Hala Gorani
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Former NBC News correspondent/host of CNNI's Hala Gorani Tonight.
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Articles by Hala Gorani
Inside Syria’s Plan to Reconnect to the Digital World
Almost two years after the fall of the Assad regime, rebuilding Syria’s shattered economy remains one of the most monumental challenges facing the transitional government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa. For Abdul Salam Haykal, Syria’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, that means reconnecting the country to the global telecommunications and technology networks it has been cut off from for years.
Hala Gorani Meets Hind Kabawat, Syria’s Only Female Minister, on Rebuilding a New Syria
Reaching Hind Kabawat’s house in old Damascus isn’t easy. Behind a thick wooden door in the city’s Bab Touma district, a labyrinthine network of narrow alleyways eventually leads me to a large historic Damascene house – the kind that wraps around a dramatic courtyard, fruit trees towering over a tiled fountain. I hear Syria’s minister of Social Affairs’ voice before I see her. Wearing a crisp ecru suit, Kabawat enters one of the home’s reception rooms. Her handshake is vigorous, and she’s a hugger.
Hala Gorani on Fashion Runway Protests: Where Do We Draw the Line Between Activism and Violence?
The video of the incident went viral within minutes. Anyone with a social media account probably came across the shocking footage: a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) protester unfurling a banner at the Cos runway show during New York Fashion Week and fashion industry executive Steven Kolb pulling her to the ground, pinning her down as he muzzled her with his open hand.
Egypt Detains An Entire Newsroom of Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is demanding the release of the six Matsadaash reporters Some very worrying developments in Egypt over the last week as six independent journalists working for investigative media platform Matsadaash are being held incommunicado. In a move that harkens back to former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s days, the reporters’ whereabouts are unknown and they have not been allowed to consult with their lawyers. This Substack is reader-supported.
Hala Gorani Remembers Dolly Parton: The Star Who Shaped Her Childhood
It was in the summer of 1984, while I was visiting my father outside Washington, D.C., that one of the most formative experiences of my life unfolded. My parents had been divorced a few years by then and I would spend a few weeks a year visiting him. My older brother didn’t live in the three-storey suburban home anymore so I was left to my own devices most of the time. Looking back, I could choose to feel rather sorry for myself.
The West Bank Water Grab
There is a story about the occupied West Bank that gets remarkably little attention: water.
Hala Gorani: Why Being an Introvert Helped Me Succeed in Television News
If you’ve seen me on television, particularly when I anchored my own show on CNN, you might have assumed I was one of those natural extroverts who thrive on small talk and effortlessly navigate office politics. The reality is almost the opposite. I find mingling at cocktail parties oddly painful. Idle chatter drains me.
Israele sta cancellando la cultura palestinese a Gerusalemme Est
I bambini erano già sul palco del teatro El Hakawati di Gerusalemme Est, in attesa che le luci si abbassassero per cominciare il loro Sogni sotto l’ulivo, uno spettacolo che avrebbe dovuto celebrare le tradizioni palestinesi. Dopo mesi di prove, tutti in abiti di scena, erano finalmente pronti a esibirsi di fronte a un pubblico di genitori e parenti fieri di loro. Ma ancora prima che la musica partisse, gli agenti della polizia israeliana a volto coperto hanno fatto irruzione nella platea gremita.
Israel Is Trying To Extinguish Palestinian Cultural Life in East Jerusalem
The children were already on stage at East Jerusalem’s El-Hakawati Theatre, waiting for the lights to dim and for “Dreams Under the Olive Tree,” a performance celebrating Palestinian heritage, to begin. After months of rehearsals and dressed in full costume, they were finally about to perform before an audience of proud parents and loved ones. But before a single note could be played, masked Israeli police officers burst into the packed auditorium.
"This Is the Last Time You Will See Me": Dr. Abu Safiya’s Plea from Israeli Custody
The last time the world saw Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya in Gaza was in a grainy video filmed from an upper floor of Kamal Adwan Hospital. I remember pausing and replaying the footage: a lone figure in a white doctor’s coat making his way through an apocalyptic landscape of rubble and twisted metal, walking toward a waiting Israeli tank. By then, months of Israeli attacks had reduced much of the hospital complex to ruins. This Substack is reader-supported.
