Rima Abdul Malak

Rima Abdul Malak, formerly the French Minister of Culture under Emmanuel Macron, is currently the director of the Lebanese francophone newspaper L'Orient-Le Jour. She returned to Beirut with optimism four months prior to the recent news, having left Lebanon with her family as a child. However, her return has been marked by escalating Israeli airstrikes on the city since March 2nd. Abdul Malak expressed concern on September 6th, 2023, stating that Lebanon cannot recover from such repeated tragedies, especially following unprecedented Israeli strikes that resulted in at least 182 deaths on a single day. Her current role and her personal experience of returning to a country experiencing renewed conflict make her a noteworthy figure in recent news.