EU rewards journalists from Palestine, Egypt and Syria in Samir Kassir Award

The Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon and the Samir Kassir Foundation have announced the results of the 20th edition of the Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press, in a ceremony held at the Sursock Palace Gardens, in Beirut.

This Award, established and funded by the European Union, is recognized internationally as a flagship prize for press freedom and the most prestigious journalism award in the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf region. Since 2006, the Award ceremony has been held annually to commemorate the anniversary of Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir’s assassination on 2 June 2005 in Beirut, and celebrate his life, his values, and his memory.

The Samir Kassir Award is open to professional journalists from eighteen countries of North Africa, the Middle East, and the Gulf. This year, a record 372 journalists participated in the competition, hailing from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen. 125 candidates competed in the Opinion Piece category, 157 in the Investigative Article category, and 90 in the Audiovisual News Report category. The winner in each of the three categories is awarded a prize of €10,000. Each of the short-listed finalists per category receive a €1,000 prize.

The winners of the 2025 Samir Kassir Award are:

- Opinion Piece Category: Badar Salem, from Palestine, born in 1980, for her article titled “On the Normalisation of Sumud in Gaza,” published in Romman Magazine on 19 July 2024. In her piece, Badar critiques the glorification of sumud (steadfastness) in Gaza, arguing that idealizing resilience imposes unrealistic expectations on Palestinians and masks the profound trauma they endure. It calls for shifting from celebrating endurance to recognizing the right to vulnerability, care, and dignity in the face of ongoing violence.

- Investigative Reporting Category: Marina Milad, from Egypt, born in 1994, for her investigation titled “’I Have Become Shameful’: Syrian Women Leave Prison with a "Stigma"’, published in Masrawy on 25 February 2025. This report reveals that after enduring torture, rape, and dehumanization behind bars, many Syrian women emerge into a society that greets them with stigma, rejection, and renewed trauma, instead of empathy and genuine support.

- Audiovisual News Reporting Category: Khalil Alashavi, from Syria, born in 1983, for his report titled “Syria: Children in a Never-Ending War”, produced by Tiny Hands and launched on 15 March 2025. The report focuses on the continued plight of Syrian children in their war-torn country, and the years of stolen innocence, which a regime change alone cannot address.

Speaking at the ceremony Tuesday, the Ambassador of the European Union to Lebanon, Sandra De Waele, said: “50 courageous journalists have received the Samir Kassir Award since 2006. Journalists who, despite the risks, have used their voice to hold the powerful accountable, to expose corruption, and to give a voice to the voiceless. Yet they persist, because, like Samir, they believe that the truth matters and the public has the right to know. And this is what the Samir Kassir Award stands for. More than a recognition of excellence, it has become a platform that brings powerful stories from the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf to the world, that sparks difficult but necessary conversations, and that creates a space where journalists can support one another in their mission.”

Malek Mrowa, Acting President of the Samir Kassir Foundation, said: “Over the past two decades our region has endured uprisings, revolutions, counter-revolutions, wars, and exoduses. The targets of oppression keep shifting: one year it is protesters in the street, the next it is women demanding bodily autonomy, the next it is reporters who dare to film a checkpoint. But the core struggle has never changed: the right to think freely, to speak openly, and for citizens to know what is done in their name. That struggle is embodied in every entry we receive for the Samir Kassir Award.”

An independent seven-member jury from the Arab League and European Union member states selected the winners. This year’s jury gathered Ali Amar (Morocco), editor-in-chief of Le Desk, Antoine Haddad (Lebanon), vice-president of the Saint George University of Beirut and the Samir Kassir Foundation’s representative in the jury, Mina Al-Oraibi (Iraq), editor-in-chief at The National, Jean-Pierre Perrin (France), political writer, Paul Radu (Romania), co-founder of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Natalia Sancha (Spain), journalist, photographer, and communication expert, and Lina Sinjab (Syria), Middle East Correspondent at BBC.