A Gaza journalist who really does deserve an award

Over the years we have seen many awards given to Palestinian Arab journalists purely based on their anti-Israel reporting. We've even seen Helen Thomas receive a "Courage in Journalism" award purely because she publicly espoused anti-semitic opinions.

But there are some Palestinian Arab journalists who exhibit real courage. Reporting the truth about their political leadership is a hell of a lot more dangerous than writing yet another anti-Israel screed.

Here is one of the truly courageous Arab journalists:

Gaza journalist Asma al-Ghoul has won an international award for courage in journalism, the International Women’s Media Foundation said.

Al-Ghoul, 30, was awarded the 2012 IWMF prize alongside female journalists Reeyot Alemu from Ethiopia, Khadija Ismayilova from Azerbaijan and Zubeida Mustafa from Pakistan.

She has worked for Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam and her popular blog, AsmaGaza, was discontinued in February for unstated reasons.

Her reporting on the Palestinian internal division and social and political issues has earned international acclaim, receiving awards from Human Rights Watch and the Anna Lindh Mediterranean Foundation.

Al-Ghoul has been beaten by security forces at popular protests in Gaza, received death threats against her and her son, and once slept at her office out of fear for her life, the IWMF said.

The foundation added: "In 2007, she wrote an article as an open letter to her uncle -- a Hamas commander -- questioning methods of certain entities claiming to seek peace for Palestine. The article resulted in al-Ghoul’s uncle threatening to kill her."

Putting your life on the line to report the truth is brave. No matter what your political opinions are, Asma al-Ghoul is a courageous reporter.