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Rabat – At the age of 45, Souad Mekhennet is a force of nature. Now an award-winning journalist working for The Washington Post, she has made her way to the top, overcoming discrimination and adversity.
Mekhennet covers topics on National Security from all over. With numerous awards under her belt, Mekhennet was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist as a part of The Post’s work covering Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. She is known as one of the world’s premier terrorism reporters.
Having worked for the New York Times, NPR, and The International Herald Tribune, Souad Mekhennet has made a name for herself in the world of journalism.
She was awarded the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s International Leadership Award in 2019 for reporting on terrorism, radicalization, and extremism — covering national security. She was also the recipient of the 2018 Ludwig Börne Award (one of the highest literary awards in Germany), the Henri-Nannen lifetime award, as well as the Daniel Pearl Award in 2017.
Defeating the odds
She was the youngest person to win the Daniel Pearl (39 years old), and, at the age of 19, the youngest person ever admitted to the Henri-Nannen-Schule school in Hamburg, Germany — the journalism school of the largest publishing house in Europe, Gruner + Jahr.
Souad looks back on her bitter-sweet educational journey smiling: “I should have been accepted…and I was in, based on my admission score evaluation. An admission officer called me and told me that. But they had a rule that said if one of the school funding newspapers wants a medical or law graduate to be a part of the class, they would get such students in and kick somebody out. So they can hire them later on due to their ability to cover topics in those areas.”
And she, being the youngest person accepted at that time, was the one who got turned away for the sake of a medical student. Ms. Mekhennet was encouraged to apply again the following year but she was so disappointed she told them she would never reapply. However, as the accomplished journalist put it, “It was kismet,” — fate.
After completing a two-year university degree in half the time, she got a call from the admissions officer at Henri-Nannen-Schule. She attended the school from 1999 to 2001, in Hamburg. hree of the four 9/11 attackers were studying, around the same time as she was.
With a pained expression, the journalist recounted, “Our graduation trip was to New York and I was standing in front of the twin towers…a few months later, the attacks happened. The coincidences were unbelievable.”
Reporting on terrorism
Finding herself at the center of a global tragedy, Mekhennet felt it was her duty to make a difference by helping people understand what was happening and why it was happening:
“I was motivated by the wife of a firefighter who died in the 9/11 attack,” Mekhennet said. “She asked me, ‘Why do they hate us so much? Why did we not know that there are people out there who hate us so much? If we had just known, then we could have done something that would have prevented it.’”
On multiple occasions, the terrorism correspondent found her life at risk. Still, she continues to pursue the truth.
“I sometimes look back at what I have been doing and I think to myself, ‘Okay, I’ve been telling people that there are individuals in the world who hate and why they hate…but who is listening? What is really changing?’” Mekhennet said.
She recalled the time she had to cover the so-called “Muhammad cartoons” in Denmark. A popular newspaper had called for people to participate in a contest of drawing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Dismayed, she remembers people branding it as “freedom of speech”. That same newspaper that had said it was okay to draw cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad had refused, a few months prior to that, to print cartoons of Jesus.
“And now, with what happened in Sweden–with the burning of the Quran…people still have not learned,” she said. “They do not understand that we will lose many young people at the hands of [terrorist] recruiters.”
With her work, she aims to show how this disconnect creates hatred. She still believes she owes it to the world to do her best and write the truth.
On spending her formative years in Morocco
In her early childhood, the accomplished journalist was sent from Germany to her grandparents- on her father’s side – in Meknes, Morocco. She spent three, formative years there (from the age of five, to when she was eight years old). Her grandmother served as a strong, unwavering female role model.
“I would call her the first feminist that I encountered in my life without knowing what “feminist” actually meant back then,” Mekhennet said.
Having brought up her children on her own, her grandmother would not let herself be intimidated by any man. Souad seeks to emulate her strength. The journalist has had to fight prejudice and discrimination throughout her entire life.
“As a woman of Arab and Muslim descent, some people think they can attack you more than they can others,” she said. “Just because you’re not a person with Western background.”
Despite her good intentions, she faces a lot of push back.
“Unfortunately, in this business, you hear more from people who hate what you write than from people who like what you write,” she said.
Still, the journalist remains resolute in what she feels to be her mission – the bettering of human kind and human relationships.
Reflecting on her career this far, Souad Mekhennet says that even if she had the opportunity to go back in time, she would still choose journalism as her path. Despite the demands of the sometimes daunting challenges posed by the profession, Mekhennet held tight to these words of wisdom.
“Don’t be intimidated. Everyone in this world cooks with water.”
Souad Mekhennet’s appeal to young women
Mekhennet views Khadija, the Prophet Muhammad’s first wife as well as the first woman to join the Islamic faith, as an example of a strong, powerful woman.
“Unfortunately, in Morocco, men often forget that strong female figures are supported in our faith,” she said.
According to her, Moroccan men must remember that they were born and brought up by women. Mekhennet also believes that mothers must bring up their sons to respect women. Men and women deserve the same rights and the same duties; Strength does not come from physicality alone.
Giving an example with sports, she points out Morocco’s women’s soccer team — given their accomplishments, they deserve the same financial compensation, as well as the same amount of applause and support that the male team gets.
“Women should not accept ‘no’ as an answer in the professional world,” she said. “The sky is the limit when it comes to what we can do. There is still a lot of space to show what equality could be like in Morocco.”.
“We deserve our place in this world and I think we should not be shy about voicing that,” Mekhennet said.
Writing about her journey
Souad Mekhennet published a book on her life and work — I Was Told To Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad. The novel was voted best book of 2017 by The Washington Post and The Guardian, and won the Nannen Prize in 2018. Other written works of hers include The Eternal Nazi and Islam.
