In this sizzling issue, Grazia’s International Beauty Editor – Kaniz Ali creatively styles and interviews cover star Ahmed Eldin. Eldin highly known for his advocacy for the rights of Palestinians is an emmy nominated journalist, producer, actor and activist. In this exclusive interview Eldin opens up to Kaniz on life, work and what it’s like to be Palestinian living in the west.
Kaniz: Talk to us about your background
Ahmed: “Palestinian by blood. American by birth. Kuwaiti by nationality. Egyptian by upbringing. Austrian by adolescence. Curious by nature. Storyteller by nurture.” For many years, this is how I presented myself to the world on my social accounts. I thought it was a concise catchy way
to describe my sort of schizophrenic upbringing shuttling back and forth between east and west. Growing up I always felt like a bit of an outcast or outsider as a kid. At the time it was a point of frustration, constantly having to learn how to adapt and assimilate between the liberal bastion that is the Bay Area, and for example, the more conservative and chaotic Cairo.
Growing up in the Arab world, I was made to be very aware of how westernized I was, and then in the US and Europe I was somehow made to feel very aware of how Arab I am. These conflicting identities is a product of how we are perceive in each context and how we imagine we are judged. I was born in the US, but I didn’t move there or live there until I was 17 when I moved to Boston the year after 9/11. Not the best time to be a young Arab guy named Ahmed Rakan Shihab-Eldin.
Kaniz: What inspired you into the world of journalism ?
Ahmed: I was always a curious child. I grew up without having a home that was singularly identifiable because I grew up moving around all over the world, so I was always trying to figure out my own identity and place in the world relative to my surrounding. Even though I was extremely social, I was always a bit of an outcast as a kid; in the Arab world I always felt very Western and then in the U.S. I’d always feel super Arab. That led me to be very curious about why people are the way they are, why we act certain ways individually or as a community, and what influences our individual and collective culture. Whether I was in California or Egypt, I was comparing and contrasting cultures even before I realized I was.
I was that kid who always asked questions only to get answers that would then prompt ten more questions from me.
In the summer of 1990, my family flew from Kuwait to Berkeley California for
our annual summer vacation. As we landed, the TV screens at San Francisco’s airport showed Saddam Hussein’s troops invading Kuwait, where my extended family remained. As a 7-year-old, I was glued to CNN day after day, watching our home transform into a war zone. This was my first conscious introduction to war. I could no longer visit my grandparent’s home each Friday for lunch or play with my cousins. Instead, I would spend the year and a half in California, where I enrolled in public school and struggled to explain to my classmates on the playground why my name was so hard to pronounce, why Kuwait mattered let alone was worth fighting for, and how my parents, who were originally Palestinian and had found a new home after fleeing the Zionist attacks on Palestine of refuge in Kuwait after fleeing their homes, were not refugees once again.
A CNN crew came to our house to interview them about being stuck in the U.S., the country I was born in. I remember being intrigued but profoundly perplexed by the fact that a stranger was in our house asking me about my grandfather in Kuwait. Why did she care? At this tender moment, increasingly aware of my compounded and quickly forming identity, I knew in one way or another, I’d likely become a storyteller for a living. This schizophrenic existence shuttling between Egypt, California, Kuwait, Jordan and Vienna, Austria, and the conflicting experiences that came with them shaped the man I am today, the stories I spent my career telling, and the way in which I tell them — championing transparency and accountability over objectivity.
I didn’t grow up wanting to be a journalist. I grew up wanting to be a dancer, a musician, or an entertainer. It just so happened that my freshman year at BU I was walking in the frigid cold by the student newspaper
— The Daily Free Press — and noticed a “WRITERS WANTED” sign in the window. I popped in, signed up, and started covering city hall and learning on the job. One thing led to another and I got addicted to the process of going somewhere new, asking a bunch of questions and then creating a narrative that informs and engages and hopefully also entertains. This continued with me for years as I went to graduate school for journalism at Columbia University and went on to work for many different news organizations.
