Ray Hanania, Chicago based Radio Talk Show
Host of "Mornings with Ray Hanania "

Ray Hanania is a veteran Chicago-based Palestinian-American journalist, columnist, author, standup comedian and radio talk show host. (www.Hanania.com)

He began his career in journalism as publisher of the Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago in 1975 and was hired in 1977 by the Southtown Economist Newspaper and later the Chicago Sun-Times, covering Chicago City Hall politics from 1977 through 1991. He covered he administrations of seven Chicago mayors.

He is the host of "Mornings with Ray Hanania" broadcast Monday thru Thursday on WJJG 1530 AM Radio from 8 am until 9:30 and Friday 7 to 9 am.

Hanania is the recipient of numerous journalism awards including three (3) Society of Professional Journalism Lisagor Awards for column writing, and is a seven-time runner-up. He is the 2007 recipient of the New American Media "Best Ethnic American Columnist" and the 2009 M.T. Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times in 1990 for a Pulizter Prize for his series detailing the suffering of Palestinians during the first Intifada.

Hanania has also been a longtime activist for peaceful coexistence in the Middle East. He is a student of the late Palestinian professor Ibrahim Abu-Lughod. Under Abu-Lughod's leadership, Hanania served as spokesman and later president of the Arab American Congress for Palestine. At the age of 24, he debated Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban in 1977 on national television. In 1995, Hanania was elected national president of the Palestinian American Congress. Hanania has served on the Chicago Chapter board of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC Chicago), since it's founding, and has received three awards from ADC for his media work.

An accomplished writer, Hanania now writes a column for PalestineNote.com and the Jerusalem Post Newspaper. He writes a political column for the Chicago-based Southwest News-Herald Newspaper. Hanania's columns have appeared in most major Middle East and Arab World newspapers, including the Arab News, and in several American Arab newspapers including al-Mustaqbal in Chicago, The Independent Monitor in California, The Arab American News in Dearborn.

In 1993-1997, Hanania published the weekly Villager Newspapers and in 1997-2002 published the Arab American View newspaper.

Hanania also performs standup comedy with two troupes, including the Christian-Arab comedy troup, The Infidels of Comedy and also as the Palestinian member of the internationally acclaimed Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour.

His books include "Ya Habibi: Growing up Arab in America" and "Arabs of Chicagoland."

Hanania is the coordinator of the National Arab American Journalists Association (www.NAAJA-US.com).