Asmaa al-Ghoul is a Palestinian journalist and secular feminist known for her vocal criticism of Hamas and Fatah, which led to her imprisonment, interrogation, death threats, and attacks. Al-Ghoul is an outspoken advocate for democratic reform in Gaza. She frequently comments on and exposes human rights violations in Gaza, and her words have been published on numerous press sites, such as The Guardian and Al-Monitor. She was beaten twice by Hamas security forces in 2011 while covering political rallies. Because of her work, her own uncle, an influential member of Hamas, threatened her life. Al-Ghoul is the recipient of the 2012 Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation. She currently works at the Samir Kassir Foundation, a Lebanese organization that defends and promotes free press in the Arab world, and is a columnist for Al-Monitor’s Palestine Pulse. In 2018, al-Ghoul published the book “A Rebel in Gaza: Behind the Lines of the Arab Spring, One Woman’s Story.”
