07/25/2013 02:57 PM Pining for Beirut How I Made Hezbollah's Blacklist Over the last half-century, Beirut has gone from the being the "Switzerland of the Middle East " to a country plagued by instability. In a personal account, SPIEGEL reporter Erich Follath explains his difficult relationship with Hezbollah and his love of Beirut. Eight years ago, or back in the days when Hezbollah still liked me, I wanted to interview one of the organization's leaders in Beirut and found myself caught up in its well-oiled bureaucratic cogs. First, Hezbollah's " Media Relation Department" had me fill out a form. This included all the usual questions, such as how long I had been a journalist, where and what I had studied, then a request to "please provide exact details" on my nationality and religious affiliation, as well as that of my father and mother, followed by my date and place of birth. Then came the somewhat more unusual question of whether I h...