Voice of the Voiceless: Reporting from Gaza with Mohammed Omer

Mohammed Omer, award-winning journalist and photographer, will appear in Voice of the Voiceless – Reporting from Gaza, Saturday, February 26, 3 PM, at First Christian Church, 701 Franklin Street SE, in downtown Olympia. He will speak about structural violence in Gaza and report on his recent experience traveling between there and Egypt.

Omer was born and grew up in Rafah refugee camp in Gaza. He maintains the website Rafah Today, is a correspondent for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and appears in numerous other publications. He holds a degree in International Political Economy and Development. In 2008, Omer became the youngest recipient ever awarded the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. In honoring him, the award committee stated, “Everyday, he reports from a war zone, where he is also a prisoner. He is a profoundly humane witness to one of the great injustices of our time. He is the voice of the voiceless…”

Omer’s home in Rafah was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer while the family was inside, seriously injuring his mother. Yet, upon receiving the Gellhorn Award he wrote, “My ambition was to get the truth out, not as pro-Palestinian or anti-Israeli, but as an independent voice and witness.”

Omer’s visit to the Pacific Northwest is co-sponsored by Voices of Palestine, American Friends Service Committee, Mideast Focus Ministry of Saint Mark’s Cathredral, and the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice.

Omer will also speak in Seattle, Friday, February 25, 7 PM, at the Friends Meeting House, 4001 9th Avenue N.E.

Contact Kyra at the Rachel Corrie Foundation for more information.
kyra [at] rachelcorriefoundation.org
Ph: 360-754-3998
Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice
203 East 4th Ave, Suite 307
Olympia, WA 98501