Khaled Abu Toameh (Arabic: خالد أبو طعمة‎, born 1963) is an Israeli Arab journalist, lecturer and documentary filmmaker. Abu Toameh is the West Bank and Gaza correspondent for the Jerusalem Post and U.S. News and World Report, and has been the Palestinian affairs producer for NBC News since 1988. His articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal (http://spme.net/cgi-bin/articles.cgi?ID=1998), World Tribune (http://www.worldnewstribune.com/2011/10/27/report-jordan-seen-approving-move-by-hamas-from-syria/)" Sunday Times, Daily Express and many other newspapers. He is a senior adviser for the Hudson Institute think-tank in New York.^[1][2]

Abu Toameh also writes for the New York-based think tank Stonegate Institute [1]

Biography[link]

Khaled Abu Toameh was born in the West Bank city of Tulkarem to an Israeli Arab father and a Palestinian Arab mother.^[3] He grew up in the Arab-Israeli town Baqa al-Gharbiyye.^[4] He received his BA in English Literature from the Hebrew University and lives in Jerusalem with his wife and three children.^[5] Toameh has referred to himself as an "Israeli-Arab-Muslim-Palestinian", whose vision of an ideal world would be "if there is a Jew who would like to live in Palestine he is welcome, and if there is an Arab who would like to live in Israel he is also welcome. In an ideal situation, peace means that people can live wherever they want."^[6]

Media career[link]

Khaled Abu Toameh was formerly a senior reporter for The Jerusalem Report and a correspondent for Al-Fajr, which he describes as a mouthpiece for the PLO.^[5] He has produced several documentaries on the Palestinians for the BBC, Channel 4, Australian, Danish and Swedish television, including ones that exposed the connection between Yasser Arafat and payments to the armed wing of Fatah, as well as the financial corruption within the Palestinian Authority.^[5] He was the first journalist to report about the sex scandal that rocked the Palestinian Authority in early 2010 and which led to the dismissal of Rafiq Husseini, chief of staff to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The scandal was revealed by former Palestinian intelligence official Fahmi Shabaneh in an exclusive interview with Abu Toameh in The Jerusalem Post.^[7]

Abu Toameh writes for the Hudson Institute,^[1] and has served as a lecturer with the University of Minnesota - School of Journalism and Mass Communication.^[8] He has also lectured at the London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS),^[9] as well as the London-based think tank Chatham House.^[10]

Abu Toameh was a keynote speaker at the 2009 annual conference of the Canadian Association of Journalists in Vancouver.^[11] He has spoken at the House of Commons of the United Kingdom by invitation.^[12]

At university campuses throughout the U.S. and Canada, he has spoken on the situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and prospects for peace in the Middle East.^[6][13] He was listed as part of the speakers bureau for the Hasbara Fellowships, who have brought him to more than a dozen talks at various university campuses.^[14][15] A series of his talks have also been sponsored by StandWithUs,^[16][17] and he spoke at their annual conference in Los Angeles in 2008.^[18]

In August 2011 Abu Toameh was invited to speak at a seminar organized by The Australian Human Rights Center on human rights challenges in the Palestinian territories. http://www.ahrcentre.org/images/Khaled%20Abu%20Toameh_invite.pdf

He has also been invited to speak at the prestigious Sydney Institute in Australia on the challenge of Palestinian state-building. http://www.thesydneyinstitute.com.au/speaker/khaled-abu-toameh/

Views and opinions[link]

In an article published in November 2011, Khaled Abu Toameh criticized the current leadership of Israel's Arab citizens for damaging relations between Jews and Arabs inside the Jewish state. http://www.hudson-ny.org/2590/israeli-arab-representatives

Abu Toameh has also written against the mistreatment of Palestinians by Arab governments, which he accused of imposing "apartheid" against Palestinians, especially in Lebanon. http://frontpagemag.com/2011/03/22/where-is-the-outcry-against-arab-apartheid/

In December 2011 Abu Toameh met in Jerusalem with Georgia State Elected Officials and briefed them on the current developments in the Middle East and the peace process. http://projectinterchange.org/?p=6277

In 2009, Toameh declared that "Israel is a wonderful place to live and we are happy to be there. Israel is a free and open country. If I were given the choice, I would rather live in Israel as a second class citizen than as a first class citizen in Cairo, Gaza, Amman or Ramallah."^[19][20]

