MIDDLE EASTERN MARVEL — Lina Chankar was shot during the Lebanese Civil War, but survived to become a standout journalist and a SODA recipient.
Photo by Karen Tome
Lina Chankar has a well-deserved reputation for being a tough journalist and a persistent reporter. Just ask some of the perpetrators of the South Bay Corruption Scandal.
Journalism, though, seems like child’s play to Chankar compared to her childhood in Lebanon, a nation gripped by a bloody civil war that left more than 150,000 dead, 1 million displaced and 250,000 refugees.
Chankar was one of those survivors.
“Pretty much all I remember is war,” she said. “Growing up in a war-ridden city like Beirut was hard. There were bombings around my neighborhood. Even when my mom was in labor she could not get to the hospital because of the bombings.”
Chankar and her father were victims of a bomb that went off near their car and hit them with shrapnel.
It got even worse.
“I was shot during the war,” she said. “Doctors told my mom I was either going to be paralyzed the rest of my life or die.”
When Chankar recovered enough to travel, her family fled Lebanon in such a hurry they left everything behind, including their home.
They boarded a plane and never looked back.
Chankar arrived in America in her early teens when her uncle’s petition to get her family to the United States was accepted. They settled in Connecticut, safe but traumatized.
Her experiences in the Lebanese war haunted her. Chankar said she would often anticipate bombings and gunfire in the safety of her new home in Connecticut when she heard sudden noises or backfire from cars.
“It took me two years to feel safe in America and actually believe there was no war here,” she said.
As grateful as she was to get out of the war, Chankar said she missed Lebanon and hoped to return. While living with her uncle’s family in Connecticut, she said she experienced severe culture shock.
“It was really frustrating because I was a kid and I did not understand what was going on,” she said. “Since I did not speak a word of English, I hated everything. I hated American food, especially pizza. Now I will eat it all day!”
After Chankar finished high school in Connecticut, she said she was excited to travel and see more of the United States. In the Middle East travel was restricted and she had limited access to other cities.
Chankar traveled to several cities on the East and West Coast, and has settled in San Diego.
She was in Los Angeles when the 9/11 attacks happened and Muslims came under fire in the United States. Chankar decided to go back to her family in Connecticut.
After a few years the SoCal sun called her back.
“I had a few friends in San Diego, so I thought it would be a good idea to come back,” she said.
When she first attended SWC, Chankar was not the friendly Senior Staff Writer at the Southwestern Sun she is today.
Journalism professor Dr. Max Branscomb had Chankar in his Journalism 171 class.
“My first impression of her was that she was a really serious, quiet, stony-faced woman who hated my class,” he said. “Boy was I wrong!”
Chankar joined the staff of The Sun and became a star, Branscomb said. He later successfully nominated her for the SWC Student of Distinction Award, the college’s top student honor.
“She has such a great work ethic,” he said. “Lina is now the go-to reporter for our big controversial stories. I really appreciate her.”
Albert Fulcher, a former editor-in-chief of The Sun, worked with Chankar for two and a half years. Like Branscomb, he is a Chankar fan.
“She always works her back end off,” said Fulcher. “We are going to see a lot of her in the future. I hope she keeps her passion going.”
Today Chankar does more than write and edit for The Sun. She has been an advocate for Palestinian human rights for the last 15 years and works at the grassroots level for civil rights of Palestinians in the Middle East.
“My dad is Palestinian and in the Middle East if you are Palestinian you are no good,” she said.
During the administration of President George W. Bush, Chankar went to the White House in 2003 to protest the war on Iraq. She also worked on the presidential campaign of Ralph Nader.
Apart from her humanist activism, Chankar manages her own web aggregator business called San Diego 411. With compiling restaurants, upcoming events, and local top news stories, 411 has grown tremendously in popularity on Facebook and Twitter.
“I figured I would do some sort of news outlet, instead of going on several sites to look for information, [people] can just go to one site,” she said.
Chankar said she looks forward to bringing more writers on board at 411 so she can expand her business.
She said she will also continue supporting human rights for Palestinians and keep up her award-winning work at The Sun.
Branscomb said she has a bright future as a journalist if she chooses to pursue it.
“Lina is going to be an important voice in the media, either as a reporter, or, if she chooses, as a voice for Palestinians and other people in the Middle East,” he said. “She’s smart, fearless and talented, so she has the ability to be an impact player.”
