I first became acquainted with Robert Fisk during our journalism tenures in Belfast in the 1970s, later crossing paths throughout my foreign assignments. In 1988, during his lengthy deployment in the Middle East, he sought my counsel over a potential relocation to Russia amid the crumbling of the Soviet Union, from his base in Moscow.
I urged him not to falter, declaring, “This place is currently a hotbed of historical change!”
Regardless, he wisely disregarded my recommendation and opted to continue his work in the ever-volatile Middle Eastern region. This decision set him on his path to becoming one of the most eminent foreign correspondents of our era. His coverage was characterised by the ever-present hazard, solitude, exhilaration, adventure, rage and explosive ire – all of these elements under the guidance of an editor who showed scant regard for Middle Eastern dictators and the lobbyists of Israel and America.
Night of Power, the succeeding instalment to Fisk’s monumental volume The Great War for Civilisation, is a masterful blend of historical documentation and firsthand reporting leading up to the 2001 attacks on US soil. This book examines the aftermath of these events – the ensuing chaos following the US invasion of Iraq, the suppression of the early 2010s Arab Spring in Egypt, Syria among others, and the Israel-Palestinian conflict plummeting into a storm of sectarian animosity.
Fisk’s reports are framed within the scope of long-term interferences by Western powers. He paints a stark picture of the lethal fallout of the 1917 Declaration by Arthur Balfour, then British Foreign Secretary. This deceitful policy supported the creation of a national home for Jewish people in a region densely populated by Palestinians, negating their political liberty in the process.
He was a fervent traveller and an insatiable reader. He formed bonds with writers, scholars, and stakeholders of all ilk, authoring poignant accounts filled with graphic descriptions of the personal effects of violence. For him, it was vital to identify those whose existence and residences had been ripped apart. Following Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s police force’s unlawful killing of 817 protestors near the Rabat mosque in Cairo in 2013, Fisk made a visit to the mortuary. Here, the identities of the deceased were hidden behind the knot-encased cellophane. He insisted on discovering their identities. “Only hours ago, these individuals had identities, ages, professions,” he pointed out as he revived the dead through their names.
By the end of his journalistic journey, Fisk was filled with despair. He questioned his decision to spend many decades in the Middle East where he “chronicled countless bloodlettings and mass killings, discovered numerous mass burials, documented a myriad of tortures and executions, continuously writing about the West’s subjugation of the Muslim world…but it felt like his writings were of no consequence.” Reflecting on the “normalisation” of warfare post 9/11, he lamented the disregard for “the safeguarding of innocents under international law in favour of a newer, more brutal mortality…my pessimism has only deepened now.”
One can only imagine his heartache at the brutal assault on Israeli civilians by Hamas, already besmirched by ‘crimes against humanity’, and Israel’s destructive reprisal. Yet, this would not have shocked him. His texts offered hints of the impending atrocities, showcasing the escalating desperation, humiliation and killing of Palestinians under never-ending occupation, along with the solidification of Israel’s colonial mindset. This was epitomised when Avigdor Lieberman, a government minister, announced in 2018, following Israel’s killing of 30 Palestinian protesters, “In the Gaza Strip, there are no innocent individuals.”
Fisk’s writings also gave voice to many Jewish individuals who empathised with Palestinian’s suffering. Among these was Uri Avnery, an Israeli political philosopher and liberal Zionist, whom Fisk respected. Avnery risked his reputation to uphold the steadfastness and credibility of Palestinian demands.
Fisk highlights the brutal measures undertaken by Hamas, such as controlling food supplies to boost its own revenues and initiating widespread massacres. The first notable one was against supporters of the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, during their take over of Gaza back in 2007, all before the specified date of October 7, 2023.
After just receiving his Irish citizenship, Fisk sadly departed from this world on October 30, 2020. At the time he was working on his concluding chapter, which was posthumously finished in a postscript manner by Nelofer, his widow. As a proficient writer and filmmaker herself, she would frequently accompany him in his expeditions. This work showcases Fisk’s commentaries on a topic close to his heart – journalistic accountability and consequential word choice. He takes issue with the reckless employment of the word “terrorism”, a term he refers to as malignant. In his view, its misuse often provides formidable countries a free pass to perpetrate vast atrocities.
This exceptional body of work is the brainchild of a uniquely talented “contemporary historian”. Fisk was never hesitant to reprimand those in power while unmasking the dreadful realities of existence and demise in conflict zones.