In the Durban Review Conference, Toameh criticized Israeli Arab Knesset members for supporting extremism and calling Israel a "state of apartheid" rather than fighting for the rights of Arab citizens of Israel:

And then they come here to tell us that Israel is a state of apartheid? Excuse me. What kind of hypocrisy is this? What then are you doing in the Knesset? If you are living in an apartheid system, why were you allowed, as an Arab, to run in the election? What are you talking about? We do have problems as Arabs with the establishment here. But to come and say that Israel is an apartheid state is a big exaggeration. I am not here to defend Israel, but I think that Knesset members like this gentleman are doing huge damage to the cause of Israeli Arabs. I want to see the Knesset member sitting in the Knesset, in Jerusalem, and fighting for the rights of Arabs over there.^[19]

Ali Kazak, former PLO ambassador to Australia, called Toameh a "traitor."^[20][21]

Recognition and awards[link]

Abu Toameh shared Israel Media Watch's 2010 award for media criticism with the satirical Israeli website Latma.^[22] Abu Toameh won Israel's Media Watch 2011 prize.^[22] On May 10, 2011 Khaled Abu Toameh won the Hudson Institute Award for Courage in Journalism.^[23]

Canada's Toronto Sun columnist Salim Mansur praised Abu Toameh for his courage and knowledge of the politics of the Arab world. ^[24]

Published works[link]

• Analysis on prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel http://www.hudson-ny.org/2513/hamas-wins
• What do wealthy Arabs care about? http://www.hudson-ny.org/2303/wealthy-arabs
• Abu Toameh on controversy over Palestinian satirical show http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=233148
• News story on Hamas violations against media http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=214092
• Article in Jpost on freedom of media: http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=232720

Palestinian journalist threatened by Palestinian Authority security forces in West Bank http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=232720 Mohammed Dahlan faces corruption, murder charges http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=230631

• "Telling the Truth about the Palestinians". Meforum.org. 2004-04-27. http://www.meforum.org/article/604. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "Arab world fed up with Hizbullah". Fr.jpost.com. 2006-07-17. http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150886029284&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "Fatah: We've lost the battle for Jerusalem". Fr.jpost.com. 2007-05-14. http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1178708601224&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "Israeli Arabs Not Fifth Column". Hudsonny.org. 2009-12-01. http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/12/israeli-arabs-not-fifth-column.php. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "Why Salam Fayyad Can't Deliver". Hudsonny.org. 2010-04-20. http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/04/the-palestinians-why-salam-fayyad-cannot-deliver.php. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "The Palestinian victims no one talks about". Fullcomment.nationalpost.com. 2010-07-24. http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/07/24/khaled-abu-toameh-the-palestinian-victims-no-one-talks-about/. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "Where Are the Voices of "Moderate" Muslims?". Hudson-ny.org. 2010-08-10. http://www.hudson-ny.org/1471/moderate-muslims. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "‘Palestine’s new bride’". JPost. 2010-08-20. http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/Article.aspx?id=185283. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "Hypocrites in Washington: What Egypt's Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah Really Want". Hudson-ny.org. 2010-09-03. http://www.hudson-ny.org/1529/mubarak-king-abdullah-washington. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "Why Abbas Wants to Kill Palestinians Who Do Businesss With Jews". Hudson-ny.org. 2010-09-24. http://www.hudson-ny.org/1566/abbas-kill-palestinians-businesss-with-jews. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "Mubarak's Media". Hudson-ny.org. 2010-09-21. http://www.hudson-ny.org/1558/mubarak-media. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "The Gaza Strip: Why Is Washington Sticking Its Head in the Sand?". Hudson-ny.org. 2010-09-17. http://www.hudson-ny.org/1553/gaza-strip-peace-process. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "The Palestinian Authority: Silencing the Opposition". Hudson-ny.org. 2010-08-27. http://www.hudson-ny.org/1514/palestinian-authority-silencing-opposition. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "US, EU Support Violations of Human Rights as Palestinian Authority Escalates Repression, Brutality". Hudson-ny.org. 2010-12-24. http://www.hudson-ny.org/1749/palestinian-authority-brutality-repression. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "Gaza's Women: Who Is Defending Their Rights?". Hudson-ny.org. 2010-11-23. http://www.hudson-ny.org/1677/gaza-women-rights. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "Why Arab leaders Do Not Care About Medical Services In Their Countries". Hudson-ny.org. 2010-12-21. http://www.hudson-ny.org/1741/arab-countries-medical-services. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "Middle East's Western Media: Hypocrisy, Double Standards Out of Control". Hudson-ny.org. 2010-08-13. http://www.hudson-ny.org/1481/middle-east-western-media. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "What About Hamas's Siege of Gaza?". Hudson-ny.org. 2010-06-08. http://www.hudson-ny.org/1362/hamas-siege-of-gaza. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "Abbas & Fayyad: Do They Have a Mandate?". Hudson-ny.org. 2010-08-24. http://www.hudson-ny.org/1502/abbas-fayyad-mandate. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• "Intifada Over the Arab World?". Hudson-ny.org. 2011-01-11. http://www.hudson-ny.org/1791/intifada-over-the-arab-world. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 

