| Mona Eltahawy منى الطحاوى |
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|---|---|
Eltahawy speaking at the 2011 Personal Democracy Forum |
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| 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 1 August 1967, Port Said, Egypt) is a freelance Egyptian-American journalist based in New York.
Eltahawy was educated at the American University in Cairo, from which she has an MA in Journalism. Before moving from her native Egypt to the United States in 2000, Eltahawy was a news reporter for a decade. She was a correspondent for Reuters News Agency in Cairo and Jerusalem, reported from the Middle East for the UK's Guardian newspaper and was a stringer for U.S. News and World Report.
She wrote a weekly column for the Saudi-owned international Arab publication Asharq Al-Awsat for some years before her articles were discontinued for being "too critical" of the Egyptian regime, she claimed in an article written for the International Herald Tribune in 2006.[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 publications worldwide 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, 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 human rights and reform in the Islamic world, feminism and Egyptian Muslim-Christian relations in addition to her other concerns. 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.
The Economist in 2009 credited 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]
On 24 November 2011, she tweeted (@monaeltahawy) "beaten arrested in interior ministry" amid renewed protests in Tahrir Square. She was held in custody for 12 hours and accused those who held her of physical and sexual assault.[4] Her left arm and right hand were fractured.[5]
Eltahawy is a board member of the Progressive Muslim Union of North America.[6]