Ali Abunimah

Ali Hasan Abunimah (Arabic: علي حسن ابو نعمة‎, Levantine Arabic: [ˈʕali ˈħasan abuˈnɪʕme]; born December 29, 1971) is a Palestinian American journalist who has been described as "the leading American proponent of a one-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict." A resident of Chicago who contributes regularly to such publications as The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times, he has also served as the Vice-President on the Board of Directors of the Arab American Action Network, is a fellow at the Palestine Center, and is co-founder of The Electronic Intifada. He has appeared on many television discussion programs on CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and other networks, and in a number of documentaries about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including Collecting Stories from Exile: Chicago Palestinians Remember 1948 (1999).

Early life and education

Born in Washington, D.C., Abunimah spent his early years in the United Kingdom and Belgium before returning to the United States to attend college. His mother is originally from the village of Lifta, now part of Israel, but became a refugee in the 1948 Palestinian exodus. His father is from the village of Battir, now in the West Bank, and is a former Jordanian diplomat who served as ambassador to the United Nations. According to his friend Max Blumenthal, part of the Abunimah family members say their forefathers came from Spain to Palestine following the expulsion of Muslims from Spain in 1492.