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Lauren Booth

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Lauren Booth
Born
Sarah Booth

(1967-07-22) 22 July 1967 (age 56)
Islington, London, England
OccupationJournalist
SpouseCraig Darby
ChildrenAlexandra Booth, Holly Booth
RelativesTony Booth (father)
Pamela Smith (mother)
Cherie Booth (half-sister)
Websitehttp://homepage.mac.com/lauren.booth/lauren/lauren.html

Lauren Booth (born Sarah Booth 22 July 1967, Islington, London) is an English broadcaster, journalist and human rights activist.[3] She now works for Press TV, the English-language news channel of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Journalism

As a journalist, Booth has written for the New Statesman, the Mail on Sunday, the Sunday Times and the Daily Mail. She is a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq and a supporter of the Stop the War Coalition; a member of Woodcraft Folk, Media Workers Against the War and the National Union of Journalists. She has been a panellist on the BBC's Have I Got News For You, and a broadcaster on radio and television. She writes columns and features, mainly for the Mail on Sunday. She regularly reviews the UK newspapers on television for Sky News, BBC One and BBC News 24.

In both 2005 and 2006 Booth travelled to the West Bank where she has interviewed Mahmoud Abbas. She gave two speeches on the condition of those living in the West Bank and Gaza, for the Royal Geographical Society and Arab Media Watch.

As of 2010, Booth presents In Focus on the UK's Islam Channel, and Between The Headlines on the Iranian-owned Press TV.[4][5]

Gaza

In August 2008 she travelled to Gaza by ship from Cyprus, along with 46 other activists,[6] to highlight the blockade of the Gaza Strip and deliver hearing aids and balloons to a deaf school in Gaza. Booth elected to remain behind in Gaza, and was subsequently refused entry into both Israel and Egypt. She said that she believed that, by refusing her the right to leave Gaza and return to her home country, Israel and Egypt were in breach of Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, specifically regarding freedom of movement.[7] Booth stated that she believes the "situation in Gaza is a humanitarian crisis on the scale of Darfur" and called Gaza "the largest concentration camp in the world today", although the Jerusalem Post suggested that several photographs of Booth in a well-stocked Gaza grocery "bel[ied] the grim picture she painted of the Strip".[8] During her visit, Booth received a Palestinian VIP passport from Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya.[9] Booth left Gaza through the Rafah Border Crossing into Egypt on 20 September 2008.

Family

Lauren Booth is a half-sister of Cherie Blair and the sixth daughter of the actor Tony Booth with Pamela Smith (Cohen). She is the sister-in-law of former British prime minister Tony Blair. She was married to actor Craig Darby and the couple have two children, Alexandra and Holly. Her mother, Pamela Smith (Cohen) was Jewish although Lauren wasn’t brought up a practising Jew.[10]

I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

In 2006 she was a contestant on the ITV reality show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, donating the money she raised to charity Interpal.

Religion

Booth appeared at the Islam Channel's Global Peace and Unity event on October 23, 2010, dressed in loose clothing and with a hijab, declaring: "My name is Lauren Booth, and I am a Muslim".[11] She explained that she converted to Islam in mid-September, 2010, after her visit to the Shiite Fatima al-Masumeh Shrine, sister of eighth Shiite Imam Ali Al Rida in Qom, Iran.[12] However, at this time she abstains from declaring a particular branch of Islam, but maintains a relationship with two North London mosques.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Lauren Booth replied to readers questions". Press TV. 27 October 2010. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Why I love Islam: Lauren Booth defiantly explains why she is becoming a Muslim". Daily Mail UK. 1 November 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  3. ^ BBC Profile
  4. ^ Aloha Palestine - The Founders
  5. ^ Press TV official website
  6. ^ "Gaza: UN expert welcomes landing of ships carrying human rights activists". UN News Centre. 25 August 2008. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
  7. ^ BBC coverage of Lauren Booth's Middle East activism
  8. ^ AFP Photo
  9. ^ Photo: EPA (Image 2 of 2)
  10. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1324985/Cherie-Blair-I-says-father-Tony-Booth-reveals-diverse-emotions-feels-high-profile-daughters.html
  11. ^ Wilkes, David (25 October 2010). "After Blair's conversion to Catholicism, his sister in law says: I'm a Muslim". Mail Online. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  12. ^ "Tony Blair's sister-in-law converts to Islam". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 24 October 2010.

External links

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