Sumaya Awad is a

Palestinian American Palestinian Americans () are Americans who are of full or partial Palestinian descent. There are around 160,000 Palestinian American refugees according to the 2023 American Community Survey, making up around 0.05% of the U.S. population. Th ...

writer and activist based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She directs strategy and communications for the Adalah Justice Project, and co-edited the book '' Palestine: A Socialist Introduction'', published in 2020.

Career

Awad is Director of Strategy and Communications for the Adalah Justice Project, and a member of the

Democratic Socialists of America The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a political organization in the United States and the country's largest Socialism, socialist organization. Sitting on the Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left of the politic ...

. With Bill V. Mullen, Awad created the website Against Canary Mission in 2018, intended to counter the Canary Mission

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

of Palestine solidarity activists. Awad co-edited the book '' Palestine: A Socialist Introduction'' with brian bean. The book was published by

Haymarket Books Haymarket Books is an American non-profit, independent book publisher based in Chicago and emphasizing works on left-wing politics. History Haymarket Books was founded in 2001 by Anthony Arnove, Ahmed Shawki and Julie Fain, all of whom had ...

in December 2020. On October 13, 2023, Awad appeared on

NY1 NY1 (also officially known as Spectrum News NY1 and spoken as New York One) is an American cable news television channel founded by Time Warner Cable, which itself is owned by Charter Communications through its acquisition in May 2016. The chan ...

to discuss the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

. She was present at

Jewish Voice for Peace Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP; ) is an American Jewish anti-Zionist and left-wing advocacy organization. It is critical of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, and supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign ag ...

's October 27 protest at

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal station, terminal located at 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York Ci ...

, where she told ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' that she was calling on the United States government to "follow the guidance and the wants of the majority of Americans." On November 27, 2023, she joined more than 20 other Palestine solidarity activists and state legislators in a five-day-long

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

outside the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

to call for a

ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...

in Gaza. While most of the group joined for shorter periods of time, Awad was one of eight who did not eat for the entire five days. In a press conference announcing the hunger strike, she referenced the shooting of three Palestinian American students in Vermont, saying: "This is what happens when we don’t support a permanent ceasefire and our government continues to dehumanize Palestinians." She additionally emphasized the role of the United States government in supporting Israel, saying that "we are not just silent observers. We are complicit in what is happening in Palestine."

Personal life

Awad lives in

. She has a young daughter, who spent time in a

neonatal intensive care unit A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), also known as an intensive care nursery (ICN), is an intensive care unit (ICU) specializing in the care of ill or premature newborn infants. The NICU is divided into several areas, including a critical c ...

after birth; Awad has drawn parallels between her own daughter's experience and that of infants in the 2023 Gaza Strip preterm birth crisis. Her grandfather's family lived in

West Jerusalem West Jerusalem or Western Jerusalem (, ; , ) refers to the section of Jerusalem that was controlled by Israel at the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. As the city was divided by the Green Line (Israel's erstwhile border, established by ...

before being expelled into

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

during the

Nakba The Nakba () is the ethnic cleansing; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; of Palestinian Arabs through their violent displacement and dispossession of land, property, and belongings, along with the destruction of their s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Award, Sumaya Writers from New York City 21st-century Palestinian women writers American people of Palestinian descent 21st-century American women writers 21st-century Palestinian writers 21st-century American writers American Muslim activists American activists for Palestinian solidarity Living people Members of the Democratic Socialists of America from New York (state) Year of birth missing (living people)