Dahr Jamail (born 1968) is an American journalist who was one of the few unembedded journalists to report extensively from Iraq during the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

. He spent eight months in Iraq, between 2003 and 2005, and presented his stories on his website, entitled "Dahr Jamail's MidEast Dispatches." Jamail has been a reporter for ''

Truthout Truthout is a non-profit news organization which describes itself as "dedicated to providing independent reporting and commentary on a diverse range of social justice issues". Truthout's main areas of focus include mass incarceration, prison abo ...

'' and has also written for

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

. He has been a frequent guest on ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...

'', and is the recipient of the 2008

Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism The Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, named for the war correspondent, Martha Gellhorn, was established in 1999 by the Martha Gellhorn Trust. The Trust is a UK-registered charity. The award is founded on the following principles: The award ...

. In 2018, the ''Izzy Award'' of the

Park Center for Independent Media The Roy H. Park School of Communications is one of five schools at Ithaca College, in Ithaca, New York, United States. The school is named after media executive Roy H. Park, who lived in Ithaca and who served on the board of trustees at Ithaca Co ...

was awarded to Jamail, and shared by investigative reporters

Lee Fang Lee Fang (born October 31, 1986) is an American journalist. He is currently an investigative reporter at ''The Intercept''. Previously, he was a reporting fellow at The Nation Institute and a contributing writer at ''The Nation''. Fang was also a ...

, Sharon Lerner, and author Todd Miller.

Biography

Jamail is a fourth-generation

Lebanese American Lebanese Americans ( ar, أمريكيون لبنانيون) are Americans of Lebanese descent. This includes both those who are native to the United States of America, as well as immigrants from Lebanon. Lebanese Americans comprise 0.79% of the ...

, who was born and raised in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. He graduated from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

and later moved to

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. In October 2007, his first book, ''Beyond the Green Zone,'' was published by

Haymarket Books Haymarket Books is a left-wing non-profit, independent book publisher based in Chicago. History Haymarket Books was founded in 2001 by Anthony Arnove, Ahmed Shawki and Julie Fain, all of whom had previously worked at the '' International Sociali ...

. Jamail embarked on a national speaking tour the same month that the book was released, first in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he and journalist

Jeremy Scahill Jeremy Scahill (born October 18, 1974) is an American investigative journalist, writer, a founding editor of the online news publication ''The Intercept,'' and author of '' Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army'', which ...

discussed the

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

wars. In 2007, he was awarded the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage.Joe A. Callaway Awards For Civic Courage Past-Winners
''Calloway Awards'', 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2019. Jamail's second book, ''The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan,'' was published in 2009. His next book, ''The Mass Destruction of Iraq; The Disintegration of a Nation: Why It Is Happening, and Who Is Responsible,'' was co-authored in 2014 with

William Rivers Pitt William Rivers Pitt (November 9, 1971 – September 26, 2022) was an American author, editor, and liberal political activist. Background William Rivers Pitt was born in Washington, D.C.; his father, Charles Redding Pitt, became chair of the A ...

. Dahr Jamail writes for ''Truthout'' about climate change issues. In January 2019, he published the book, ''The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption,'' about his mountaineering adventures where he witnessed glaciers melting, expressing despair at the future catastrophe of global warming.

Works

* * * *

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jamail, Dahr 1968 births American alternative journalists American anti–Iraq War activists American people of the Iraq War American people of Lebanese descent American war correspondents Living people People from Houston Texas A&M University alumni War correspondents of the Iraq War Writers from Alaska Writers from Texas Journalists from Texas Activists from Texas