Hala Jaber is a Lebanese-British journalist. She was born in West Africa and writes forThe Sunday Times.[1]
Her first book,Hezbollah: Born With a Vengeance, was published in 1997. The book describes the rise and political agenda ofHezbollah against the background of Lebanese history from 1970 to 1997. Her second book,The Flying Carpet to Baghdad: One Woman's Fight for Two Orphans of War, was published in 2009. The book chronicles her efforts to help two girls during theIraq War.
Jaber was awarded theAmnesty International Journalist of the Year Award in 2003. She won Foreign Correspondent of the Year at theBritish Press Awards in 2005 and 2006 for her coverage of theIraq War,[2] and in 2012 for her coverage of the Libyan uprising. She co-won theMartha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism for her work in Iraq in 2007.
In May 2015,NOW News, a defunct Lebanon-based news website, published a trove of leaked emails from the Syrian government of PresidentBashar al-Assad. The leaked emails revealed that she had contacted and sought to protect George Chaoui, an EU sanctioned Christian Syrian citizen, and alleged member of theSyrian Electronic Army.[3] Additional emails have noted that she is seen as one of a handful of "favorable" journalists to the government; due to her contacts with Syrian officials, and having interviewed President Assad twice during the course of theSyrian Civil War.[4]
Hala Jaber was married to award-winning news photographerSteve Bent until his death on Christmas Day 2011.[5]