Kaniz: Coming from a Palestinian background did you face any difficulties throughout your career ?
Ahmed: My identity either works for me or against me. Working as a Palestinian in the American media can be tricky (especially when covering that story) given that for far too long Palestinian identity and culture has been framed by the mainstream media as one of violence and terrorism, and therefore incongruent with American and Western values; when in reality, Palestinians are fighting for values of freedom, dignity, and liberty and justice for all. By the time I started working as a journalist there was a lot of interest in newsrooms for people who have Arabic language skills and understand technological apps and social media. So being Palestinian in this sense was a plus. Beyond that, it remains true that if you report on stories that are critical of Israel’s government, you are immediately targeted as antisemitic. The aspiration for objectivity has been an excuse in some instances for not being bold and telling it like it is, as you see it sincerely. In the last documentary [on Palestine] I did for VICE on HBO there is a line that I regret made it into the film – both sides have suffered massive casualties – while it is true both sides suffer casualties, this line disregards the huge discrepancy in lives lost and the broader power dynamic. This is an unfortunate example of how aspiring to be “objective” undermines the viewers’ understanding of the story.
The year I spent reporting for VICE on HBO was some of the most difficult reporting I had done; it was an invaluable experience to report in the field, with that kind of access, at that kind of caliber of a company. Even though I was very grateful to have had the opportunity to tell a story from a Palestinian point-of- view, unfortunately when it came to the story we did in Palestine, I regret that there were some incredibly poignant and powerful moments that we filmed that really illustrated the entire conflict – the plight of the Palestinians and spoke to the belligerent role of settlers in the occupation – that didn’t make it into the piece. Even though this is common, when you shoot so many hours, it was particularly frustrating because this is one of those stories where you really want to simply show the reality on the ground, to break through all the re- reading of history in most other coverage.
Kaniz: You are known for journalism, acting and tv reporting …. Which do you prefer the most and why ?
Ahmed: I think these days I prefer acting more these days, if I am to be honest. Acting, like journalism is ultimately about the study of the human condition, so they are quite similar in that sense, but I think the challenge of empathizing and really feeling what it is like to be a character, tapping into the universal truths that bind us, and channeling that into a performance that ends up feeling sincere and authentic is a challenge I find exhilarating and very impactful.
I am currently filming a feature period piece about Palestine and just wrapped a short film in New York. I’m enjoying experimenting with this new modality of storytelling.
I also love to be reporting live in the field, especially around stories related to human dignity and justice, because it is these truths and basic rights that unite us all, as a human race.
Kaniz: In 2015 and 2016 you were featured on the Arabian Business Power List – 100 under 40- The World’s Most Influential Young Arabs, that’s quite an achievement! How did it make you feel ?
Ahmed: TBH, I don’t focus too much on accolades myself, because I think they are quite arbitrary, but ultimately it made me feel seen and recognized and perhaps most importantly grateful to have had the life experiences that I have had and the privileges and opportunities my parents gave me at a very young age to see a lot of the world and be exposed to multiple truths. When you are connected to your authentic self, it makes it that much easier to connect to other people, and I think that is what might have landed me on that list. I have an innate ability to connect to people of all backgrounds. On some level, back then, being on the list probably also made me feel validated.
Kaniz: What inspired you to start teaching digital media courses and what does it involve ?
Ahmed: I was asked to be a TA when I was in Boston University for Design in Technology classes because I was
quite geeky and had a professor who appreciated my incessant curiosity to learn how to use digital technology
to evolve the ways in which news and information is spread. After getting my Masters in Journalism from Columbia University they asked me to teach as an adjunct professor and I jumped at the opportunity because I think teaching is actually the best way to learn. I taught for several semesters at Columbia University. It requires a lot of time and care and attention for your students, and is a responsibility I take very seriously, which is why, when my career got a bit too busy, I chose to stop teaching because I don’t think it is fair to students to teach unless you are fully focused and committed, which proved to be challenging while balancing a fast-paced career as a correspondent and reporter too.