Hala Gorani Asks: Has Ghosting Replaced Saying No?
When I told my (much younger) cousin Asad that I had sent several messages to people I had worked with, suggesting we collaborate, but hadn’t heard back, he didn’t seem surprised. “That’s totally normal nowadays,” he said casually. "If you don’t get a response," he explained, "it usually just means it’s not happening." “But why not just tell me there’s no budget, or that they’ll get back to me when they have an answer?” I asked him. “Anything but silence?” “I don’t know,” he replied.
Hala Gorani (@halagorani)
Just in: Iran says it is closing Hormuz again. Interesting that Iran is using its biggest leverage at this stage. It is saying in clear terms that it will not tolerate any level of significant attacks on Lebanon by Israel. The big question now is whether Israel will stop, even though it has clearly announced that it will not withdraw its forces and will bomb targets it considers threats to its forces inside Lebanon.
Hala Gorani (@halagorani)
Make money doing the work you believe in Start your SubstackLearn more
Hala Gorani (@halagorani)
Make money doing the work you believe in Start your SubstackLearn more
How Fiber-Optic Drones Are Changing the Hezbollah–Israel Conflict
In asymmetric warfare, the cheapest weapons often put the most pressure on a militarily superior enemy.
Hala Gorani (@halagorani)
Make money doing the work you believe in Start your SubstackLearn more
Beyond the Buffer Zone: Israel’s Growing Occupation Inside Syria
Events in Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza have overshadowed what is a crucial set of developments in large parts of Syria since the fall of the Assad regime. The international conversation has paid remarkably little attention to Israel’s ongoing occupation and repeated incursions into Syria. Israel’s new Syria plan started shortly after a lightning rebel advance, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, reached Damascus on December 8th, 2024.
Hala Gorani on the Women Rebuilding Syria
I walked out of a demolished section of the old souk, up a narrow alleyway and into a traditional Syrian courtyard house undergoing reconstruction. I was there to meet two women architects on the frontlines of the effort to rebuild Aleppo’s old city, ravaged by 15 years of war and neglect. Dima Dayoub, who started working in Syria with the Aga Khan Development Network and is now the Aleppo lead of Turquoise Mountain - a charity founded by Kind Charles III - is already waiting for me.
Aleppo After the Ashes
Discover more from Hala Gorani Journalist and author Already have an account? Sign in Returning to Syria’s former commercial hub, I found reasons for hope, and countless reminders of how fragile and uncertain its recovery remains. It was the largest covered souk in the world. More accurately, it was a labyrinth of souks, dozens of arteries flowing into one another under vaulted ceilings. Before my trip to Syria last week, the last time I had walked the medieval alleyways of Aleppo’s market was 2010.
Rebuilding Childhoods
Every child I met in Syria last week was, in one way or another, a victim of war. As a refugee, an internally displaced child, deprived of schooling, or failed by a shattered education system. Not one of them was born before the conflict that devastated their country for nearly 15 years. As I wrote in my last Substack, the most pressing issue for Syria is rebuilding its shattered economy.
What I Saw in Aleppo: Syria’s Economy Will Decide Its Future
In my first post here after returning to Aleppo for the first time since 2010, I focus on what I believe will principally determine whether Syria can rise from the ashes: the economy. I will write in future posts about the emotional experience of returning to the city my parents came from, as well as the immense socio-political and sectarian challenges the country faces.
Hala Gorani: When Did We Stop Dressing Up?
One of my favourite accounts on Instagram, which I stumbled upon by accident as I was looking for reels on Aleppo before a trip, shows Damascus and other Syrian cities as they were in the fifties and sixties. Men in crisp suits, ties and hats. Women in high heels and gloves. Make up: perfect. Hair: set. Manicures? Obviously.
Hala Gorani: Where Do You Draw the Line?
