- Good Law Project: Trump’s illegal war puts all of us at risk (archived)
Recent Interviews
- It Could Happen Here: Israel’s Attack on Lebanon
- Crimethinc: “History Is Repeating Itself”
- The Final Straw podcast: The US-Israeli War with Iran Spreads, Nuclear Weapons, Lebanon and Anti-Imperial Solidarity
- The Dugout podcast: Honoring Political Ghosts
- The Breakup Theory podcast: Episode 31 – Iran and the US-Israeli Death Drive Economy
Highlighted Hauntologies articles
- The Lie I Tell Myself When Covering Israel (April 2026)
- Israel’s Lebanese Ghosts (March 2026)
- This moment (January 2025)
- Iranian protesters don’t owe us an explanation (February 2026)
- How Hezbollah lost everything (January 2026)
- Notes on Assadism, Zionism, Fascism and Hope (August 2025)
From The Periphery
TFTT is a proud member of From The Periphery Media Collective, which you can support on Patreon and follow on Bluesky, YouTube and Instagram.
Check out other projects: Politically Depressed | Syria: The Inconvenient Revolution | From The Periphery Podcast | The Mutual Aid Podcast
Resources
- Dans la tête de Bachar al-Assad by Ziad Majed, Farouk Mardam-Bey and Subhi Hadidi
- Syrian melancholy in Lebanon’s revolution by Elia Ayoub and Dara Foi’Elle
- The 2020 TFTT episode (26) with Ziad Majed
Samir Kassir:
Leave a Reply