Zaki Nassif is one of the best known Lebanese composers. He was born in 1915 in Machghara, the largest town in the western Bekaa Valley and was involved in music and country folk poetry at an early age. He started composing material for Radio Orient and Radio Liban in the 1950s.

His specialty was combining the old Lebanese folk music with a fresh spirit of the Lebanese country side. His songs are often played on Lebanese TV stations along with scenery from Lebanon.

Zaki Nassif is remembered during the Lebanese civil war for his anthem song "Rajeh Yittammar" (Lebanon will be rebuilt) at a time when violence and destruction were the rule rather than the exception in Lebanon.

Robert McNamara