Waleed Aly

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Waleed Aly
Waleed Aly headshot.jpg
Aly in 2010
Born (1978-08-15) 15 August 1978 (age 45)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Nationality Australian
Education BEng, LLB
Alma mater University of Melbourne
Occupation Author, journalist, newspaper columnist, radio and television presenter, lawyer, academic, guitarist, songwriter
Years active 1996–present
Television The Project
Spouse(s) Susan Carland
Children 2

Waleed Aly (born 15 August 1978) is an Australian writer, academic, lawyer, media presenter and musician. Aly is currently a co-host of Network Ten's news and current affairs television program The Project.

Early life

Aly was born in Melbourne, Victoria, to Egyptian parents.[1] He is a Sunni Muslim[2] and was educated at Wesley College (which is aligned with the Uniting Church). He completed the International Baccalaureate at Wesley in 1996, and then studied at the University of Melbourne, graduating with Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Laws (with honours) degrees in 2002.[3] Aly is married to Susan Carland, and they have two children.[4]

Legal and academic career

After graduating, Aly worked as an associate to Family Court judge Joseph Kay and, until, 2007 worked as a solicitor in Melbourne for Maddocks Lawyers. In 2006, he was a pro bono lawyer with the Human Rights Law Centre, on secondment from Maddocks.[5] In 2008, he was selected to participate in the Australia 2020 Summit.[6]

Aly is a staff member of the Global Terrorism Research Centre at Monash University[7] and says that most of the conflicts in the Middle East can be traced to the arbitrary way in which its territories were divided-up by Western powers by the ongoing demand for Middle Eastern oil and more recently by factors such as the invasion of Iraq.[2][8] After the Boston Marathon bombings, describing terrorism as a "perpetual irritant", he said it is encouraging that we are finally maturing in the way we handle terrorism.[9]

Media

As head of public affairs for the Islamic Council of Victoria (and a member of its executive committee), Aly was regularly interviewed on current affairs and news programs. His social and political commentary appears regularly in newspapers such as The Guardian, The Australian, The Australian Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald[citation needed] and The Age. In searching for reasons behind the suicide attacks in central London on 7 July 2005, Aly wrote, reminding readers of the Koranic passage, "Do not let the injustice of others lead you into injustice."[10]

Aly was the host of ABC TV's Big Ideas program on ABC1 and ABC News 24.[11] He has been a regular guest co-host on The Conversation Hour[12] with Jon Faine on 774 ABC Melbourne and The Project on Channel 10 and also was a regular panel member and producer on Salam Cafe, a weekly program presented by young members of Melbourne's Muslim community and produced by RMITV[13] and later shown on SBS.

He has appeared as a panellist on ABC TV's Q&A program,[14] and has been an occasional co-host on the ABC's News Breakfast. In 2011, he temporarily hosted the ABC Radio National Breakfast show.[citation needed]

Aly has been defended by Scott Stephens, editor of Religion and Ethics ABC, in response to claims that Aly's role, "is to sanitise the public image of Islam".[15] Stephens has also said that "Aly is idolized by young Muslim academics".[16]

In December 2014, Aly resigned from all his positions at the ABC to become the permanent co-host of The Project, starting 26 January 2015.[17]

In November 2015, Aly criticised the extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in a four-minute monologue titled "What ISIL wants" on The Project in the wake of the November 2015 Paris attacks, labelling them as "bastards" and calling for no one to fear them, because "they are weak". The video was posted online and received enormous attention within a few hours.[18]

Awards

At the 2005 Walkley Awards, Aly was commended in the category of Commentary, Analysis, Opinion and Critique.[19] Also in 2005, he was made White Ribbon Day ambassador for the United Nations' international day for the elimination of violence against women and was named one of The Bulletin magazine's 'Smart 100' in 2007.[citation needed]

Music

Aly is the lead guitarist and principal songwriter for the Melbourne-based rock band Robot Child.[20][21] The band contributed a track to the Jesuit Social Services' JUST MUSIC album,[22] performing at The Famous Spiegeltent for its release.[23] They were also widely praised for their cover of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb at the 2015 Walkley Awards.[24][25]

Book

His book, People Like Us: How Arrogance is Dividing Islam and the West (Picador, 2007), was shortlisted for the best newcomer award in the Australian Book Industry Awards and the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards in 2008.[citation needed]

References

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External links