Lessons in living, grief and love from the Lebanese Civil War

May 6, 2026

Antoun Issa, journalist and author who grew up in Melbourne to Lebanese civil war survivors, explores his mother’s hidden grief and family history. He recounts life in Craigieburn, returning to Lebanon as a reporter, wartime violence, loss and resilience. The conversation traces memory, migration and the personal costs of conflict.

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INSIGHT

Local Geography Made Jisr A Flashpoint

Jisr al-Basha sat on the front line between Maronite Christians and Palestinian camps, creating daily friction as militias and civilians intersected.
Those local geographic overlaps made the town especially vulnerable when national tensions exploded in 1975.

ANECDOTE

The Morning Violence That Marked The War's Start

On April 13, 1975, gunmen burst into church after an assassination attempt and the Ain el-Rammeneh bus massacre followed, marking the civil war's outbreak.
The attack transformed ordinary days into immediate, existential danger for families like Leila's.

ANECDOTE

Occupation Turned Home Into A Ghost Town

Palestinian militiamen briefly took control of Jisr al-Basha, installing checkpoints and effectively occupying the Maronite town.
That occupation converted the neighbourhood into a ghost town, with snipers and burned shops replacing daily life.

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Antoun Issa grew up quietly aware of a profound grief in his mother's eyes. As an adult, after living and working in the Middle East, he finally knew how to ask her about surviving the Lebanese Civil War.

Antoun is a journalist who grew up in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, after his parents had escaped the civil war in Lebanon in the 1970s.

Growing up in Craigieburn as the baby of the family, Antoun was particularly close with his mother.

He was always conscious of a deep sadness in his mother's eyes, but was wary of asking her too many questions.

As an adult, Antoun went to live and work in Lebanon.

There, in the Middle East, where he worked as a journalist, Antoun saw firsthand what happens when the trajectory of human life is interrupted by conflict and violence.

Upon returning home to Australia, he was finally ready to ask his mother about the source of her quiet and enduring grief, and what came out of her was a remarkable story of true love, true loss and resilience.

REBIRTH: A Love Story from the Depths of War is published by Hachette.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Eliza Kirsch.

It explores the Middle East, War, Conflict, Beiruit, Israel, PLO, Palestine, United States, civil war, conflict, refugees, religious conflict, Lebanese Christians, Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims, Mountains, Maronite Christians, politics and religion, proxy wars, Iran, Iraq, Arab-Isreali, Saudi, Cold War, Arab Cold War, Taif Agreement, political power, relationship, origin story, writing, books, memoir, novel, survival, death, violence, sliding doors.

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