‘Would you draw a line from Ghouta to Gaza?’ That was the question put to me during a panel on Syria’s future in London last week. Ghouta, the Damascus suburb the regime of former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad attacked with chemical weapons in 2013, was meant to be former president Barack Obama’s ‘red line’. When the American leader did nothing to enforce it, Russia saw an opportunity to get involved. Alongside Iran, it helped Assad mass kill his own people in aerial bombings across the country.
Why Boredom Matters: Hala Gorani on Screen Addiction and Digital Detox
On the train on my way to join friends for a walk along the Thames in London this weekend, I decided to do something radical: put my phone away and watch what was going on around me without distractions. The journey would take 20 minutes, and I forced myself, in what felt almost like a violent act of rebellion, not to be distracted by a book, a podcast, or the day’s crossword puzzle in my New York Times app. Were that man and woman on a first date?
Why I Left CNN and Never Looked Back
“Why did you leave your CNN show?” my friend Guy asked when we finally caught up after years apart. It was a question I’d answered countless times since stepping down in 2022, yet hearing it again, in that moment, it felt strangely fresh. I understand why people are curious about why I left. Anchoring a prime-time newscast on CNN was one of those accomplishments that teenage me would have considered the epitome of journalistic success.
Hala Gorani on the Problem With Constant Self-Exploration
Don’t ask me what possessed me, but I decided last month to take down all my dressing room closet doors, glue trim them and paint them a wild aubergine colour. Inspired by one of those viral “IKEA hack” videos on Instagram, I turned our kitchen into a chaotic carpentry workshop. I sanded, primed, painted, cut and gorilla-glued the trim, then sanded some more. During the process – repetitive, laboured, meditative – my mind sometimes went blank.
Hala Gorani on the Stigma of Being “Childless” - And Why Women Without Kids Aren’t Missing Anything
In the documentary “Franca,” Francesco Carrozzini spent four years filming his mother Francesca Sozzani before her untimely death in 2016, aged 66. Sozzani was the iconic editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia, who’d pushed the creative boundaries of fashion magazines with editorial spreads on domestic violence and environmental catastrophes.
Ageing Gracefully? I’m Trying - But My Front Camera Disagrees
There is something strange about ageing. It’s a natural, objective process that doesn’t seem to follow the logic of any other observable phenomenon. We age on the outside, but our brain refuses to register it. In my mind, I’m 28. When I feel old, I’m 38 and a half. But then I accidentally turn on my phone’s front facing camera while looking down and I nearly go into cardiac arrest.
Opposition to Gaza war grows among Israeli soldiers as strikes ramp up
TEL AVIV — Barely noticeable only a few months ago, opposition is growing about fresh Israeli operations in Gaza even among the country’s military reservists, some of whom have publicly called out the government for what they say is an immoral and politically motivated decision to continue the war. “I refuse to commit war crimes,” Yuval Ben Ari told NBC News earlier this month.
One Hundred Roses: Omar Alshogre's Journey
The night Bashar al-Assad’s regime fell to the rebels in Damascus, Omar Alshogre couldn’t stop crying. “I was sitting in a café with friends, and every time I tried to talk, I cried with joy. Because Syrians were reaching a stage of hopelessness,” he explains over Zoom from his home in Stockholm, Sweden.
The Syrian teenager who sprayed four words on a wall and started an uprising
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The Syrian teenager who sprayed four words on a wall and started an uprising
By , and DAMASCUS, Syria — It was a small act of teenage defiance that sparked a revolution, a moment forever inscribed in Syrian history. When 15-year-old Mouawiya Syasneh and a group of classmates from Daraa sprayed the words “It’s your turn, Doctor” on the wall of their school, the reference to dictator Bashar al-Assad would become inextricably linked with a 13-year civil war.
Israel and Hamas in talks to double the number of hostages released this weekend
JERUSALEM — Israel is preparing to receive 6 hostages Saturday as well as the bodies of deceased captives from Gaza on Thursday, a source briefed on the talks told NBC News on Monday. Talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt are ongoing, said the source who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, and would involve Israel sending in a number of temporary housing structures into the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Mother of American hostage 'shaken' after Hamas releases video of him in captivity
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Mother of American hostage 'shaken' after Hamas releases video of him in captivity Original
Dec. 1, 2024, 1:51 PM UTC JERUSALEM — The mother of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander told NBC News she was both shaken and relieved to see her son in a Hamas-issued propaganda video. “To get this video it’s a huge relief for me to see that he’s still strong, it was amazing,” Yael Alexander said in a video call Saturday, hours after the video captioned “time is running out” was posted on the Telegram channel of Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades.
