Hamdi Qandil

Hamdi Qandil ( Ḥamdī Qandīl, also Romanized Qandeel or Kandil; 1936 – 31 October 2018) was a prominent Egyptian journalist, news anchor, talk show host and activist. Qandil started his journalism career in the 1950s when he wrote for the Akher Sa'a ("Last Hour") magazine at the invitation of veteran journalist Mustafa Amin. In 1961 he began broadcasting a news show called Aqwal al-Suhuf ("In the Press") until 1969 when he was appointed director of the Arab Broadcasting Studios Union. In 1971 he left his post in protest at a government inspection of his technical staff. He later worked with UNESCO from 1974 to 1986, specializing in the field of international media. In 1987 he co-founded a satellite broadcasting company that later became known as MBC, where he worked for three months before leaving because of political differences with its management. Qandil briefly presented the show Ma'a Hamdi Qandil ("With Hamdi Qandil") for ART, but left amid disagreements between him and his managers regarding Qandil's planned interviews with Muammar Gaddafi and Tariq Aziz.

He returned to Egyptian television in 1998, hosting the current affairs and press review talk show Ra'is el-Tahrir ("Editor-in-Chief"). The program became one of the most popular and respected in Egypt. After apparent trouble with the state censors, Qandil moved the show to Dubai TV in 2004 under the name Qalam Rosas ("Pencil"). The new program was highly watched throughout the Arab world. He was forced to quit Dubai TV after criticizing Arab governments and subsequently hosted the show on the Libyan channel Al-Libiya for two months before the Libyan government cancelled it. He returned to Egypt and wrote for the Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper and then Al-Shorouk, but his association with the latter ended as a result of a libel suit brought on by then-Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit in response to a column critical of Egyptian foreign policy written by Qandil in May 2010. The case was later dropped following the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.

Qandil was well known for his pan-Arabist discourse and fierce criticism of the Egyptian and other Arab governments. According to Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies political analyst Diaa Rashwan, Qandil "is a great Egyptian journalist and highly credible, he is bold and gives constructive criticism ... people listen to him and take what he says seriously, which is why he poses a threat" to the government.

During Qandil's boyhood, he borrowed and read books from a medical practice and a culture and sporting association in Tanta on a near weekly basis. He also learned field hockey there. Qandil was at the top of his class throughout his later school years and initially sought to enter the medical profession, a typical career aspiration for students with high marks. His mother particularly encouraged him to become a doctor. Qandil simultaneously took an interest in writing, Arabic calligraphy and foreign languages.

Ra'is el-Tahrir was intended to serve as a weekly review of the pan-Arab press, but in practice the program became a medium through which Qandil expressed his opinions on various issues confronting Egypt and the Arab world, views which he claimed were representative of the popular Egyptian sentiment. Al-Ahram Weekly′s Amina Elbandary wrote that during the show, Qandil spoke "in histrionic style, his commentary replete with daring questions and remarks. Viewers are fascinated by his apparent lack of inhibition."

In 2004 Qandil moved to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) began hosting a program on Dubai TV called Qalam Rosas ("Pencil"). The program was virtually a continuation of Ra'is al-Tahrir, a highly watched show dealing with the Arab world's major political, economic and social affairs of the day. Qalam Rosas would normally open with Qandil interviewing an Arab intellectual and discussing a current event. The show would then continue to a round table discussion with other journalists analyzing various social and political events and movements concerning the citizens of the Arab world. At its closing, Qandil would summarize the show with a well-known maxim or saying. The London-based Arab Media Watch organization awarded Qandil the 2006 Media Accomplishment Award to commend him for his "creativity and participation in the media world" over the course of his five decade career. In 2008 Qandil was forced to leave Dubai TV for criticizing Arab leaders, while commending Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of the Lebanese political party and paramilitary group Hezbollah.

Political activism and Aboul Gheit lawsuit After his brief stint on Al-Libia, Qandil returned to Egypt to write for the newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm in 2008 and later began writing for Al-Shorouk. and that Aboul Gheit's words "usually ... fall from his mouth like droppings of a torn rubbish bag". The matter was transferred to the criminal court. His relationship with Al-Shorouk consequently ended as a result of the controversy. On 25 January mass demonstrations demanding President Hosni Mubarak's downfall erupted across Egypt, eventually overthrowing the government, including Aboul Gheit, on 11 February. In April Aboul Gheit dropped the lawsuit. According to Hafez Abu Seada of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, the revolution was the clear reason Aboul Gheit withdrew the suit, and had it not occurred, "the court could have handed [Qandil] a prison sentence."

In a 1999 interview Qandil stated his view that the pan-Arab media was not able to counter what he perceived as the influence of Zionism in American media and that the state of Arab media reflected the state of stagnation in the Arab world in general.

Qandil supported the 2011 Egyptian revolution and called for Mubarak to step down from the start of the protests. During the 2012 Egyptian presidential election, Qandil endorsed Nasserist candidate Hamdeen Sabahi after the Revolutionary Youth Coalition (RYC) announced their support for him. In late September 2012, during the post-revolution period in Egypt during Mohamed Morsi's presidency, Qandil announced his support for the Egyptian Popular Current movement founded by Sabahi. At the inaugural conference, Qandil stated that "a major political battle" would soon be launched for the next parliamentary elections and that Egypt's diverse make-up could never be changed.

Personal life and death Qandil met and married Egyptian actress Naglaa Fathi in 1992. while Qandil said he felt an "immediate chemical bond" with Naglaa.