Halla Diyab

Halla Diyab is an award winning screen-writer, producer, broadcaster and published author. She holds a Ph.D. in English and American Studies from the University of Leicester, UK. She carried out research in New Orleans, USA while working on her thesis “The Examination of Marginality and Minorities in the Drama and Film of Tennessee Williams.” She holds an PGDip in post-colonial and world literature, and an MA in Gender and Women Studies from the University of Warwick, UK. She has written a number of scripts for TV dramas countering Islamic extremism and international terrorism, which were aired across the Middle East and Europe, resulting in her being awarded the Best Syrian Drama Script Award 2010 and the Artists Achievement Award 2011. As a highly successful drama writer, she was dubbed “one of the most influential women in Syria” in 2011. She also produces documentary films on Islam and British Muslims for UK and international channels. She is also the Founder & Director of Liberty Media Productions which focuses on cross-cultural issues between Britain and the Middle East. She is also a columnist at al-Arabiya English, writing on Syria, Islam and Middle East political affairs.

She is a regular commentator in the British and international media and has recently appeared on Channel 4 News, BBC Newsnight, BBC This Week, CNN, Sky News, Channel 5 News, ITV Central, al-Jazeera English and BBC Radio 4, to name a few. She is a public speaker who spoke at the House of Commons, the Spectator Debate, Uniting for Peace and London’s Frontline Club. She has worked in Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Syria and is an expert on the Middle East and Islamic culture.