Journalists In Ouzza’i

Matt and Nadine went to report on Illegal construction in Ouzza’i:

As we headed back to our car, a man on a motor bike stopped us. He told us he was a member of Hezbollah and wanted to know why we were gathering statistics in the neighborhood.

We told him we were journalists working on an article, trying to get people’s opinions in order to tell their stories, not gathering statistics. Convinced we were lying, he took our IDs and my notebook and asked us, very politely but in a way that was clear we could not refuse, to wait a little while.

As a second man drove off on a motorbike with our belongings, we sat and waited

What a bunch of creeps. They ignore the laws on illegal construction, but they make up their own laws on journalism and reporting.