Our Staff
EDITORS
Siham Nuseibeh: Managing Editor, Israel/Palestine & the Levant Region Editor
A Middle East native, Siham Nuseibeh is Muftah’s Israel/Palestine editor and specializes in social development issues with a particular focus on humanitarian issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Throughout her academic and professional careers, Siham has held various positions with media and relief work organizations around the Middle East region. Among these experiences, Siham formerly served as the editor of en.v, a magazine dedicated to social responsibility in the Middle East, and helped conceptualize The en.v Foundation – a social development initiative focused on empowering regional civil society. Siham is currently working on a sustainable recycling project for disadvantaged women in Lebanon, due to launch in 2011.
Siham holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism with a concentration in Politics from Boston University and a Master’s of Science degree in Development Studies from the London School of Economics.
Ali Ahmadi Motlagh: Afghanistan-Pakistan, Iran-Iraq, & Turkey Editor
Ali Ahmadi Motlagh is Iran editor of Muftah. He is a former Managing Editor at Encyclopaedia Iranica, the foremost reference work on the history and culture of Iran, the Caucuses and Central Asia, produced at Columbia’s Center for Iranian Studies. Ali’s scholarship on Iran is focused on modern Iranian history, including the processes of state formation, narratives of nationalism and identity politics. In addition to these interests, Ali is an avid writer and film-maker and is currently directing and producing a documentary on the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, entitled “Hostage to History”.Muftah’s Yemen editor and a researcher and consultant on the Middle East and Horn of Africa, with a specific focus on conflict analysis, refugees, complex emergencies, humanitarian and development issues and media and communications in the region. Saleem is a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines in the Middle East, with a focus on regional and foreign policy issues. For three years Saleem worked with Medecins Sans Frontieres in Iraq (2009) and Yemen (2008, 2009). He has also worked in Jordan with the Center for Strategic Studies, the Overseas Development Institute and as consultant to the European Commission on Euro-Mediterranean relations.
Ali obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Cornell University and a Master’s degree in Iranian Studies from Columbia University, with a concentration in literature and politics.
Joseph Farag: Egypt & North Africa Editor
Joseph Farag is Muftah’s Egypt and North Africa editor. Raised primarily in Kuwait, Joseph has worked and lived in various countries of the Middle East, including Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Joseph has contributed to publications in Canada, Egypt, and Kuwait on a range of topics pertaining to the Middle East, including women’s rights, various aspects of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and Egypt’s Coptic minority.
Joseph earned a BA in Political Science and an MA in Cultural Analysis and Social Theory from Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada. He also holds an MA in Near and Middle Eastern Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and is currently a PhD candidate in literature at Queen Mary, University of London, where his research focuses on questions of identity and politics in Palestinian literature after 1948.
Saleem Haddad: Yemen & Gulf States Editor
Based in London, Saleem Haddad is Muftah’s Yemen and Gulf States Editor. Saleem is a researcher and consultant on the Middle East and Horn of Africa, with a specific focus on conflict analysis, refugees, complex emergencies, humanitarian and development issues and media and communications in the region. He is also a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines in the Middle East, with a focus on regional and foreign policy. For three years Saleem worked with Medecins Sans Frontieres in Iraq (2009) and Yemen (2008, 2009). He has also worked in Jordan with the Center for Strategic Studies, the Overseas Development Institute, and as consultant to the European Commission on Euro-Mediterranean relations.
Saleem holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Development Studies from Queen’s University in Canada and a Master’s of Science degree in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.
STAFF WRITERS
Yazan Al-Saadi
Yazan L. Al-Saadi is a native of the West Asian (Middle East) region. Based primarily in Kuwait, Yazan has lived, studied and worked in three continents. He is a freelance writer and researcher with interests in a number of subjects from pop-culture to politics, sociological issues to economic theories. He is currently an editor and writer for the online blog Kabobfest and a correspondent for the Lebanese newspaper, Al Akhbar English.
Yazan holds a Bachelor’s (Honors) degree in Economics and Development Studies from Queen’s University, Canada and a Masters of Arts in Law, Development, and Globalization from the School of Oriental and African Studies.
Nancy Elshami
Nancy Elshami is an independent journalist and researcher, whose work has been featured on ZNet, Jadaliyya, and World Policy Blog. Nancy graduated from Barnard College with a Bachelor’s degree in Economic History and Middle Eastern Studies. She is currently a research analyst at Cornell University’s Institute for Compensation Studies. Nancy is a native Egyptian based in New York. Her research focuses on Egyptian political economy and modern social history.