References[link]

External links[link]

• "Palestinian Journalists facing challenges, threats". Jpost.com. 2010-03-31. http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=172106. 
• "Abbas fires Husseini over sex scandal". JPost. 2010-07-04. http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=172540. 
• "PA affirms death penalty for land sales to Israelis". Jpost.com. 2010-09-20. http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=188604. 
• "Journalist Discusses Hamas Win". Chicagomaroon.com. 2006-02-13. http://www.chicagomaroon.com/2006/2/13/journalist-discusses-hamas-win. 
• Wanted: Arab Palestinian «Peace Now» movement
• "Journalist says only truth will set Palestine free". The Australian. 2010-05-15. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/journalist-says-only-truth-will-set-palestine-free/story-e6frg6z6-1225866997079. 
• "Arab-Israeli journalist visits UO | Oregon Daily Emerald". Dailyemerald.com. 2008-04-06. http://www.dailyemerald.com/2008/04/06/arab-israeli-journalist-visits-uo/. 

Danny Danon
Date of birth	(1971-05-08) 8 May 1971 (age 41)
Place of birth	Ramat Gan, Israel
Knessets	18
Party	Likud

Danny Danon (Hebrew: דני דנון‎, born 8 May 1971) is an Israeli politician who serves as a member of the Knesset for Likud. He is chairman of World Likud and Chair of the Knesset Committee for Aliya (immigration), Absorption and Diaspora Affairs.

Biography[link]

Danon was born in Ramat Gan, Israel, to Joseph and Yoheved Danon. He attended Blikh high school and participated in the Betar youth movement. Danon earned a Bachelor's degree in International Affairs, and Master in Public Policy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. After his national service in the IDF (1994–1996), Danon was sent by the Jewish Agency to Miami.^[1]

In 1996 he was appointed assistant to Likud MK Uzi Landau. Later on he was appointed the Chairman of the World Betar organization for a few years. Prior to the 2006 elections, Danon won 23rd spot on Likud's list in the party primaries. However, the party won only 12 seats, and Danon did not enter the Knesset.^[1]

In June 2006, after beating MK Yuval Steinitz, Danon was elected Chairman of the World Likud organization.^[2] Danon was active against Prime-Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan during the referendum conducted by the latter in the Likud party's central committee.

In July 2007 Danon, described as one of Binyamin Netanyahu's biggest critics from within the Likud, declared his candidacy for the Likud leadership election.^[3] He eventually finished third.

In 2008, Danon filed a petition to the Israeli High Court of Justice to rescind the citizenship of former MK Azmi Bishara, who fled Israel after he was suspected of aiding Hizbullah, an enemy organization of Israel, during the Second Lebanon War. The petition was rejected.

Prior to the 2009 elections he won twenty-fourth place on the Likud list, and entered the Knesset as the party won 27 seats.

In September 2009, during the annual UN General Assembly, MK Danny Danon toured the United States, meeting with Congressmen, leaders of the Jewish community and others on a public relations mission on Israel's behalf. Danon told American lawmakers that "U.S. pressure on Israel is hurting Israel and will do nothing to advance peace.”^[4][5]

One of his most controversial recent causes was making it legal to sue people for organising boycotts, LIKE products manufactured by settlers in the West Bank. He also wants to expel from the Knesset any member who joins any activity which would join the siege of Gaza.

