So who is this 56 year old man Paul McGeough who works for the Sydney Morning Herald and what was he doing on one of the aid boats to Gaza? Well, first of all, his girlfriend is peace activist Nadia Itraish, a 49 year old Palestinian-American who lives in Virginia. She is passionate about the treatment of Palestinians and dreams of creating a Palestinian state. She works as a Director of mortgage company Freddie Mac and was educated at George Washington University. McGeough was once an editor of the Sydney Morning Herald and apart from being twice named Journalist of the Year, his work has been acknowledged by five Walkley awards.
McGeough has been a foreign correspondent for 20 years and written books about his experiences. His latest book Kill Khalid is about the bungled 1997 assassination attempt on Hamas leader Khalid Meshaal. It was at the American book launch that he met Ms Itraish. His book about the Hamas leader is popular and now the producer of Brokeback Mountain wants to turn it into a movie.
After his release yesterday, McGeough told his paper he believed the "appalling handling" of the Israeli commando raid demonstrated the need for journalists to witness such events, even if it meant putting himself in harm's way for his job.
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