Mother of American hostage 'shaken' after Hamas releases video of him in captivity
Now Moshe Yaalon, ex-army chief and defence minister, claims northern Gaza is being ‘cleared of Arabs’, echoing ICC allegations. Former Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon has accused Israel of committing war crimes and ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip, echoing the allegations by the International …
Israel's Netanyahu recommends Hezbollah ceasefire deal to his Cabinet
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Israel-Hamas war in Gaza the deadliest on record for journalists who describe killings, attacks and arrests
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Israel-Hamas war in Gaza the deadliest on record for journalists who describe killings, attacks and arrests
JERUSALEM — Almost 12 months of unbridled war, death, destruction and suffering in Gaza have proved the deadliest conflict on record for journalists. One year in, NBC News has spoken to 21 media professionals and organizations in the region who described killings, attacks and arrests by Israeli forces. As of Aug. 31, 116 journalists had been killed since Oct. 7, according to statistics from the Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit based in New York.
While the world’s eyes are on Gaza, Palestinians see a land grab underway in the West Bank
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While the world’s eyes are on Gaza, Palestinians see a land grab underway in the West Bank Original
Aug. 17, 2024, 9:25 AM UTC Not long after Hamas launched the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel and sparked the now 10-month war in the Gaza Strip, another killing was reported in the occupied West Bank. A 40-year-old Palestinian street vendor and farmer named Bilal Saleh was harvesting olives on his family's small plot of land when, according to his family, he was fatally shot in the chest by an Israeli who lives in one of the Jewish settlements that ring Al-Sawiya.
Israeli military is destroying hospitals and targeting medical staff in Gaza, doctors and nurses there say
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Israeli military is destroying hospitals and targeting medical staff in Gaza, doctors and nurses there say
Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments.
Israeli military leaves destroyed hospitals, detained and dead doctors workers in Gaza
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Israeli military is destroying hospitals and targeting medical staff in Gaza, doctors and nurses there say Original
July 23, 2024, 9:00 PM UTC By and JERUSALEM — The Israeli military is destroying medical facilities in Gaza and debilitating the healthcare system there, 14 doctors and two nurses told NBC News, a campaign they all said includes detaining and killing medical staff in their workplaces and in their homes. The Israeli military has defended its actions by saying the medical facilities in Gaza are being used as operating bases for Hamas, but either way, the scenes are harrowing.
Israeli military leaves destroyed hospitals, detained and dead doctors workers in Gaza
Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments.
Battles rage across Gaza as death toll tops 35,000 and tens of thousands evacuate Rafah
CAIRO — As battles raged across Gaza where the health ministry said the death toll since Oct. 7 had topped 35,000 Sunday, there was widespread panic in the enclave’s southernmost city of Rafah as tens of thousands people upped sticks and left fearing an imminent Israeli invasion. In parts of the north that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had cleared months ago, Palestinians reported heavy fighting Sunday after Israeli bombardment overnight.
Palestinians Killed in Israeli Strikes on Designated 'Safe Zones’
NBC News found Palestinians were killed in seven deadly airstrikes in areas of southern Gaza that the Israeli military had explicitly designated as safe zones. An NBC News investigation into seven deadly airstrikes has found Palestinians were killed in areas of southern Gaza that the Israeli military had explicitly designated as safe zones.
NBC News investigation reveals Israel strikes on Gaza areas it said were safe
Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments.
NBC News investigation reveals Israel strikes on Gaza areas it said were safe Original
April 26, 2024, 8:20 PM UTC By and TEL AVIV — An NBC News investigation into seven deadly airstrikes has found Palestinians were killed in areas of southern Gaza that the Israeli military had explicitly designated as safe zones.
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