Ala'a Shehabi, sometimes referred to as Ala'a al-Shehabi (born 1980/1981), is a British-born Bahraini journalist and democracy-rights activist.

Early life and education

Shehabi was raised in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

by her father, political exile Saeed al-Shehabi, leader of the

Bahrain Freedom Movement The Bahrain Freedom Movement () is a London-based Bahraini opposition group which has its headquarters in a north London mosque. Its main medium is the Voice of Bahrain website which was blocked for several years by Batelco, Bahrain's sole Inter ...

. Shehabi received a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

Career and activism

In 2009, Shehabi moved to Bahrain, where she worked as a lecturer in economics at a private Bahraini university. Shehabi took part in the

2011 Bahraini Uprising The 2011 Bahraini uprising was a series of anti-government protests in Bahrain led by the mainly Shia and some Sunni Bahraini opposition primarily from 2011 until 2014. The protests were inspired by the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spring and prote ...

, helping to run a media centre, covering the events and attending protests at

Pearl Roundabout The Gulf Cooperation Council or GCC Roundabout, known as Pearl Roundabout or Lulu Roundabout (Arabic language, Arabic: ', "Roundabout of the pearl(s)"), was a roundabout located near the Central business district, financial district of Manama, B ...

. Shortly afterward, her husband was arrested for political reasons, and she was dismissed from her job, being told she was "a risk" to the university. Without a job, she began working as a political activist. She founded Bahrain Watch, which advocates for

press freedom Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...

in the country. In April 2012, Shehabi was arrested during the Formula One Grand Prix in Bahrain, although she was later released. She has reported that following her release, she was sent multiple emails and messages with

spyware Spyware (a portmanteau for spying software) is any malware that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user by violating their privacy, endangering their device's securit ...

, which she presumed were sent by the Bahraini government. In 2015 she was an editor, along with Marc Owen Jones, on ''Bahrain's Uprising: Resistance and Repression in the Gulf'', an anthology about Bahraini resistance in the early 2010s. Shehabi has published research through the

RAND Corporation The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...

on healthcare in the United Kingdom. Shehabi has written for ''

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Shehabi is a lecturer in Middle Eastern Politics at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

Personal life

Shehabi married her husband, Ghazi Farhan, a businessman, after she moved to Bahrain in 2009. Farhan was arrested by Bahraini security forces in April 2011 and sentenced to three years in prison, although he was released after ten months. Outside groups such as

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

have speculated his arrest was due to Shehabi's political activities. Shehabi and her husband have one son, Nasser.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shehabi, Ala'a Living people 1980s births 21st-century Bahraini women 21st-century Bahraini people 21st-century Bahraini writers 21st-century British journalists 21st-century British women writers Alumni of Imperial College London Bahraini journalists Bahraini democracy activists Bahraini women activists Bahraini women journalists British democracy activists British women activists British women journalists British people of Bahraini descent Bahraini activists Bahraini women academics