Syria: Mourning the Death of Anthony Shadid

On February 17, 2012, the tragic news that New York Times Middle East Correspondent Anthony Shadid had passed away in Syria at the age of 43, reportedly as a result of a severe asthma attack triggered by an allergy to horses, saddened news readers the world over.
Shadid, an American of Lebanese descent, was widely respected for his balanced reporting in the region, and was honored in both 2004 and 2010 with the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the American invasion of Iraq and the ongoing conflict there, respectively. In the past year, he had reported from Egypt, Libya (where he was arrested along with three Times colleagues), and most recently, Syria.

Photo by Terissa Schor (CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Lebanese entrepreneur Habib Haddad tweeted:

We mourn the loss of a genius today! RIP #AnthonyShadid http://bit.ly/zohXFW

Anissa Helou mourned Shadid, saying:

so so sad about anthony shadid. his articles were really great and he understood both the people and the situations. RIP

Journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, who had earlier tweeted his admiration for Shadid, expressed sympathy for the deceased's family:

Tonight I will sleep thinking of Anthony's wife Nada Bakri, and their kids and the incredible legacy #AnthonyShadid leaves behind.

Saudi philanthropist Muna AbuSulayman shareda similar sentiment:

my deeepest condolences. Mr. Shadid was a role model to journalists..your loss is one that is shared by all of us Arab-americans @nadabakri

Journalist Tamer El-Ghobashy also spoke for the Arab-American community, noting that Shadid did a difficult job with few detractors. He added:

Anthony was the most prominent Arab American of our generation and he did it without making it a brand or a mission. Great by merit alone.

Referring to Shadid, Cairo-based writer Ashraf Khalil stated:

We all wished we could be like him, but without any jealousy or resentment because he was so damn sweet and deserving.

Palestinian @Falasteeni wrote of Shadid:

So sad to hear Anthony Shadid has died. Has always been a cut above the rest in mainstream journalism, and a brilliant writer.

And from Syria, the location of Shadid's final assignment, @BSyria put it simply

I really don't know what to say. Thank you @anthonyshadid.

Written by Jillian C. York Global Voices