Dalia Ziada

Dalia Ziada (in Arabic: داليا زيادة ; born 2 January 1982) is an Egyptian writer. She is the author of The Curious Case of the Three-Legged Wolf - Egypt: Military, Islamism, and Liberal Democracy and other internationally acclaimed non-fiction books on Middle East politics. She currently works as the Chairperson of the Liberal Democracy Institute, and executive director of MEEM Center for Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean Studies.
Dalia Ziada was born in Cairo, Egypt. Her mother is an Arabic school teacher and her late father was a Lt.Cl. engineer in the Egyptian Armed Forces. Ziada studied international security at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in the United States.
Ziada is recognized for playing a central role in the civil society movement that initiated Egypt's 2011 revolution against the Mubarak regime. She was named by CNN as one of eight agents of change in the Middle East, and by The Daily Beast as one of the most fearless women in the world for two years in a row.
Ziada's story and struggle for liberal democratization in Egypt are profiled in American best-selling books such as Robin Wright's Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion across the Islamic World; and Lily Eskelsen Garcia's Rabble Rousers: Fearless Fighters for Social Justice. Wright called Ziada a leading member of the "pink hijab generation, young women committed to their faith, firm in their femininity, and resolute about their rights".
Ziada worked as the executive director of Ibn Khaldun Center for Democratic Studies, and as regional director for The American Islamic Congress. Currently, she leads two think tanks: Liberal Democracy Institute, and MEEM Center for Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean Studies. In addition, she is a board member of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the National Council for Women in Egypt.
Ziada regularly contributes pieces of analysis to prominent regional and international publications (in Arabic, English, and Turkish) on issues related to geopolitics and defense policy in the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and Africa. Since 2006, she has run a bilingual blog commenting on issues related to human rights, civil freedom, civil-military affairs, and international relations. In 2010, the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue Between Cultures awarded her its Euro-Mediterranean Journalist Award for her blog.
During the 2023 conflict between Hamas and Israel, Ziada expressed strong support for Israel's military actions against Hamas. Her public stance led to significant backlash in Egypt, resulting in threats to her safety and accusations of espionage and incitement of war crimes. Ziada condemned Hamas for its attack on Israel on October 7, which resulted in significant civilian casualties and abductions. She argued that the Israeli military's response, aimed at dislodging Hamas from power in Gaza and securing the release of hostages, was justified.
These remarks sparked a significant controversy, leading to her going into hiding due to safety concerns. Her stance was seen as particularly controversial in Egypt, where public opinion tends to be critical of Israel and sympathetic towards the Palestinian cause. Despite the threats and legal challenges she faced, Ziada maintained her position, advocating for peace and condemning the actions of Islamist organizations, including Hamas.