Founded by @Jkhashoggi in 2018, DAWN works to reform U.S. FP in the ME, hold abusers accountable & magnify the voices of experts/activists from the region.
Joined May 2020
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Nine days after Emirati poet Habib Al Sayegh published a column criticizing normalization with Israel, he was dead. A new book alleges UAE security forces detained, tortured, and killed him. DAWN is calling on UN experts to investigate. dawnmena.org/un-investigate-…
DAWN MENA retweeted
DAWN joined 128 other rights and press freedom groups condemning the conviction of Lina Attalah, editor-in-chief of Egyptian news outlet Mada Masr, and a court order to shut its website, and calling on Egypt to end its crackdown on independent journalism. dawnmena.org/egypt-129-organ…
DAWN MENA retweeted
"US officials take an oath...
When they break that oath... we need to hold them accountable.
No one is more aware of this oath than we, who resigned from our service to the US government over its illegal support for Israel’s actions in Gaza."
See our statement & coverage ⬇️
DAWN joined 128 other rights and press freedom groups condemning the conviction of Lina Attalah, editor-in-chief of Egyptian news outlet Mada Masr, and a court order to shut its website, and calling on Egypt to end its crackdown on independent journalism. dawnmena.org/egypt-129-organ…
"UN experts reported that some people with physical disabilities had been forced to crawl through rubble or had to be dragged on mattresses as they were forcibly displaced by Israel," @GhadaRozzi writes from Gaza.
Read more in @DAWN_Journal: dawnmena.org/for-gazas-thous…
DAWN MENA retweeted
What does the international community get wrong about Yemen and its civil war?
Non-Resident Fellow @Afrahnasser dives into the information war surrounding Yemen's conflict, clarifying common misperceptions and a possible path forward.
dawnmena.org/five-misconcept…
DAWN's full statement: dawnmena.org/afrah-nasser-da…
"Afrah, Dalia and Sina embody the spirit of DAWN – fearlessly pushing the envelope in the fight against impunity and complicity – and it's an honor to welcome them to the DAWN family," said @OmarSShakir, DAWN's Executive Director. "Our fellows are instrumental in rooting DAWN's work in rights movements across MENA and our new fellows deepen our expertise on Yemen, Israel/Palestine and U.S./Iran at a critical moment in the region."
Nasser, Hatuqa and Toossi will contribute to Democracy in Exile, DAWN's online journal (@DAWN_Journal), and offer analysis and recommendations that advance DAWN's efforts to end U.S. support for repressive regimes in the MENA region. They join 24 other Non-Resident Fellows at DAWN.
Three highly respected writers and experts on the Middle East and North Africa, @Afrahnasser, @DaliaHatuqa and @SinaToossi have joined DAWN as its newest Non-Resident Fellows, the organization announced today. dawnmena.org/afrah-nasser-da…
DAWN MENA retweeted
“Eight years ago, Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered because he dared to speak freely, to criticize power, and to imagine a different future for our Arab region … But I do not want us to remember him only through the horrible way his life ended. Jamal left behind something much greater than the story of his murder. He left an unfinished democratic project,” said Nobel Peace laureate and DAWN board member @TawakkolKarman in a video message for DAWN’s 2026 Annual Gala & Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C.
Karman was speaking shortly after the anniversary of the October 2, 2018 murder of DAWN’s founder Jamal Khashoggi by agents of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman inside Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate.
“I believe that people of the Arab world are capable of shaping their own future. And that they deserve dignity, freedom, accountable government, democracy, freedom of expression, and the rule of law. That belief is as urgent today as it was when Jamal was alive,” Tawakkol Karman continued.
“Jamal understood that authoritarianism in our region doesn’t survive through domestic repression alone. It is sustained by money, weapons, international alliances, diplomatic protection, surveillance, technology,and, too often, silence.”
DAWN MENA retweeted
Reviewing "GENOCIDE: Essays on Conscience and Witness," @firecrestina describes how @YahiaLababidi depicts, explores and deplores Western media's manipulation of language around Israel's Gaza genocide.
The goal: To regain truthful language. dawnmena.org/genocide-yahia-…
“Eight years ago, Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered because he dared to speak freely, to criticize power, and to imagine a different future for our Arab region … But I do not want us to remember him only through the horrible way his life ended. Jamal left behind something much greater than the story of his murder. He left an unfinished democratic project,” said Nobel Peace laureate and DAWN board member @TawakkolKarman in a video message for DAWN’s 2026 Annual Gala & Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C.
Karman was speaking shortly after the anniversary of the October 2, 2018 murder of DAWN’s founder Jamal Khashoggi by agents of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman inside Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate.
“I believe that people of the Arab world are capable of shaping their own future. And that they deserve dignity, freedom, accountable government, democracy, freedom of expression, and the rule of law. That belief is as urgent today as it was when Jamal was alive,” Tawakkol Karman continued.
“Jamal understood that authoritarianism in our region doesn’t survive through domestic repression alone. It is sustained by money, weapons, international alliances, diplomatic protection, surveillance, technology,and, too often, silence.”
DAWN MENA retweeted
Palestinians in Gaza face a difficult choice: Will the place they call home protect them through the coming winter, or will it bring about their death?
