View source for Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib

{{Short description|Palestinian American humanitarian activist and blogger}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib
| citizenship        = [[Americans|American]]
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1990|04|25}}
| nationality        = Palestinian
| birth_place        = [[Saudi Arabia]]
| occupation         = Executive Director, [[Project Unified Assistance]]
}}
'''Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib''' (born April 25, 1990)<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Ehsanipour |first=Asal |date=2023-12-15 |title='I'm Pro-Humanity': One Palestinian's Call for Peace in the Face of Tragedy |url=https://www.kqed.org/news/11969805/im-pro-humanity-one-palestinians-call-for-peace-in-the-face-of-tragedy |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=www.kqed.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite tweet |number=1783369706445152325 |user=afalkhatib |title=Today is my birthday, and I don't desire to celebrate or do anything but continue helping my family & others in Gaza, promote meaningful engagements between Palestinians & Israelis, and push for a pragmatic path forward. |first=Ahmed |last=Alkhatib |date=April 25, 2024 |access-date=April 25, 2024}}</ref> is a [[Palestinian American]] humanitarian [[activist]] and [[blogger]]. He is the founder and executive director of [[Project Unified Assistance]], a nonprofit organization working towards the establishment of a humanitarian airport in the [[Gaza Strip]], to be run and operated by the [[United Nations]].
==Early life and education==
Alkhatib's family is originally from the [[Gaza Strip]]. His grandparents had lived in [[Hamama]] and [[Ramla]], but were displaced in the [[Nakba]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Alkhatib |first=Ahmed Fouad |date=2023-10-20 |title=An Israeli airstrike just destroyed my family home in Gaza. I refuse to be consumed by hate and revenge |newspaper=[[The Forward]] |url= https://forward.com/opinion/566095/gaza-airstrike-israel-palestinian-jewish-solidarity/ |access-date= 2024-03-03}}</ref>
Alkhatib was born in Saudi Arabia, where his father worked as a [[United Nations]] physician.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite news |last=Alkhatib |first=Ahmed Fouad |date=2024-01-04 |title=Israel Killed My Family, but Not My Hope |newspaper=[[The Atlantic]] |url= https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/gaza-israel-air-strike-family-home/677016/ |access-date= 2024-03-03}}</ref> He and his family returned to Gaza in 2000,<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |title=Let there be an airport in Gaza |newspaper=[[The Times of Israel]] |url= http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/let-there-be-an-airport-in-gaza/ |access-date= 2017-07-09}}</ref> and his father began working at the [[Jabalia refugee camp]].<ref name=":6" /> As a child, Alkhatib hoped to become a politician or diplomat.<ref name=":4" /> At age 11, Alkhatib was caught in an Israeli airstrike, which killed three of his friends and left him with permanent hearing loss in one ear.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" />
Alkhatib left Gaza in 2005, at the age of 15,<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Alkhatib |first=Ahmed Fouad |title=A failed trip to Jerusalem |newspaper=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |url=http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/A-failed-trip-to-Jerusalem-493699 |access-date= 2017-07-09}}</ref> for a one-year-long [[U.S. Department of State]]-sponsored cultural exchange program. He spent the year in [[Pacifica, California]], where he learned meditation from his host mom, a [[Buddhist]] and retired [[social worker]]. He also attended sessions with Living Room Dialogue, a Jewish-Palestinian group based in [[San Mateo, California|San Mateo]], marking the first time he had spoken to Jews or [[Israelis]].<ref name=":4" />
Upon completing the program, Alkhatib attempted to return to Gaza via [[Egypt]] but was unable to do so. The abduction of an [[Gilad Shalit|Israeli soldier]] had resulted in the closure of the [[Rafah Border Crossing|Rafah border]] between Gaza and Egypt. Alkhatib remained in Egypt for months without being able to enter Gaza.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Chorin |first=Ethan |title=A Humanitarian Airport For Gaza: An Interview with Ahmed Alkhatib |work=Forbes |url= https://www.forbes.com/sites/ethanchorin/2016/11/18/a-humanitarian-airport-for-gaza-an-interview-with-ahmed-alkhatib/#50d01413635a |access-date=2017-07-09}}</ref> He applied for and received [[political asylum]] in the U.S.,<ref name=":4" /> where he finished high school at [[San Francisco Waldorf School|San Francisco Waldorf]] and went on to [[City College of San Francisco|City College]] and the [[University of San Francisco]],<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |last=Wall |first=Alex |date=2024-01-24 |title=Bay Area Gazan turns loss into compelling case for a 'different future' |work=[[J. The Jewish News of Northern California]] |url= https://jweekly.com/2024/01/24/bay-area-gazan-turns-loss-into-compelling-case-for-a-different-future/ |access-date= 2024-03-03}}</ref> where he studied [[marketing]] and became interested in [[social entrepreneurship]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title= Project Unified Assistance - A Proposal for Hope and Stability in Gaza |website= Project Unified Assistance - A Proposal for Hope and Stability in Gaza |url= http://www.pua-gaza.org/founder |access-date= 2017-07-09}}</ref> In 2023 he earned a master's degree in [[intelligence studies]] at [[American Military University]].<ref name=":7" />
