Sam Husseini (born 1966) is a Jordanian-Palestinian writer and political activist. He is the communications director of the

Institute for Public Accuracy The Institute for Public Accuracy is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that encourages mainstream media outlets to interview progressive scholars and policy analysts. It was founded in 1997 by Norman Solomon, who served as executive d ...

, a D.C.-based nonprofit group that promotes progressive experts as alternative sources for mainstream media reporters. He formerly worked at the

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) states that it is "the largest Arab American grassroots civil rights organization in the United States." According to its webpage it is open to people of all backgrounds, faiths and ethnicities ...

and at the media watch group

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) is a progressive left-leaning media critique organization based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1986 by Jeff Cohen and Martin A. Lee. FAIR monitors American news media for bias, inaccura ...

. Husseini has written articles for a variety of publications, including ''

CounterPunch ''CounterPunch'' is a left-wing online magazine. Content includes a free section published five days a week as well as a subscriber-only area called CounterPunch+, where original articles are published weekly. ''CounterPunch'' is based in the Unit ...

'', ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' and

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

Early life

Husseini was born as Osama Husseini in 1966 to a

Palestinian Christian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

father from

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Fo ...

, and a Jordanian Christian mother. His parents immigrated to the United States when he was five years old. Husseini grew up in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

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 ...

. He became a US citizen in 1984. Husseini is a graduate of

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

, where he earned a double bachelor's degree in

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathematical s ...

and

logic and computation Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

Career

After graduating, Husseini worked as a programmer and a math teacher. He then began working for

(FAIR) where he was the Middle East expert. After the

1993 World Trade Center bombing The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, U.S., carried out on February 26, 1993, when a van bomb detonated below the North Tower of the complex. The urea nitrate–hydrogen gas en ...

, he was in charge of monitoring news media for evidence of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias. Husseini was the media director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. After leaving FAIR, he became the communications director for the

, a position that he has held since 1997. In 2020, he was listed as a senior analyst for the Institute for Public Accuracy and a contributor to ''The Nation''. In 2000, he founded the webpag
VotePact.org
which encourages disenchanted Democrats to pair up with disenchanted Republicans and vote for third parties and independent candidates. In 2006, Husseini founded the webpage WashingtonStakeout.com which features him pointedly questioning political figures as they leave

Sunday morning talk show A Sunday morning talk show is a television program with a news/talk/ public affairs–hybrid format that is broadcast on Sunday mornings. This type of program originated in the United States, and has since been used in other countries. Overview Th ...

s. In 2011, the executive director of the

National Press Club Organizations A press club is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press ...

suspended Husseini for asking questions of the

Saudi ambassador to the US The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C. ( ar, سفارة المملكة العربية السعودية لدى الولايات المتحدة) is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's main and largest diplomatic mission to the United States. ...

which some thought were "loaded statements." The Club's ethics committee lifted the suspension. Husseini asked Prince

Turki al-Faisal Turki bin Faisal Al Saud ( ar, تركي بن فيصل آل سعود, Turkī ibn Fayṣal Āl Su‘ūd; tr, Türki bin Faysal Al Suud) (born 15 February 1945), known also as Turki Al Faisal, is a Saudi prince and former government official who se ...

, the former head of Saudi intelligence, :I want to know what legitimacy your regime has sir. You come before us, representative of one of the most autocratic, misogynistic regimes on the face of the earth.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

and other reports of torture detention of activist, you squelched the democratic uprising in Bahrain, you tried to overturn the democratic uprising in Egypt and indeed you continue to oppress your own people. In 2018, he was removed from the

2018 Russia–United States summit Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short s ...

press conference, prior to Trump and Putin's arrival in the room, when he held a sign saying, " Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty," which the Russian authorities called a "malicious item". A CBS News reporter stated that he had been "heckling" reporters and two security detail members. Husseini said he had hoped to ask Trump a question regarding the first legally binding international agreement to prohibit nuclear weapons, with the goal of their total elimination.

Writing

Husseini has written about U.S. media coverage of the

Arab–Israeli conflict The Arab–Israeli conflict is an ongoing intercommunal phenomenon involving political tension, military conflicts, and other disputes between Arab countries and Israel, which escalated during the 20th century, but had mostly faded out by the ...

. In 1994, he suggested that

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

's many felony convictions should make the corporation ineligible to hold broadcast licenses. Writing in ''Salon'' in 2020, Husseini suggested that the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan was possibly a result of a biowarfare laboratory discovering the virus in the wild, and studying it in the lab from which it escaped. He argued that the pandemic exposed the threat of a biowarfare arms race, which may lead to more pandemics in the future.

References

External links

*
''Extra!'' articles by Sam Husseini

Sam Husseini's blog

Institute for Public Accuracy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Husseini, Sam American media critics American political writers American male non-fiction writers American bloggers American journalists of Arab descent American activists American people of Palestinian descent Living people Carnegie Mellon University alumni 1966 births Hunter College alumni American people of Jordanian descent 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male bloggers