New Non-Resident Fellows Bring Expertise on Yemen, Israel/Palestine, and Iran/U.S.
(Washington, D.C., Oct. 27, 2026) — Three highly respected writers and experts on the Middle East and North Africa, Afrah Nasser, Dalia Hatuqa and Sina Toossi, have joined DAWN as its newest Non-Resident Fellows, the organization announced today. Nasser, Hatuqa and Toossi will contribute to DAWN's online journal, Democracy in Exile, and offer insight, analysis and recommendations that advance DAWN's efforts to end U.S. support for repressive regimes in the MENA region.
They join 24 other Non-Resident Fellows at DAWN, whose diverse backgrounds deepen the organization's expertise and ties across the region and complement and contribute to its work.
"Afrah, Dalia and Sina embody the spirit of DAWN – fearlessly pushing the envelope in the fight against impunity and complicity – and it's an honor to welcome them to the DAWN family," said Omar Shakir, DAWN's Executive Director. "Our fellows are instrumental in rooting DAWN's work in rights movements across MENA and our new fellows deepen our expertise on Yemen, Israel/Palestine and U.S./Iran at a critical moment in the region."
Afrah Nasser is a human rights advocate and journalist from Yemen. She formerly worked as a Program Officer at the Office of the U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen and, before that, as a Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch. Nasser has received multiple awards for her work, including the Committee to Protect Journalists' International Press Freedom Award. She brings extensive experience and a strong network in Yemen and the surrounding region, as the situation on the ground grows increasingly dire.
"Late Yemeni human rights advocate Dr. Raufa Hassan once said, 'My mission is to join hands with anyone, anywhere on Earth, in pursuit of goodness, truth, justice, freedom and equality.' As Hassan's student, I see that mission fits DAWN's mission as well," Nasser said. "For me, joining DAWN and its fellows is a profound honor to carry forward DAWN's founder, Jamal Khashoggi, and his brave legacy of speaking truth to power and advocating for human dignity across the region."
Dalia Hatuqa is an independent journalist with over two decades of experience covering Palestinian-Israeli affairs, regional Middle East politics, U.S. foreign policy and the intersection of politics with economics, culture and society. Since 2000, she has worked between the United States, the West Bank, and Jordan, reporting for print, radio and television. Hatuqa's unique voice is all the more urgent, as Israeli repression of Palestinians continues to escalate, often without the same attention it had generated, and as Israeli and US elections could shift dynamics in key ways.
"I'm honored to join DAWN as a fellow and to contribute my experience covering Palestine to an organization committed to advancing human rights, accountability and democratic values in the region," Hatuqa said. "I look forward to examining how U.S. policy shapes realities on the ground and to helping push for policies rooted in rights, equality and justice."
Sina Toossi is a foreign policy analyst and writer specializing in Iran, U.S. policy toward the Middle East, nuclear diplomacy, regional security and human rights. He is a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for International Policy and has spent over a decade working across think tanks, universities and advocacy organizations. Toossi was selected as a Ploughshares Fund and Horizon 2045 Nuclear Futures Fellow and received the Middle East Policy Council's 2024 40 Under 40 Award. His expertise adds to DAWN's roster of Iran expertise as the U.S. and Israel plot escalating their illegal assault on Iran.
"I'm thrilled to join DAWN as a Non-Resident Fellow and contribute to its important work connecting human rights and democracy in the Middle East with U.S. foreign policy," Toossi said. "I look forward to bringing my work on Iran and the broader region to DAWN's research, publications and public engagement."
"Readers of DAWN's journal are already familiar with Afrah, Dalia and Sina's compelling voices and insights in analyzing and understanding the region," Alexander Langlois, senior editor of Democracy in Exile, said. "DAWN continues to expand its roster of scholars and experts in its efforts to hold repressive governments and their enablers accountable, and the additions as our new fellows will only further advance those crucial efforts."
DAWN, the legacy organization of Jamal Khashoggi, works to promote human rights and democracy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Rooted in rights movements across the MENA region, DAWN seeks to end U.S. support for repressive regimes and break new ground in the fight against impunity. DAWN uses a complementary range of tools, from research and litigation to advocacy and policy development, operationalized to advance accountability, end complicity in repression, and realize the democratic aspirations of the people in the MENA region.
DAWN's Non-Resident Fellows are available for interviews with the media. For topical inquiries based on each Fellow's area of expertise, please contact press@dawnmena.org.
