EU rewards journalists from Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Iraq at 2026 edition of Samir Kassir Award
The Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon and the Samir Kassir Foundation have announced the results of the 21st edition of the Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press, at a ceremony held at the Sursock Palace Gardens in Beirut.
Established with funding from the European Union, the Award is internationally recognized 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 ceremony has been held annually to commemorate the assassination of Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir on 2 June 2005 in Beirut, and to celebrate his life, values, and intellectual and professional struggle.
The Samir Kassir Award is open to professional journalists from eighteen countries in North Africa, the Middle East and the Gulf. This year, 300 journalists entered the competition, from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. The entries comprised 66 opinion pieces, 194 investigative articles and 40 audiovisual news reports. The winner in each category receives a prize of €10,000, while each shortlisted finalist receives €1,000.
The winners of the 2026 Samir Kassir Award are:
- Opinion Piece Category (joint winner): Ahmad Al-Agha, from Palestine, born in 1989, for his article “The Tent”, published by Raseef22 on 23 February 2026. Through the experience of displacement in Gaza, the article shows how a home has become a tent identified by a number for aid distribution, and how prolonged displacement has stripped Palestinians of stability, privacy and a sense of belonging.
- Opinion Piece Category (joint winner): Fatima Ahmad, from Syria, born in 1988, for her article “Seeds of Hate, Harvest of Wounds”, published by Sot-Sy on 8 October 2025. The article explores how language and multiple identities become pretexts for accusations of treachery and exclusion, warning against perpetuating hate speech during Syria’s political transition and calling for education in diversity and dialogue to protect pluralism and civil peace.
- Investigative Reporting Category (joint winner): Mariya Talal Al-Samarrai, from Iraq, born in 2003, for her investigation “Don’t Drink Water Before Going Out… The Search for Women’s Toilets in Iraq”, published by Jummar on 20 November 2025. Through the experiences of Iraqi women in schools, universities and workplaces, the investigation exposes how the absence of safe, clean toilets denies women basic rights to health, privacy and dignity, and limits their opportunities for education and employment in a society whose infrastructure and attitudes overlook their needs.
- Investigative Reporting Category (joint winners): Ali Al-Ibrahim, born in 1988, and Mais Katt, born in 1980, from Syria, for their investigation “Stolen Children of Syria”, published on 11 September 2025 by the Syrian Investigative Journalism Unit (SIRAJ), in collaboration with Lighthouse Reports, The Observer, BBC Eye, Der Spiegel, Trouw, Women Who Won the War, Sowt and Al-Jumhuriya. The investigation reveals how the Assad regime concealed hundreds of detainee children in care homes, with government institutions involved and international care organizations complicit or failing to act, while the fate of many children remains unknown. This is Ali Al-Ibrahim’s second Samir Kassir Award, following his first win in 2019.
- Audiovisual News Reporting Category: Antoni Barakat, from Lebanon, born in 1998, for his report “Two Prisons of Roumieh”, released by Naqd Media on 31 August 2025. The report exposes the class disparities, bribery and privileges that shape life in Lebanon’s Roumieh prison, and the danger of housing a juvenile facility inside an adult prison. Antoni Barakat also won the Students’ Prize, a special distinction awarded by a jury of journalism and media students from Lebanese universities.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Ambassador of the European Union to Lebanon, Sandra De Waele, said: “For the past twenty-one years, the Samir Kassir Award has stood as a concrete expression of the European Union’s commitment to press freedom, a commitment that does not stop at Europe’s borders. We stand for it in this region and across the world, because a free press is not optional. It is what allows people to know what their governments do in their name and to hold them accountable for it.”
Malek Mrowa, President of the Samir Kassir Foundation, said: “Journalists in this region need a space that puts their work in the spotlight, protects their professional values, and allows their stories to cross borders. This Award has created an opportunity for an annual gathering that goes beyond the moment of recognition. It has become a meeting point for journalism that sees freedom as a shared identity, accuracy as a stance, and independence as a condition for trust.”
An independent seven-member jury from Arab countries and European Union member states selected the winners. This year’s jury comprised Alex Rowell (United Kingdom), writer and editor at New Lines magazine and the Samir Kassir Foundation’s representative on the jury; Hanene Zbiss (Tunisia), investigative journalist, vice-president of the Tunisian Press Council, and winner of the 2014 Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press; Daisy Mohr (the Netherlands), Middle East correspondent for Dutch public broadcaster NOS; Aida Al-Kaisy (Iraq), founder and editor-in-chief of Iraqi platform Jummar; Farea Al-Muslimi (Yemen), research fellow at Chatham House and founder of the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies; Monika Borgmann (Germany), filmmaker and director of UMAM; and Nabil Wakim (France), journalist at Le Monde.
More information about the 2026 edition of the Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press, the winning articles and audiovisual report, as well as biographies and works of winners from previous years, is available on the website: www.samirkassiraward.org
Source: Naharnet
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