== Career==
Alkhatib has published work in ''[[The Atlantic]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/author/ahmed-fouad-alkhatib/ |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=The Atlantic |language=en-US}}</ref> ''[[The Forward]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib Archives |url=https://forward.com/authors/ahmed-fouad-alkhatib/ |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=The Forward |language=en}}</ref> ''[[Haaretz]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib |url=https://www.haaretz.com/ty-WRITER/0000018d-30cf-db8f-a7df-32fff1b10000 |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=Haaretz |language=en}}</ref> ''[[Newsweek]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alkhatib |first=Ahmed Fouad |date=2024-02-26 |title=The Origin of Hamas's Human Shields Strategy in Gaza |url=https://www.newsweek.com/origin-hamass-human-shields-strategy-gaza-opinion-1873499 |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref> ''[[The Times of Israel]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib |url=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/ahmed-fouad-alkhatib/ |website=The Times of Israel}}</ref> ''[[The Jewish Chronicle]]'',<ref>[https://www.thejc.com/author/ahmed-fouad-alkhatib-gw6bn44j Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib], [[The Jewish Chronicle]]</ref> ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'',<ref>[https://www.wsj.com/articles/hamas-sees-peace-as-weakness-israel-war-in-gaza-civilian-deaths-9027c01d?page=1 Hamas Sees Peace as Weakness], by Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, Dec. 18, 2023, WSJ</ref> and [[The Washington Institute for Near East Policy]].<ref>[https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/experts/ahmed-fouad-alkhatib Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib], [[The Washington Institute for Near East Policy|WINEP]]</ref> Alkhatib is a Nonresident Senior Fellow with the [[Atlantic Council]].<ref>[https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/ahmed-alkhatib/ Ahmed F. Alkhatib], [[Atlantic Council]]</ref>
==Project Unified Assistance==
Alkhatib has had a lifelong interest in aviation and desire to work in the field, especially during the time when [[Yasser Arafat International Airport|Gaza's international airport]] was operational. After the destruction of the Gaza airport by Israeli air strikes during the [[Second Intifada]], he was convinced of the need "to play a role in restoring aviation services to the people of Gaza".<ref name=":1" /> Project Unified Assistance represents the culmination of Alkhatib's interests in aviation, social entrepreneurship, and desire to help the [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] population living in Gaza.<ref name=":3" />
== Personal life ==
Alkhatib became a U.S. citizen in 2014, at the age of 24.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":0" />
=== 2017 Ben Gurion Airport incident ===
In 2017, while attempting to visit his sister and parents in Israel, Alkhatib was deported from [[Ben Gurion Airport]]. Although he is a naturalized U.S. citizen and had not traveled to [[Palestinian territories]] for over a decade, Israeli authorities claimed that he was a Palestinian with "active citizenship." Later, Alkhatib published details about what took place during the deportation in an [[op-ed]] in ''[[The Jerusalem Post]].''<ref name=":2" />
===Israel-Hamas war (2023-24)===
Alkhatib has said that 30 of his relatives have been killed during the 2023-24 [[Israel–Hamas war|Israel-Hamas war]], many of them from Israeli airstrikes.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-02-05 |title=Israel shouldn't keep a military presence in Gaza after the war, analyst says |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/02/05/1229115138/israel-shouldnt-keep-a-military-presence-in-gaza-after-the-war-analyst-says |access-date=2024-03-03 |work=[[NPR]]}}</ref>
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*{{twitter}}
* [https://english.alwatanvoice.com/news/2016/11/09/988004.html Alkhatib to Mladenov: The airport is a core and real issue in Gaza]
* [http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/11/gaza-un-humanitarian-airport-hamas-israel.html Liberman's airport comment not so ridiculous, says Gaza activist]
* [http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/An-airport-in-Gaza-for-the-benefit-of-all-482943 AN AIRPORT IN GAZA, FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL]
* [http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.786562 An Israeli Airstrike on Gaza Nearly Killed Me. But I Recognize Both Sides' Trauma]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1990s births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:21st-century American people]]
[[Category:21st-century Palestinian people]]
[[Category:Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area]]
[[Category:American activists with disabilities]]
[[Category:American anti-war activists]]
[[Category:American people of Palestinian descent]]
[[Category:City College of San Francisco alumni]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States]]
[[Category:Palestinian activists]]
[[Category:Palestinian anti-war activists]]
[[Category:Palestinian people with disabilities]]
[[Category:People from the Gaza Strip]]
[[Category:University of San Francisco alumni]]