For Hassan Herzallah, he and others in Gaza hardly have a choice amid Israel's genocide.
dawnmena.org/damaged-buildin…
“Three years into a televised genocide, growing more profitable by the day … we are deep into a major unrestrained predatory elitism,” with “state power influenced by corporate interests, weaponized against civilians,” said UN Special Rapporteur @FranceskAlbs, in a video message for DAWN’s 2026 Annual Gala & Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C.
“And it didn’t start in Gaza. This is where it became global and televised.” With U.S. support, since 2001, “torture, indefinite detention, and now genocide” have been normalized, said Albanese, who has been targeted by the Trump administration with sanctions for her work upholding international law and Palestinian rights.
To counter these injustices, Francesca Albanese said, “we must think and act together. Transnationally. And on principle. Bodies on the line if that’s what it takes.”
“The rule of law hasn’t gotten us to heaven, for sure. But it has kept us out of hell. And hell is on the horizon now. So let’s hold the line together,” Albanese urged.
Earlier this month, in response to a DAWN and Taxpayer Alliance Against Genocide (TAAG) lawsuit against the Trump administration’s sanctions targeting Albanese, the International Criminal Court, and Palestinian human rights organizations, a federal court issued a preliminary injunction barring the administration from imposing penalties on DAWN and TAAG for submitting evidence to the ICC or engaging with Albanese and the Palestinian organizations.
DAWN MENA retweeted
The mid-September Al Saada Building collapse in Gaza City represents a daily reminder to displaced Palestinians in the Strip: At any moment, a structure damaged by Israeli strikes can collapse with its inhabitants, writes Hassan Herzallah.
dawnmena.org/damaged-buildin…
“Sudan's brutal civil war continues with no end in sight, largely due to the negative role of outside actors. The UAE's role is notable, enabled by US complicity that has allowed Abu Dhabi to perpetuate the fighting."
@husamom's analysis in @DAWN_Journal: dawnmena.org/the-uae-is-fuel…
DAWN MENA retweeted
“We’re gathering at a time of unprecedented brutality and murder, with the blanket killing of journalists at a rate never before seen in our lifetimes—or indeed, in the generations that have come before us. Over 260 journalists and media workers killed by Israel. Nearly all of them in Palestine. But also in Lebanon, in Yemen, and elsewhere,” said @sharifkouddous of @dropsitenews, speaking at DAWN’s 2026 Annual Gala & Awards Dinner.
Sharif Abdel Kouddous detailed the targeting of journalists in the region, as he introduced @aseisfree, who was presented with DAWN’s 2026 Jamal Khashoggi Defender of Justice Award, for his courageous journalism and commitment to speaking truth despite the personal consequences.
“We got here not only because Israel has not been held accountable by its backers in the U.S. and Europe, who continue to fund, arm, enable, and support Israel, but also because Western media outlets have largely abandoned their journalist colleagues in Palestine. For the most part, the coverage in the U.S. and Europe of Israel’s killing of Palestinian journalists has been at its best tepid, and at its worst complicit,” Abdel Kouddous continued.
“Amid the killing fields, we have witnessed the single most heroic act of journalism in our lifetimes. I’m speaking of those very Palestinian journalists in Gaza, who despite their press vests being turned from a shield into a bull’s eye, have continued to cover the genocide of their people, have continued to investigate, and to tell stories, and to bear witness."
"They continue to inspire us in their bravery and in their struggle for liberation, because the fight for freedom in Palestine is a fight for the freedom of us all.”
DAWN MENA retweeted
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have long struggled under a lack of security and legal recognition by the Lebanese state. That status quo must change, with Beirut adopting its legal responsibility to protect Palestinians, says Ali El Zein.
dawnmena.org/the-path-to-dis…
“We’re gathering at a time of unprecedented brutality and murder, with the blanket killing of journalists at a rate never before seen in our lifetimes—or indeed, in the generations that have come before us. Over 260 journalists and media workers killed by Israel. Nearly all of them in Palestine. But also in Lebanon, in Yemen, and elsewhere,” said @sharifkouddous of @dropsitenews, speaking at DAWN’s 2026 Annual Gala & Awards Dinner.
Sharif Abdel Kouddous detailed the targeting of journalists in the region, as he introduced @aseisfree, who was presented with DAWN’s 2026 Jamal Khashoggi Defender of Justice Award, for his courageous journalism and commitment to speaking truth despite the personal consequences.
“We got here not only because Israel has not been held accountable by its backers in the U.S. and Europe, who continue to fund, arm, enable, and support Israel, but also because Western media outlets have largely abandoned their journalist colleagues in Palestine. For the most part, the coverage in the U.S. and Europe of Israel’s killing of Palestinian journalists has been at its best tepid, and at its worst complicit,” Abdel Kouddous continued.
“Amid the killing fields, we have witnessed the single most heroic act of journalism in our lifetimes. I’m speaking of those very Palestinian journalists in Gaza, who despite their press vests being turned from a shield into a bull’s eye, have continued to cover the genocide of their people, have continued to investigate, and to tell stories, and to bear witness."
"They continue to inspire us in their bravery and in their struggle for liberation, because the fight for freedom in Palestine is a fight for the freedom of us all.”