Osama Abu-Irshaid

Osama Abu-Irshaid and is the founder and editor in chief of Al-Meezan newspaper, an Arabic-language periodical published in the United States. He was formerly was editor of Al-Zaytounah, the biweekly Arabic-language newspaper published by the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), which was linked to the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), which was shut down for funding Hamas.

He was coauthor of a United States Institute of Peace study exploring possible cease-fire negotiation strategy for Hamas, and a unity government within the Palestinian Authority. Due to his affiliation with IAP and HLF, his objectivity was questioned. While abu-Irshaid may indeed have Hamas ties, other sources, such as Ismail Haniyeh, the former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority have suggested hudna might be a formula for a continuing ceasefire; Khaled Meshal also said it might be a basis for negotiating with the Obama administration The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University republished an article supporting the USIP study.

He is completing a Ph.D. thesis on Hamas at Britain’s Loughborough University,