In an August 2011 interview with Teymoor Nabili on Al Jazeera English, Mr. Danon said "There is place only for one state on the land of Israel.... I do not believe in a two-state solution."^[6]

Danon is married to Tali and father to three children and lives in Mishmeret.

Glenn Beck Controversy[link]

In June 2011, after an appearance on his Fox News program,^[7] Danon invited the right-wing American political commentator Glenn Beck to address the Knesset Immigration, Absorption, Diaspora Affairs Committee during his scheduled August visit, describing it as "an opportunity to explain to the world that we are not occupying anything.".^[8] The invitation came only four months after the Anti-Defamation League denounced Beck for "bigoted ignorance"^[9] and six months after four hundred American rabbis published an open letter to Beck's employer, News Corp's Rupert Murdoch, accusing Beck of "diminishing the memory and meaning of the Holocaust."^[10]

In response, U.S. Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY), a staunch Congressional ally of Israel, told the Jerusalem Post that the invitation was "counterproductive and foolish" and that "It’s unfortunate that he’s getting this publicity." Danon replied, "I am proud to host and cooperate with anyone who supports us and expresses it in every forum possible."^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Danny Danon Knesset website

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2011)

Jon Snow
At the Channel 4 awards on 23 January 2008
Born	Jon Snow (1947-09-28) 28 September 1947 (age 64) Ardingly, Sussex, England
Ethnicity	English
Occupation	Journalist, television presenter
Notable credit(s)	Channel 4 News
Relatives	Peter Snow, Dan Snow

Jon Snow (born 28 September 1947) is an English journalist and presenter, currently employed by ITN. He is best known for presenting Channel 4 News.

He was Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University from 2001 to 2008.

Early life[link]

Snow was born in Ardingly, Sussex. He is the son of schoolmaster and Bishop of Whitby, George D'Oyly Snow, grandson of First World War general Thomas D'Oyly Snow (about whom he writes in his Foreword to Ronald Skirth's war memoir The Reluctant Tommy^[1]), and cousin of retired BBC television news presenter Peter Snow.^[2]

Education[link]

Snow was educated at independent school, Ardingly College, where his father was headmaster. He later attended the independent St Edward's School in Oxford. At age 18 he was for a year a VSO volunteer teaching in northern Uganda.^[3][4]

After mixed success in his first attempt to pass his A level qualifications he moved to the Yorkshire Coast College, Scarborough, where he later obtained the necessary qualifications to gain a place studying law at the University of Liverpool. However, he did not complete the degree, being rusticated for his part in a student protest. However he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters at Liverpool University in 2011.^[5]

Life and career[link]

After leaving Liverpool, Snow worked for New Horizon Youth Centre, a day centre for homeless young people in central London - an organisation with which he has remained involved and of which he subsequently became chairman. Snow was an assistant to Lord Longford.^{[citation needed]}

Journalist[link]

Snow in June 2007.

He served as ITN's Washington correspondent (1983–1986) and as diplomatic editor (1986–1989)^[3] before becoming the main presenter of Channel 4 News in 1989. In 1992 he was the main anchor for ITN's Election Night programme, broadcast on ITV; he presented the programme alongside Sir Robin Day, Alastair Stewart, and Julia Somerville. (Previously ITN's programme had typically been presented by Sir Alastair Burnet, who left ITN in 1991. The 1992 election night programme was the only one hosted by Snow. He was replaced by Jonathan Dimbleby from 1997 onwards.) He has won several RTS Awards^[3] - two for reports from El Salvador, one for his reporting of the Kegworth air disaster, and two as "Presenter of the Year".^{[citation needed]}

In 2002 he returned to radio, presenting Jon Snow Reports on Oneword Radio, a weekly show and podcast. He wrote regular articles for the Channel 4 News website, and writes 'Snowmail' – a daily email newsletter on the big stories coming up on the evening edition of Channel 4 News.

