Dena Takruri

Dena Takruri is an award-winning journalist who has reported extensively on events of global significance, including the Israeli occupation of Palestine, Europe’s refugee crisis, and tensions on the Korean Peninsula. She is a Senior Presenter and Producer at AJ+, where she hosts the docu-series “Direct From with Dena Takruri,” which has been honored with a Peabody Award and two Edward R. Murrow Awards. Dena is also the co-author of the memoir, “They Called Me A Lioness: A Palestinian Girl’s Fight For Freedom,” about the life of Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi, published by One World/Penguin Random House in 2022. Born and raised in San Francisco, CA, Dena holds a BA from UC Berkeley and an MA from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Previously, Dena was a host and producer at HuffPost Live, the online streaming video network of The Huffington Post based in New York City. She covered a vast range of topics, from foreign affairs to domestic politics, and even lifestyle and fashion. She focused on Middle East affairs and domestic civil-liberties issues, particularly regarding the Arab-American and Muslim-American communities. Prior to joining HuffPost Live, Dena was with Al Jazeera Arabic in Washington D.C. for four years – producing its flagship political talk show, “Min (From) Washington.” There, she produced interviews with prominent political figures including Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Gates, Tony Blair, John McCain and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Dena was born and raised in San Francisco. She earned a BA in International Development Studies from UC Berkeley and a Master’s from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She is a fluent Arabic speaker.