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Lauren Booth

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British journalist and activist

Lauren Booth
Lauren Booth in 2018
BornSarah Jane Booth
(1967-07-22) 22 July 1967 (age 57)
Islington, London, England
Other namesSarah Booth
Occupation(s)Journalist, broadcaster, public speaker
Spouses
Craig Darby ​ ​(m. 2000; div. 2010)​
Sohale Ahmed ​ ​(m. 2012; div. 2018)​
Children2
Parents
RelativesCherie Blair (paternal half-sister)
Websitewww.laurenbooth.co.uk

Lauren Booth (born Sarah Jane Booth; 22 July 1967) is an English broadcaster, journalist and activist holding a VIP Palestinian Authority passport as well as a British passport.

Early life

Sarah Jane Booth was born and grew up in North London. Booth is a half-sister of Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and the daughter of actor Tony Booth. She trained as an actress at the London Academy of Performing Arts and then spent several years touring Europe with various regional theatre companies.

Booth was not raised in any religion, though her father was raised a Catholic and her mother, who was purported to be Jewish, was a Christian. Her parents never married each other. She has a sister, Emma, along with Cherie and five other half-sisters.

Media career

In 1997, Booth entered journalism. Her earliest writing experiences were with the London Evening Standard, writing the column 'About Town'. In 1999, she began to write for the political magazine, the New Statesman, where she remained for four years. At the same time, she began writing columns and features for The Mail on Sunday as a columnist.

In 2006, she was a contestant on the ITV reality show, I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.

Between 2006 and 2008 Booth presented In Focus on the UK's Islam Channel. She has had a long association with the Iranian owned Press TV, starting with Between The Headlines in 2008. Between 2010 and 2012 she presented Remember Palestine and Diaspora.

In 2014, she presented her own series on the newly launched British Muslim TV, called Talking Booth. In 2014, she took a senior producer post at Al Jazeera in Doha, and was let go a few months later.

Activism

Booth was a vocal opponent of the Iraq War giving speeches at many rallies against the invasion. She is an outspoken activist and a supporter of the Stop the War Coalition.

In August 2008 she traveled to Gaza by ship from Cyprus, along with 46 other activists, to highlight the blockade of the Gaza Strip and deliver hearing aids and balloons to a school for the deaf in Gaza. She was subsequently refused entry into both Israel and Egypt. She claimed that by refusing her the right to leave Gaza and return to her home country, Israel was in breach of Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, specifically regarding freedom of movement.

Booth stated that Gaza is "the largest concentration camp in the world today", although The Jerusalem Post claimed that several photographs of Booth in a well-stocked Gaza grocery "bel the grim picture she painted of the Strip". During her visit, she received a Palestinian VIP passport from Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. Booth left Gaza through the Rafah Border Crossing into Egypt on 20 September 2008. In 2009, she returned to Gaza with the aid convoy Viva Palestina, set up by the British politician George Galloway. Since 2012 she has returned on several occasions as the Chair of Trustees with the charity she co-founded, Peace Trail, delivering assistance to students and families in the region.

Conversion to Islam

In 2010, Booth Converted to Islam a few years after her visit to Palestine, and became a practising Muslim. Booth appeared at the Islam Channel's Global Peace and Unity event on 23 October 2010, wearing a hijab, stating: "My name is Lauren Booth, and I am a Muslim." She attributed her awakening to her experiences in Palestine as a reporter.

In June 2011, Booth joined Cageprisoners as a patron. However, from 2015 Booth was no longer a patron of the organisation.

Lauren Booth, another trustee of Peacetrail and the chief executive, her husband Sohale Ahmed, were disqualified from holding any trustee positions after the Charity Commission could not account for about half Peacetrail's income.

References

  1. "Sarah Booth". Companies in the UK.
  2. "Blair's relative 'stuck in Gaza'". BBC News. 2 September 2008.
  3. "How Street's Pat Phoenix saved my life". Liverpool Echo. 8 May 2013.
  4. "Lauren Booth's Amazing Journey to Islam". YouTube. 14 September 2023.
  5. ^ "About". Lauren Booth. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013.
  6. "Offcom Broadcast Bulletin" (PDF). Ofcom. 2 August 2010. p. 25.
  7. "Protest marks 10 years of Afghan war". Daily Mirror. 9 October 2011.
  8. "Gaza: UN expert welcomes landing of ships carrying human rights activists". UN News Centre. 25 August 2008.
  9. "Blair's relative 'stuck in Gaza'". BBC News. 2 September 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  10. "Tony Blair's sister-in-law Lauren Booth 'trapped' in Gaza". The Telegraph. London, UK. 2 September 2008.
  11. Kemble, Harry (9 June 2013). "Tony Blair's Muslim sister-in-law, Lauren Booth". Daily Express. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  12. "Tony Blair's sister-in-law confirms conversion to Islam". Arabian Business. 26 October 2010.
  13. "Tony Blair's sister-in-law converts to Islam". The Independent. 25 October 2010.
  14. "UPDATE: Lauren Booth and Sami Al Hajj join Cageprisoners as patrons". Cageprisoners. 28 June 2011. Archived from the original on 1 July 2011.
  15. "Cherie Blair's half-sister removed from trusteeship of Islamic charity". ThirdSector. 29 January 2018.

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