Ali Abunimah
Electronic Intifada Founder and Journalist
Host: Basima Farhat
Previously Aired On: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 – Listen to the Show!
Ali Abunimah, a writer and commentator on Middle East and Arab-American affairs, lives in Chicago. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Jordan Times, Lebanon’s Daily Star and Ha’aretz, among others.
In 1996, when Israel attacked Lebanon, Abunimah began writing Chicago’s NPR station about their lack of objective coverage. Months later, NPR asked him to appear on one of their shows to comment on Clinton’s bombing of Sudan and Afghanistan. Since then, Abunimah has steadily become a common voice as an expert commentator and debater offering insight into a range of topics regarding the Middle East. He is frequent guest on local, national and international radio and television, including public radio and television, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, the BBC and many others.
Abunimah lectures frequently at colleges in the United States. He was born in the United States and grew up in Europe. Both of his parents are originally from Palestine. He received his BA from Princeton University and MA from the University of Chicago. Abunimah travels often to the Middle East and is a full-time researcher in social policy at the University of Chicago.
In October 2006, Abunimah’s book One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse, was released by Metropolitan Books. “I realized this idea of partition is an illusion; it’s the problem. The reality is that it [Palestine-Israel] is one country.” said Abunimah. “We don’t have to agree how and why everyone came into the country. We just have to agree it is indeed one country and everyone gets to have a dignified life. Debates about how it came to be are important but they don’t deal with the reality that there are 10 million people who live there. And they aren’t going to go away,” he added.
“My parents taught me the importance of standing up for your rights but doing so in a way that is not tribal. The Palestinian issue is about universal rights and about equality for everyone.”
Abunimah was born in Washington, DC in 1971. His mother is from Lifta, near Jerusalem, and became a refugee when Israel was established in 1948. His father, a former Jordanian diplomat and ambassador to the United Nations, hails from the West Bank village of Batir.
Other recent book contributions include “No Justice, No Peace,” in “The Anti-Capitalism Reader,” edited by Joel Schalit. New York: Akashic Books, 2002; “The US Media and the New Intifada” (with Hussein Ibish) in “The New Intifada,” edited by Roane Carey. New York: Verso Books, 2001; “The Palestinian Right of Return” (with Hussein Ibish), Washington, DC: ADC, 2001; “The Media’s Deadly Spin on Iraq” (with Rania Masri) in “Iraq Under Siege” edited by Anthony Arnove. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2002 (Updated Edition).
