Manar al-Sharif

Manar al-Sharif (born 1997/1998, Damascus)^[1] is a Syrian Palestinian journalist and peace activist.^[2]

Early life and education

Al-Sharif was born and raised in a devout Muslim family in Damascus, Syria.^[3][4] She and her family moved to Cairo, Egypt , in 2013, due to the Syrian civil war.^[5][6] Al-Sharif wanted to attend college, but her conservative religious parents were reluctant to allow her to.^[5][6] They eventually gave permission for al-Sharif to study at the Islamic University of Gaza.^[5][6] Al-Sharif traveled to Gaza in 2017 to study journalism at the university, but she dropped out after a few months,^[5] citing the “Hamas propaganda” at the school, saying "It wasn’t professional and it wasn’t journalism".^[6][4]

Career

Al-Sharif first began writing for American, Australian, and Israeli publications.^[5][6] She primarily wrote about life in the Gaza Strip, particularly the struggles faced by young people, women, and children.^[5][6]

In 2018,^[4] Al-Sharif also became involved with the Gaza Youth Committee, and later became part of its leadership.^[6]

In 2019, Al-Sharif, with the Gaza Youth Committee, organized two bicycle races to bring attention to the struggles of the Gazan population and as a way to provide safe recreation to Gazan youth.^[3][7]

Also in 2019, Al-Sharif spent two nights in jail after being arrested for holding an event at her home with both men and women as guests.^[4][6]

In April 2020, Al-Sharif was arrested after advertising a Zoom event called "Skype with your enemy" that included Israeli speakers; several of the event planners were also arrested.^[6][8][9] She went on to spend three months in a women's prison.^[6] She spent some of this time in solitary confinement, and went on a two-week hunger strike to protest the prison conditions.^[6] She was released on bail in June 2020.^[9] After her release, she returned to Cairo in October before moving to the UAE.^[5][8]