VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

The Rothko Chapel is delighted to bring a distinguished roster of outstanding intellectuals, poets, musicians, and journalists to speak and perform during its 2009-2010 season of public programs. All programs are free and open to the public. The Rothko Chapel presents Gaza on the Ground:  Mohammed Omer, Award-Winning Independent Journalist.   Tuesday, April 6 at the Rothko Chapel, 7 p.m.

Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer was born in 1984 and was raised in the Rafah refugee camp at the southern end of Gaza near the border with Egypt. In 2008 this independent journalist and photographer became the youngest journalist ever to be awarded the Martha Gelhorn Prize for Journalism. He was cited as the "voice of the voiceless" and his reporting was described as a "humane record of the injustice imposed on a community forgotten by much of the world." He has reported for the Norwegian Morgenbladet, The Nation, and the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, among others.

The eldest of eight children, Mohammed Omer began working at age six to help support his family while his father was in an Israeli prison. A brother was killed in 2003 by an Israeli sniper, and nine days later an Israeli bulldozer crushed the family's home, severely injuring his mother. In 2006, Omer graduated from the Islamic University of Gaza with B.A. degrees in English and Literature. In 2008, he reported being beaten by Israeli soldiers while traveling back to the Gaza Strip from the West Bank, and the government of The Netherlands lodged an official protest with Israel about his mistreatment, which Israel has denied.