Lauren Booth

Lauren Booth (born Sarah Jane Booth; 22 July 1967) is an English broadcaster, journalist and activist holding a VIP Palestinian Authority passport as well as a British passport.

Early life

Sarah Jane Booth was born and grew up in North London. Booth is a half-sister of Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and the daughter of actor Tony Booth. She trained as an actress at the London Academy of Performing Arts and then spent several years touring Europe with various regional theatre companies.

Booth was not raised in any religion, yet her father Tony had been raised Catholic and was later married to actor Pat Phoenix in 1986. He was best known for his role in the 1970s British sitcom, ''Till Death Us Do Part''. Her mother was Jewish and never married Tony. She has a sister, Emma, along with Cherie and five other half-sisters.

Media career

In 1997, Booth entered journalism. Her earliest writing experiences were with the ''London Evening Standard'', writing the column 'About Town'. In 1999, she began to write for the political magazine, the ''New Statesman'', where she remained for four years. At the same time, she began writing columns and features for ''The Mail on Sunday'' as a columnist. Booth was a writer for the ''New Statesman''.

In 2006, she was a contestant on the ITV reality show, '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''.

Between 2006 and 2008 Booth presented ''In Focus'' on the UK's Islam Channel. She has had a long association with the Iranian owned Press TV, starting with ''Between The Headlines'' in 2008. Between 2010 and 2012 she presented ''Remember Palestine'' and ''Diaspora''.

In 2014, she presented her own series on the newly launched British Muslim TV, called ''Talking Booth''. In 2014, she took a senior producer post at Al Jazeera in Doha, and was let go a few months later.

Activism

Booth was a vocal opponent of the Iraq War giving speeches at many rallies against the invasion. She is an outspoken activist and a supporter of the Stop the War Coalition.

In August 2008 she traveled to Gaza by ship from Cyprus, along with 46 other activists, to highlight the blockade of the Gaza Strip and deliver hearing aids and balloons to a school for the deaf in Gaza. She was subsequently refused entry into both Israel and Egypt. She claimed that by refusing her the right to leave Gaza and return to her home country, Israel was in breach of Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, specifically regarding freedom of movement.

Booth stated that Gaza is "the largest concentration camp in the world today", although ''The Jerusalem Post'' suggested that several photographs of Booth in a well-stocked Gaza grocery "bel edthe grim picture she painted of the Strip". During her visit, she received a Palestinian VIP passport from Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya. Booth left Gaza through the Rafah Border Crossing into Egypt on 20 September 2008. In 2009, she returned to Gaza with the aid convoy Viva Palestina, set up by the British politician George Galloway. Since 2012 she has returned on several occasions as the Chair of Trustees with the charity she co-founded, Peace Trail, delivering assistance to students and families in the region.

Conversion to Islam

In 2010, Booth converted to Islam a few years after her visit to Palestine, and became a practising Muslim. Booth appeared at the Islam Channel's Global Peace and Unity event on 23 October 2010, wearing a hijab, stating: "My name is Lauren Booth, and I am a Muslim." She attributed her awakening to her experiences in Palestine as a reporter.

In June 2011, Booth joined Cageprisoners as a patron. However, from 2015 Booth was no longer a patron of the organisation.

Lauren Booth, another trustee of Peacetrail and the chief executive, her husband Sohale Ahmed, were disqualified from holding any trustee positions after the Charity Commission could not account for about half Peacetrail's income.

References

External links

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Lauren Booth
at ''The Huffington Post''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Lauren
1967 births
Living people
Converts to Shia Islam
English people of Irish descent
English anti-war activists
English women journalists
English Muslims
People from Islington (district)
Press TV people
British women activists
British Muslim activists
English people of Jewish descent
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants
British Shia Muslims
Anti-Zionism in the United Kingdom
Journalists from London
Palestinian solidarity activists