Al Mayadeen correspondent: We will not leave South Lebanon

By Al Mayadeen English
21 Nov 2023 16:40

Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon Ali Mortada stresses that Lebanese reporters, particularly Al Mayadeen's reporters, will remain in Southern Lebanon and will continue to report on Israeli war crimes.

Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon, Ali Mortada, reporting from Jabal Amel Hospital, Tyre, Lebanon, on November 21, 2023. (Video screengrab)

"The tears we are shedding are not tears of weakness or fear, rather they are a show of our humanity," Al Mayadeen's correspondent Ali Mortada said as he waited for the arrival of the bodies of his martyred colleagues, martyrs Farah Omar and Rabih Me'mari, at Jabal Amel Hospital.

Mortada stressed that these tears being shed should not be mistaken as tears of weakness, least of all by the Israeli occupation and its settlers.

"We will not leave the media arena even if we are all killed," Mortada stressed speaking for all free media professionals in general, but referring to Al Mayadeen in particular, before further underscoring that the Israeli enemy's targeting of correspondent "will not weaken journalists' resolve."

Ben Jeddou: 'You will not be able to silence the voice of Al Mayadeen'

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Al Mayadeen Media Network, Ghassan Ben Jeddou, announced live on air the martyrdom of our colleagues Farah Omar and Rabih Al-Me'mari, who were martyred as a result of direct Israeli targeting.

Farah and Rabih were martyred earlier today, after an Israeli aircraft targeted them in South Lebanon shortly after they finished their live broadcasting at around 11:00 a.m.

#Watch | The bodies of our two martyred colleagues, Farah Omar and Rabih Me'mari, arrive at the headquarters of #AlMayadeen Media Network for a final farewell. https://t.co/i07MNK6oh3
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) November 21, 2023

As he mourned the two martyrs, Ben Jeddou stated that "the occupation targeted the Al Mayadeen crew directly and deliberately." He addressed the Israeli occupation stressing, "you will not be able to silence the voice of Al Mayadeen, and you should know that no matter how much you kill [us] or attempt [to silence] us, we will go on."

"We will remain and continue our coverage and our honorable journalistic work, whose priority is to expose the crimes of the occupation in Gaza, the West Bank, Palestine, and Lebanon," Ben Jeddou confirmed with unwavering confidence.

He once again expressed sadness over the loss of the martyrs, stressing that "at the same time, we are proud as a media outlet that we are rendering [the enemy] sleepless to this treacherous and cowardly Israeli occupation, and we are proud that Al Mayadeen has become, for the occupation, the arch media enemy in the Arab, Islamic, and regional region."