Robert Fisk: A Man Who Fought Against Political Heist and Intolerance

Robert Fisk was a correspondent of The independent who had both British and Irish Citizenship. His stance against intolerance and exploitation was unbeatable. Especially in the case of US Foreign Policy in the Middle East and the Israeli Government’s atrocities on Palestine. He was one of the few western journalists who had the opportunity to interview Osama bin Laden, which he did three times in his career.
Fisk was the son of William and Peggy Fisk. His father William Fisk had fought in the first world war. At the end of the war, Bill Fisk was punished for disobeying an order to execute another soldier. His mother Peggy Fisk was an amateur painter who in later years became Maidstone magistrate.
When Fisk was 12, Robert watched the film “Foreign Correspondent” released in 1940 and was deeply influenced by it, he decided to be as this film says. He graduated in 1968 from the University of Lancaster in north-western England. Later, in 1983, he received his Doctorate in political science from Trinity College, Dublin.
Before joining The Sunday Express, Robert Fisk worked for several small newspapers. He covered the problems in Northern Ireland and moved to Beirut in 1976, shortly after the outbreak of civil war, he left from 'Sunday Express’ and 'Times of London' after a dispute with other editors. Finally, he joined with 'The independent'  and worked honestly as a correspondent until his death.
In 1994, Fisk married Lara Marlowe, an American journalist. In 2006, the couple had no children and divorced. At the time of his death, he was married to Nellofer Pasira, an Afghan-Canadian journalist and she was also a writer and human rights activist.
As an international journalist, he reported civil wars in Algeria, Syria and Lebanon, the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, and the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Fisk lived in Beirut since 1976, during the civil war in Lebanon. He was one of the first journalists to visit the Sabra massacre in Lebanon and the Hama massacre in Syria.
Fisk got three chances to interview Osama bin Laden. The interviews were published by ‘The Independent on 6 December 1993, 10 July 1996, and 22 March 1997. During one of Fisk's interviews with Bin Laden, Fisk noted an attempt by Bin Laden to convert him to Islam.
During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Fisk was based in Baghdad and filed many eyewitness reports. He criticised other journalists during the Iraq invasion and he called them "hotel journalism", because of their reporting from hotel rooms without any interviews or first-hand experience of events. Later fisk's criticism during the Iraq invasion was rejected by some other journalists
Robert Fisk has won more prestigious prizes. He received many British and international journalism awards, Including ‘press awards foreign reporter of the year' 7 times. He was fearless both in telling truth to power and in repeatedly venturing into places of great danger.
Fisk produced a three-part series titled ‘From Beirut To Bosnia’ in 1993 which Fisk said was an attempt “to find out why an increasing number of Muslims had come to hate the West. These Showing the sufferings of ordinary people under monstrous tyrannies or in criminal, avoidable wars. He was fearless and independent in his reporting, with a deeply researched understanding of the complexities of the Middle East, eastern history and politics.
His knowledge of the Middle East led him to recognize many lies. He honestly reported many wars, including the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, through to the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, and the later conflict in Syria. Fisk’s reference to George W. Bush and Tony Blair during the Iraq war is a prime example of reporting without looking in the face. Fisk says “George W. Bush and Tony Blair did not see the people, they saw the policies – that is why they choose war”.
Robert Fisk was one of the bests investigative journalists among the world journalists and he was a great man who spoke out against injustice and the exploitation of the poor. Fisk’s career as a journalist from 1972-2020 revealed many unsolved mysteries to the outside world and came to light. The demise of such a person would be a great loss to the world.