Mona Eltahawy
| Mona Eltahawy منى الطحاوى | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 1, 1967 Port Said, Egypt[1] |
| Education | American University in Cairo |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Nationality | Egyptian/American |
| Religious belief(s) | Islam |
| Official website | |
Mona Eltahawy (Arabic: منى الطحاوى, IPA: [ˈmonæ (ʔe)ltˤɑˈħɑːwi]) (born in Port Said, Egypt on August 1st, 1967) is a freelance Egyptian-American journalist based in New York who for a long period wrote a weekly column for the Saudi-owned international Arab publication Asharq Al-Awsat before her articles were discontinued for being "too critical" of the Egyptian regime, she claimed in an article she wrote for the International Herald Tribune.[2]
However, the ban imposed by Asharq Al-Awsat's editor in chief, Tariq Alhomayed, gave Eltahawy a platform and she now writes essays and op-eds for different publications worldwide, typically on Egypt and the Islamic world, including women's issues and Muslim political and social affairs. Eltahawy is active in the Progressive Muslim Union, and has been a strong critic of the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, and the Miami Herald among others.
Eltahawy is a frequent guest analyst on U.S. radio and television news shows. She also speaks publicly at universities, panel discussions and interfaith gatherings on Egypt, the Middle East, human rights and reform in the Islamic world, feminism and Egyptian Muslim-Christian relations. From 2002 to 2004, she was managing editor of the Arabic-language version of Women's eNews, an independent, non-profit news website that covers women's issues from around the world.
Before moving from her native Egypt to the United States in 2000, Eltahawy was a news reporter for 10 years. She was a correspondent for Reuters News Agency in Cairo and Jerusalem, reported from the Middle East for the UK's The Guardian newspaper and was a stringer for U.S. News and World Report.
Eltahawy has a Master of Arts in Journalism from the American University in Cairo.
Contents[hide] |
[edit] "The Opium of the Arabs"
The Economist credits Eltahawy with coining the phrase "the opium of the Arabs," referring to "an intoxicating way for (Arab leaders) to forget their own failings or at least blame them on (Israel). Arab leaders have long practice of using Israel as a pretext for maintaining states of emergency at home and putting off reform."[3]
[edit] Positions
- Board member of the Progressive Muslim Union of North America.[4]
[edit] Awards & honors
- Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press, for opinion writing by the European Commission (2009)[5]
- Cutting Edge Prize, for distinguished contribution to the coverage of the Middle East by Next Century Foundation. (2006)[6]
- Distinguished Visiting Professor at the American University in Cairo (2006)[7]
- Muslim Leader of Tomorrow by the American Society for Muslim Advancement (2005)[8]
[edit] References
 | This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable in the future. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (June 2011) |
- ^ http://criticalvoices.ie/speakers/display.asp?ArtistID=12
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/19/opinion/19iht-edelta.2004685.html
- ^ Section, "The Opium of the Arabs," in Which way will they go? Jul 23rd 2009, The Economist [1]
- ^ http://palestinenote.com/members/Mona-Eltahawy/default.aspx
- ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mona-eltahawy
- ^ http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/muslimwomen/bio/mona_eltahawy/
- ^ http://palestinenote.com/members/Mona-Eltahawy/default.aspx
- ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mona-eltahawy