Kaniz: In 2013 you published your first book, “Demanding Dignity” – what inspired you ?
Ahmed: The revolutions in 2011 that swept across the Arab world, and that spirit of revolt inspired me to work on that book with my co-author May Al Hassen. We felt it was important to chronicle this unprecedented moment in the region, and what better way to do it by edit and synthesize essays from people on the frontlines of many of those social justice movements. I am so proud of the stories in that book.
Kaniz: You are a passionate advocate for the freedom of Palestinians. You are highly renowned in speaking up for the oppressed. What has inspired you to take the stand to speak up vocally worldwide ?
Ahmed: I advocate for freedom for Palestinian people, because like all other people they deserve freedom and dignity. I speak up for the oppressed Palestinian people because I know how dehumanized they have been for decades. I know intimately how the media has manufactured consent for genocide and ethnic-cleansing and I believe it is disgraceful that in the name of religion Israel is bringing so much devastation and despair to the holy land.
Kaniz: If Ahmed was not in the world journalism what would he be ?
Ahmed: I think I would be a dancer. I love the liberation that I feel when I dance to music. It might be my true passion. There is such a profound spiritual high that I feel when I dance. I feel connected to myself, to the mystery of this world, to the divine when I dance.
Kaniz: If you were to describe yourself in 5 words what would they be ?
Ahmed: curious. kind. work in progress.
Kaniz: What is your favourite city in the world and why ?
Ahmed: This is really tough because I’ve been fortunate to visit so many. I love to travel almost as much as I love to dance. Rio de Janeiro was spectacular. They are so open-minded, open-hearted. I love cities by the sea.
Kaniz: If you can swap places with someone in the world who would it be and why ?
Ahmed: I’m not sure I would. Is that a bad answer ? I’m learning to love myself and who I am.
Kaniz: What is the best advice you would give to someone starting out in journalism ?
Ahmed: Don’t strive to be objective … there is no such thing. Strive to be truthful, transparent and accountable.
Kaniz: As an advocate what message would you share with the world ?
Ahmed: The thoughts you have about yourself, playing around in the background of your mind, can either
be limiting beliefs or empowering ones, and these thoughts are defining your life experience … They can either help you achieve your goals or undermine them completely. Be careful what you think about yourself.
Kaniz: What is the role of media in covering the war?
Ahmed: Everyday Israeli lawmakers and pundits and officials get in front of cameras and say they have a right to kill Palestinian civilians, that starvation is a legitimate weapon of war, justify gangrape and torture against defenseless prisoners. The media allows them to make this defense and worse, amplifies it and manufacture consent everyday for torture and for genocide. The world calls on Israel to stop settlements, but it accelerates the colonization of Palestinian land. The world urges Israel to uphold the status quo at holy sites, but they desecrate it, more openly and provocatively. The media has been sharply skewed in its framing, is spreading disinformation, rooted in undocumented, contradictory or false narratives, that are having real human consequences on the ground. The media plays a critical role in crisis and sadly during this genocide its primary role seems to be with manufacturing consent. Put simply, the media does this by humanizing Israeli lives and narratives, amplifying them, legitimizing the illegal and illegitimate. And doing the opposite to Palestinians: delegitimizing and demonizing them, doubting even their deaths. For more than 75 years, Israel has enjoyed complete impunity for mass murder and the genocide in Gaza that we are witnessing today and the way in which it is being shared on social media by the soldiers committing the genocide is a manifestation of the impunity that the world and specifically the Western world has gifted to Israel, bringing us to this dystopian and Orwellian reality we are all enduring.
GRAZIA COVER STORY
CEO : Zahra Saifullah
Managing Editor: Nashmia Amir Butt
Creatively Directed by Kaniz Ali
Photography by Danny Singh
Creative Styling: Kaniz Ali
Senior Assistant: Iman Chana & Zaid Ahmed
Location: London, UK
