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 two years later by the Southtown Economist Newspaper. In 1985, he was hired by the Chicago Sun-Times. From 1977 until 1992, Hanania was assigned to politics and covered Chicago City Hall reporting on every Mayor from "Daley to Daley." 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. He cohosts Radio Baladi broadcast in Chicago and Dearborn on WNZK AM 690 and WJJG AM 1530.

Hanania is the recipient of numerous journalism awards:

• Recipient of four (4) Society of Professional Journalism Lisagor Awards for column writing (1985, 2002, 2004 2010) and seven-time (7) runner-up.
• Recipient of the 2010 Sigma Delta Chi award for column writing from the Society of Professional Journalists
• Recipient of the 2009 M.T. Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award.
• Recipient of the 2007 New American Media "Best Ethnic American Columnist"
• 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, which is distributed internationally by Creators Syndicate. He writes a political column for the Chicago-based Southwest News-Herald Newspaper and for the Lawndale News 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).

And, Hanania serves as a national board member of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.