Ayman oghanna biography channel
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The Storm Inside
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Inside the Lions’ Den,
Earlier this summer I followed a man called Abu al-Ajoud through the streets of Nablus, a Palestinian city in the West Bank. We walked in silence, occasionally ducking our heads to pass under an Ottoman arch. Eventually al-Ajoud stopped at an iron door, patted me down and led me into a dark room. Inside was a screen displaying live CCTV footage of the paths outside. We had arrived at the safe house.
“I’ve never spoken to a journalist before,” said al-Ajoud, 35, unsmiling. “I may regret it.” He took the bag with my camera in it and put it in another room. Al-Ajoud (not his real name) is a member of Arin al-Usoud, or theLions’ Den, a Palestinian armed-resistance group based in the Israeli-Occupied West Bank. Since it emerged last summer the Lions’ Den has claimed dozens of attacks, including the killing of an Israeli soldier in Jerusalem.
The West Bank, governed by the Palestinian Authority (PA), had been relatively peaceful since the end of the second intifada, an uprising that lasted from 2000-05. But in the past two years violence has escalated. In the first half of this year 114 Palestinians and 16 Israelis were killed in the West Bank (in the same period last year, 57 Palestinians and two Israelis were killed). Much of the unrest has b
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London-born Ayman Oghanna is a journalist, photographer and broadcaster who specialises in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, conflict and migration. Born and raised in London, he has Iraqi and Irish roots and is now based in Greece. He is best known for his coverage of the fight against the so-called Islamic State.
After earning an MA in International Relations and Middle East Studies (First-Class Honours) from the University of St. Andrews, Ayman worked for The Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon before leaving to study journalism at Columbia University in New York, where he gained an M.S. degree.
For 13 years, Ayman has produced award-winning multimedia reportage, often alone, under challenging circumstances and to tight deadlines. He has worked in Ukraine, Poland, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Tunisia, Georgia, Germany, Sweden, Kosovo, Turkey, Israel-Palestine. Ayman was the first journalist to enter the Iraqi city of Hit with Iraqi special forces after more than two years of so-called Islamic State rule, with the first troops to liberate Mosul and, also, the first foreign journalist to reach Mount Sinjar by land during the Yezidi genocide.
He was part of an Edward.R. Murrow award-wining NPR team for Middle East coverage. Winner of the Grand Format Prize at the B