Michael Evelyn Adams (31 May 1920 – 6 February 2005) was a British

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

who worked for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Life

Born in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

, Michael Adams was educated at

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school, day school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, North West England. It comprise ...

and studied at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was shot down over the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

while serving with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

and was a prisoner of war in Germany for the rest of the conflict. He subsequently became a journalist, and was Middle East correspondent for ''

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 ...

'' from 1956 to 1962, when he took a year's sabbatical in Italy. He subsequently continued to keep up association with ''The Guardian'' as a freelance journalist.Papers of Michael Adams relating to Middle Eastern politics
at the library of

Exeter University The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School o ...

Adams was almost the only British journalist to report on Israel's treatment of Palestinians in 1967. He helped found the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) in 1967, and served as its first director. He was editor of

Middle East International ''Middle East International'' was a bimonthly magazine published in London from 1971 until 2005, reaching a total of 761 issues. It was established by Christopher Mayhew and a group of senior British politicians and diplomats. The original publish ...

until 1981. In 1975 he and

Christopher Mayhew Christopher Paget Mayhew, Baron Mayhew (12 June 1915 – 7 January 1997) was a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1950 and from 1951 to 1974, when he left the Labour Party to join the Liberals. In 1981 ...

wrote ''Publish It Not: The Middle East Cover-Up'', a pro-Palestinian work on the Middle East conflict.

References

1920 births 2005 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford BBC newsreaders and journalists British expatriates in Ethiopia British male journalists British World War II prisoners of war People from Addis Ababa The Guardian journalists Shot-down aviators Royal Air Force personnel of World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Germany {{UK-mil-bio-stub