Lebanese TV News Presenter May Chidiac Who Survived an Assassination Attempt: My Mind Is Still in Place

Following are excerpts from an interview with Lebanese TV news presenter May Chidiac, who was injured in an assassination attempt last year. This interview was aired on LBC TV on July 2, 2006.

May Chidiac: Some people cannot tolerate straightforwardness. I said all along that there are boundaries one should beware not cross. But I did not cross these boundaries - I only came near them. My goal was... I reached these boundaries, because I felt there was a just cause - the cause of Lebanon.

We are not living in a country with entirely normal circumstances. You cannot be completely objective in your journalistic work, as you would if you were living in Sweden, for example.

We live in an occupied country, in which we had to defend our rights, our survival, our, our sovereignty, and our independence. We need to defend (ourselves) against the wrongs that occur. I think that in many cases, I was the voice of the citizens of Lebanon, because I had the courage to speak up, when other people preferred to count to ten.

Praise the Lord, since I began working in television- and you can attest to this -I have never been affiliated with anyone. I say what I believe in. If I find a just cause, in which I believe, I am willing to defend it to my last breath.

Nevertheless, I did not expect them to attack me, because, if you look at the pictures of the martyrs since the days of independence and to this day, I am the only woman.

[...]

Maybe the things said on my show annoyed some people. So they added me to their series of assassinations. But they were not so lucky. As I often say, they managed to get the left side of my body - my leg is gone, my hand is gone, and my ear is all but gone - but my mind is still in my head, and my face, praise the Lord, was saved. There are still many pieces of shrapnel in it, which are gradually being taken out, but my tongue is still in place, my mind is still in place, my convictions are still in place, and those who tried to kill me should not be too happy. I am not challenging them, but there is a God.