Laila Al-Arian is a writer and producer for Al Jazeera English in Washington DC. She received an M.S. degree from Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism in 2006. Her work has appeared in The Nation, Alternet, The Independent, The Guardian, The Australian, United Press International, and the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. She has also interned at USA Today.
Laila is the author, with Chris Hedges, of Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians (Nation Books). The book is based on their 2007 Nation magazine investigative piece "The Other War," which was selected as one of Project Censored's 25 most important undercovered news stories of 2008. She can be reached at Lailaa@gmail.com.

Blog Entries by Laila Al-Arian

Mourning a Defender of Civil Rights

Posted April 28, 2009 | 12:22 PM (EST)


Last Friday, my father's trial attorney, William Moffitt (known to many as "Bill"), passed away. His untimely death shocked and saddened his loved ones and the families whose lives were forever changed because of his stellar courtroom advocacy.

It also created a gaping hole in the legal community, particularly...

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Cornering Condi on Gaza -- at a Hair Salon

7 Comments | Posted January 12, 2009 | 05:48 PM (EST)


At around 5 p.m. on New Year's eve, 22-year-old Nadia Aziz*, decided to visit the posh Watergate Salon, walking distance from her apartment building in Washington D.C. As Nadia perused the salon's brochure, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice strolled in and stood next to her, waiting to receive a...

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After Years in Exile, My Grandfather Returns to Gaza

25 Comments | Posted January 2, 2009 | 05:41 PM (EST)


This article was originally posted on The Nation

On Sunday morning, I found out through a note my friend wrote on Facebook, that the Israeli Air Force was attacking my grandfather's neighborhood in Gaza. Safa, who lives near my grandfather in the densely-populated "Asqoola" in Gaza City, recounted...

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John McCain Dismisses the War's Collateral Damage

Posted June 12, 2008 | 10:39 AM (EST)


Sen. John McCain was asked in an interview yesterday when U.S. forces should begin withdrawing from Iraq. "That's not too important," McCain responded dismissively. "What's important is the casualties in Iraq," he continued, referring to the more than 4,000 American troops killed since the invasion. While the Republican nominee...

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Winter Soldiers Confront their Demons, The Mainstream Media Turns Its Head

2 Comments | Posted March 25, 2008 | 08:18 PM (EST)


On March 13-16, I covered "Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan," a summit hosted by Iraq Veterans Against the War, in which more than 50 veterans and active-duty service members offered searing testimonies about the atrocities and war crimes they witnessed and committed against Iraqi and Afghan civilians. Their...

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My Family's Nightmare Caught on Film

Posted December 3, 2007 | 03:26 PM (EST)


For nearly one year, my father, Sami Al-Arian, has been imprisoned on civil contempt for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury in Virginia. During plea negotiations in early 2006, federal prosecutors in Florida promised him he would not have to testify in any other cases. The moment...

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My Father, 9/11 Scapegoat

Posted April 23, 2007 | 04:55 PM (EST)


"If they can kill each other during Ramadan, they can appear before the grand jury. I am not going to put off Dr. Al- Arian's grand jury appearance just to assist in what is becoming the Islamization of America."
-- federal prosecutor Gordon Kromberg

"The conditions under which...

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