Ian Black, the Guardian’s former Middle East editor, has died aged 69. He had a rare neurological disease.
Black, who was also a former diplomatic and European editor for the paper, died peacefully on Sunday morning surrounded by his family.
After retiring from the Guardian, he became a visiting senior fellow at the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics, and continued working as a media commentator on the region.
In August 2021, Black was diagnosed with frontotemporal lobar degeneration – an uncommon neurological condition. He was later told he also showed signs of corticobasal syndrome, an even rarer disorder involving the shrinking of the brain.
Black and his wife, Helen Harris, gave a detailed and moving account of his physical degeneration in an article for the Guardian last October. He wrote: “It is hard to ignore the increasing realisation that as my brain is shrinking, so is my world.” But he said he was enjoying life while he still could.
Black was a widely respected authority on the Middle East and north Africa and authored a number of books, including a history of the Palestine-Israel conflict published in 2017 to mark the centenary of the Balfour declaration.
He reported extensively on the Arab spring uprisings and their aftermath, including the conflict in Syria. As part of his role he reported frequently from Israel, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Iran.
Recalling his time as Jerusalem correspondent with one of his successors, Oliver Holmes in 2021, Black said: “You have spent the past three and half years reporting on a one-state reality, whereas I spent my years with the underlying assumption that a two-state solution was possible. And that’s gone.”
Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief of the Guardian said: “Ian was an exceptional journalist with a deep expertise on the Middle East which Guardian readers valued very highly. His colleagues did too.”
In their joint article, Harris wrote: “Ian is reporting from the frontline of his illness with the same clarity and detachment with which he reported for decades from other trouble spots. I find his detachment – and his courage – extraordinary.”
She added: “For many years, I had a handsome foreign correspondent husband who lived in a perpetual hurry, rushing to catch planes and to file his copy to a relentless deadline. He is still handsome and I still love him very much but, in some ways, he has changed beyond recognition.”
Black said he first noticed becoming lost for words during a TV interview in the summer of 2020. As the conditioned worsened he recalled being scared of sounding inarticulate, while maintaining his comprehension and ability to write.
Victoria Brittain, a friend and former colleague on the Guardian foreign desk, said Black and Harris were “overwhelmed by the generosity and warmth from colleagues and others” after the article appeared.
She added: “Ian was a lovely colleague, who was always helpful with information and ideas. Even in the last part of his illness, he remained incredibly graceful, knowledgable and sharp witted.”
Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said: “Ian was always so generous with his time with me ever since I first met him in the early 1990s. One of the finest journalists covering the Middle East from whom I learnt so much. His book on Israel-Palestine, Enemies and Neighbours, written back in 2017 remains one of the best on the issue. He was warm, fun and kind and will be sorely missed.”
ITV’s international affairs editor, Rageh Omaar, said he was very sad to hear of Black’s death. He tweeted: “Rigorous, exacting & didn’t suffer fools gladly. But generous with time & his considerable knowledge, & wrote movingly of his condition in last months.”
Black lived in Golders Green, north London. Brittain said the shelves in his office were decorated with his collection of political memorabilia, including a cartoon statuette of Charles de Gaulle and a set of Russian dolls that included caricatures of Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and Yasser Arafat.
Black is survived by his wife and their two daughters and by his son from a previous marriage.
