Personal Info
- Country of residence: United States
Information
Laila Al-Haddad is a freelance Palestinian journalist , author, and blogger from Gaza , currently residing in Maryland , USA . She has written many books, worked as a political advisor to the Palestinian Policy Network , and writes for Al Jazeera English and The Guardian newspaper . Her writings have appeared in newspapers such as the Washington Post , the International Herald Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, the Newsman and Le Monde Diplomatique . [1]
Personal life
Laila Al-Haddad was born in Kuwait in 1978. She spent her childhood in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , where her parents worked, and would come to Gaza in the summer. [2] She traveled to the United States of America to study at Duke University , then obtain a master’s degree in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School, where she received the Clinton Scholarship for Palestinian graduate students . [3] She later returned to Gaza to work as a journalist while her husband, Yassin Daoud, remained in the United States of America and was unable to visit her as a Palestinian refugee . She had to travel to the United States of America to meet him. Because she did not hold American citizenship and did not possess Palestinian travel documents , she was stopped and had to stay in Cairo with her son for 55 days waiting for the documents or the opening of the borders . [2] In 2006, she was able to travel to her husband in the United States of America . She was outside the country when Israel launched the war on Gaza for 3 weeks, and she remained in close contact with her parents there, which enabled her to write about their suffering and publish it .
Laila has a son named Youssef, and two daughters, Nour and Malak.
Her work
From 2003 to 2007, Laila worked as a correspondent for Al Jazeera English from Gaza , and received widespread acclaim for her coverage of Israel’s evacuation of Israeli settlements and Israeli army camps from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and the Palestinian legislative elections in 2006. [4] She was a guest on satellite stations such as NPR and CN. The BBC . [1]
She also collaborated with Saeed Taji Farooqi in directing the documentary Tunnel Trade , which was produced by Tourist With A Typewriter , and contributed to issuing the guidebook for Green Olive Tours .
Writing
In 2004, Laila created a blog called “Raising Yousuf: A Diary of a Mother Under Occupation,” and is now called “ Gaza Mom,” and she won the Best Blog Award . Blog in the Middle East in 2007, and other honors. In 2010, she collected all her blogs and other writings in which she talks about her daily life and the events that are happening in Gaza , and she tries to tell them to her children in one book entitled: “ My Mother, Gaza, Palestine, Politics, Parenting, and Everything in Between .” [4]
Laila writes about her life in a humorous style , and through her diaries , she depicts what the Palestinians and the people of Gaza are facing in a way that arouses sympathy for them.
She has also written for the Washington Post , the International Herald Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, the Newsman , Le Monde Diplomatique, and the website Electronic Intifada , covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from Chicago .
She also co-authored the book “ The Goldstone Report: The Legacy of the Landmark Investigation of the Gaza Conflict ,” published in 2011, and collaborated with Maggie Schmitt in publishing the book “ Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey ” ( in English : The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey ), the book includes recipes from across the Gaza Strip and tells the stories of men and women from Gaza , shedding light on the reality of Palestinian life from a personal perspective. [5] [6] She also appeared on the television program “Unknown Places” in the Jerusalem episode , and talked about the rich food culture of Gaza .
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Achievements and Awards
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