He is known for his vast collection of colourful ties and socks.^[3][6]

On 14 June 2011, Snow presented the multiple award-winning investigative documentary Sri Lanka's Killing Fields, directed by Callum Macrae, which documented war crimes committed in the finals days of the Sri Lankan conflict in 2009. The program consisted of some of the most horrific footage ever broadcast in the UK; its second part, Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished was broadcast in March 2012.^[7]

Snow declined an OBE because he believes working journalists should not take honours from those that they report on.^[8][9]

Memorable incidents[link]

Whilst working as a journalist in Uganda he flew sitting next to president Idi Amin in the presidential jet. He has recounted how whilst Amin appeared to be asleep he thought seriously about taking Amin's revolver and shooting him dead, but was worried about the consequences of firing a loose round in a jet.^[10]

In 1976, Snow rejected an approach by the British intelligence services to spy on his colleagues. At first he was asked to supply information about the Communist Party, but he was then asked to spy on certain "left-wing people" working in television.^[8][11] In return he would have received secret monthly tax-free payments into his bank account, matching his then salary.^[12][13]

In 2003, at the height of the "dodgy dossier" affair, Alastair Campbell walked into the studio to rebut statements by the BBC. With no notes or preparation Snow questioned Campbell about the affair.^[14]

In 2004, Snow published an autobiography, Shooting History.

He refuses to wear any symbol which may represent his views on air; in the run up to Remembrance Day he condemned what he called 'Poppy Fascism' because "in the end there really must be more important things in life than whether a news presenter wears symbols on his lapels".^[15]

On 28 February 2008 Snow courted controversy by claiming that the silence of the British media on the decision to allow Prince Harry to fight in Afghanistan was unacceptable with the following statement:^[16] "I never thought I'd find myself saying thank God for Drudge. The infamous US blogger has broken the best kept editorial secret of recent times. Editors have been sworn to secrecy over Prince Harry being sent to fight in Afghanistan three months ago." These remarks provoked criticism from some members of the public and other media outlets,^[17] with some accusing Snow of wishing to undermine the safety of the Prince and his troops, and (according to Snow himself at the end of that day's bulletin, and later reported in the Daily Mail) one captain in the armed forces called Snow's actions "treason".^[18]

On 9 February 2009, Snow interviewed Lt-Col Yvonne Bradley, the military counsel for Binyam Mohamed, a British resident detained for five years at Guantanamo Bay. Snow asked if Mohamed's allegations of torture were justified. Lt-Col Bradley said there was no doubt at all that he had been tortured.^{[citation needed]} Mohamed was released and returned to Britain on 23 February 2009. In November 2010 Snow was sent to Haiti to report on the cholera outbreak.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Snow was briefly engaged in 1979 to fellow ITN journalist Anna Ford, who later became an equally high profile television news presenter.^[4] For 35 years his partner was human rights lawyer Madeleine Colvin, with whom he has two daughters.^[4] In March 2010 he married Precious Lunga, a ­Zimbabwe-born academic.^[19]

He was a school governor for many years at Brecknock Primary School, Camden, London.^[20]

Affiliations[link]

• Trustee of the National Gallery and Tate Gallery from 1999 to 2008.^[21][22]

• Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University from 2001 to 2008, regularly attending ceremonial events at the University. In 2009 he was awarded an honorary degree by Oxford Brookes - Doctor of the University.^[23]

• Honorary professor and guest lecturer on Stirling University's Film & Media Studies course.^[24]

• Honorary Fellow (since 15 February 2006) of the Royal Institute of British Architects, an annually-conferred lifetime honour which allows the recipient to use the initials Hon FRIBA after his or her surname.^[25] Snow has an honorary degree from Aberdeen University, in recognition of his services to broadcasting.

• Chairman of the Prison Reform Trust from 1992 to 1997.^[3]

• President of the Cyclists' Touring Club in January 2007, succeeding Phil Liggett.^[26]

• Patron of Reprieve, a legal action charity which uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantánamo Bay.^[27]

• Patron of the African Prisons Project, an international non-governmental organisation with a mission to bring dignity and hope to men women and children in African prisons through health, education, justice and reintegration.^[28]

• Patron of Media Legal Defence Initiative, a UK-based charity that provides legal support to journalists and media outlets.^[29]

• Patron of the tree planting charity Trees for Cities.^[30]

• Patron of The DIPEx Charity, a UK-based charity that produces two health websites, Healthtalkonline^[31] and Youthhealthtalk,^[32] featuring people's real life experiences of health and illness.^[33]

Bibliography[link]

Snow published his autobiographical work, Shooting History, in 2004. The book was published by Harper Perennial and details Snow's life from his childhood, up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.^[34]

References[link]