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Ray Hanania

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Ray Hanania (born 1953) is an Arab-American Palestinian Christian[1] journalist and stand-up comic. After the September 11 attacks, he created the Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour and Comedy for Peace, which brought together Israeli and Palestinian comedians. He founded his own public relations firm, called Urban Strategies Group.

Life and career

Hanania was born in Chicago, Illinois. His parents are Christian immigrants from the Mandate of Palestine. His mother is from Bethlehem; his father, George John Hanania, from a prominent Christian family in Jerusalem, served with the U.S. Army during World War II and with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the predecessor of the CIA. He himself served with the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War and in the Illinois Air National Guard. Hanania's wife, Alison, is Jewish; they live in Orland Park, Illinois.

From 1977-1985 Hanania reported for the Daily Southtown, and from 1985-1992 for the Chicago Sun-Times. From 1993-1996 he was publisher of the suburban Villager Newspapers group, was spokesperson for the Town of Cicero and published the Arab American View, an English-language American Arab newspaper. In 1992 Hanania founded his own public relations firm, Urban Strategies Group, doing media consulting for political, government and private clients including the Town of Cicero (2009 to present). His career in broadcast radio began in 1980 at WLS (AM) until 1992, WJJG AM 1530 (2004–2008) and hosts "The Ray Hanania Show" every Sunday morning on WSBC AM 1240 in Chicagoland and WCFJ AM 1470 in Chicago Heights and the Chicago Southlands. He is also the host of Radio Baladi which broadcasts every Friday morning in Detroit.

His internationally-syndicated column is distributed by Creators Syndicate from 2002–2005 and 2010 until the present. Hanania describes his writing as "defining the moderate Palestinian & Arab Voice."[2] He continues to write a Chicago political column carried locally with the Southwest News-Herald and the Lawndale News Newspaper, and formerly wrote a weekly column with the Arlington Heights Daily Herald (2002–2009), and has written a humor/serious column for the online website of Yedioth Ahronoth.

Earlier in his career, Hanania wrote a weekly syndicated column for the Jerusalem Post and his columns advocated the "moderate Palestinian and Arab voice" and rejected extremism, embraces peace between Palestinians and Israelis, and opposed the use of violence. However, in November 2012, he wrote "the real obstacle preventing peace is the fundamental refusal of most Israelis and most American Jews to accept the right of Palestinians to exist as a people with a state." In addition, Hanania says that "until Israelis and Jews accept the right of Palestinians to exist, Palestinians have no option but to struggle and resist and defend themselves against violence, land confiscation and theft, and ethnic cleansing from historical Palestine.[3] He is the Baby Boomer Blogger and editor of Arab American TV Online.

Hanania launched a standup comedy career to advance his belief that humor can calm the animosity between Jews and Arabs, promoting peace through moderation. He co-founded with Israeli comedians Charley Warady and Yisrael Campbell and African American comedian/Journalist Aaron Freeman "The Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour"[4] which broke the Arab and Palestinian comedian taboo of refusing to appear with Israelis.

Hanania was removed from one of his first comedy appearances at the last minute at Zanies Comedy Club in Chicago in August 2002 when Jewish American comedian Jackie Mason refused to have him open for him. Zanies' management claimed it was because of Hanania's inexperience as a professional comedian, with fewer than 20 performances, but Mason's manager and wife Jyll Rosenfeld said Mason was uncomfortable being on stage with Hanania because he is a "Palestinian."[5]

Hanania is the national coordinator of the National American Arab Journalists Association[6] which coordinates and networks American Arab and Muslim Journalists in the United States, and is a partner affiliate of the Union of Arab American Journalists in Detroit.[7]

Professional awards

  • Sigma Delta Chi National Award for Column Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists (2009)[8] for his columns [5] on the alleged discrimination against an Arab grocer in a suburb of Chicago.
  • Chicago Headline Club Peter Lisagor Award (1985, 2002, 2005, 2009) for column writing.
  • MT. Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award 2009 by the Mehdi Family.
  • Winner of the First National Ethnic Media Award for Commentary/Editorial Writing (English) in 2006 by the New America Media Association for his three-part series: "Shedding Moonlight on Conflict," "A new Language of Peace" and "Things Palestinians and Israelis share".[9]
  • Society of Professional Journalists Lisagor Award for column writing, 1985, 2003, 2007, 2009.
  • Chicago Newspaper Guild Column Award (2).
  • Three Awards from the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, 2 Chicago ADC (1981, 1988) and National ADC, 1985.
  • Nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors in 1990/91 for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.

Books

  • Arabs of Chicagoland, 2005 (Arcadia Publishing) ISBN 0-7385-3417-X
  • I'm Glad I Look Like a Terrorist: Growing Up Arab in America, 2001 (http://www.themediaoasis.com/book.htm) ISBN 0-9654761-0-3
  • Strike Back: Lentil Soup for the Arab American Soul, 1999 (USG Publishing) ISBN 0-9654761-1-1
  • Midnight Flight: The Story of White Flight in Chicago—1968 (Online Novel, http://www.themediaoasis.com/flight/flight.htm) 1996
  • Troubled Times: Palestinian American Thought before and after Sept. 11th which features 98 of his award-winning columns, paperback;[10]

Politics

Quotes

If we can laugh together, we can live together.
Americans are the most educated people in the world, but the least educated about the world.

See also

References

  1. ^ A Palestinian Refusenik's Open Letter To the Jewish People
  2. ^ Official Website
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ [2]
  5. ^ [3]
  6. ^ Who we are
  7. ^ About NAAJA
  8. ^ 2009 Sigma Delta Chi Awards
  9. ^ 2006 First National Ethnic Media Awards Winners
  10. ^ [4]


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