Laila El-Haddad

Laila El-Haddad is a Palestinian American journalist, award winning author and public speaker. She frequently speaks and writes about the intersection and the negotiation of identity, food and politics. Through her work as a writer, storyteller, culinary ethnographer and documentarian she provides much-needed insight into the human experience of the region.

In 2014, she was featured in the CNN program Parts Unknown with the late Anthony Bourdain as his guide in the Gaza Strip.

El-Haddad received her B.A in Political Science and Comparative Areas Studies from Duke University in 2000, and her Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School in 2002.

Born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents from Gaza, she currently lives in Clarksville, Maryland with her husband, Yassine Daoud, and their four children.