| Omar al Issawi | |
|---|---|
Omar al Issawi |
|
| Born | Omar al Issawi June 4, 1967 Kuwait |
| Residence | Doha, Qatar |
| Nationality | Lebanese |
| Occupation | Human rights activist, documentary director and producer, correspondent |
| Employer | Human Rights Watch |
| Website | |
| http://www.issawi.net/ | |
Omar al-Issawi (Arabic: عمر العيساوي ) born June 4, 1967, is a Lebanese human rights activist and previously a journalist, director, producer, and television personality.
Between 1994 and 1996 al-Issawi was a reporter with the BBC Arabic World Service Television. On August 9, 1995 he was shot and wounded while on assignment for the BBC. The incident took place in Krajina during the Bosnian war.[1]
In 1996 he was one of the original staff recruited for the launch of Al Jazeera. In June 2011 al-Issawi ended his 15-year association with Al Jazeera. He subsequently joined Human Rights Watch as Director of Advocacy and Communications for the Middle East and North Africa region.
His most notable documentaries are the landmark 15-part The War of Lebanon, the first documentary of its kind entirely produced in the Arab world. It was commercially available as a DVD set with English and French subtitles and the 2008/2009 production A Tale of Revolution, a 13-part chronicle of the history of the Palestine Liberation Organization. No word on whether this set will see a commercial release although all episodes are available in Arabic on YouTube.
A 6-part English-language version began airing on Al Jazeera English on July 13, 2009 under the title PLO: History of a Revolution. The final episode was broadcast on August 17, 2009. Al-Issawi penned a "making of" article to go with the program.[2]
Al-Issawi was the subject of an extensive article in the New Yorker magazine in April 2003.[3] He was also featured in New York magazine,[4] Newsweek [5] as well as The Nation [6] He has also appeared on CNN and was a guest on the Larry King Show.[7]
Al-Issawi has been an occasional analyst for Al Jazeera's English-language channel, commenting on Lebanese affairs, and has contributed to its website.[2]
In 2009 The Guardian newspaper named al-Issawi as a "living national icon" of Lebanon.[8]