Author/activist Dalia Ziada shares message of peace at Island Synagogue
Published 10:47 am Monday, March 30, 2026
Dalia Ziada has been amplifying her voice while fighting against antisemitism and hoping that peace comes to the Middle East during her recent public speaking appearances, including an event on March 26 at the Island Synagogue on Mercer Island.
Nonprofit organization StandWithUs Northwest brought the award-winning author, political analyst and human rights activist to Mercer Island for a lecture, and to also tell her story about publicly condemning Hamas in the aftermath of Oct. 7, 2023, when the militants attacked Israel.
In an interview with the Reporter three days before the local event, Ziada, 44, said that after Oct. 7, “We saw an explosion of antisemitism, Jew hatred and waves of people who want to destroy liberal democracies in Western countries all over the world.”
Ziada, a Muslim, was residing in her home country of Egypt on Oct. 7 and her life was threatened after she spoke up, she said. She now lives in Washington, D.C., and works as a coordinator and research fellow for the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP).
She said that after the Egyptian people couldn’t handle her viewpoint and decided to take revenge on her, “I saw my whole life collapsing in front of my eyes overnight and I dealt with this uncertainty for a while after I left. But what I always believe in is that God plans things a certain way for a reason. It’s just trust the process, trust the universe, trust that there is something meant to happen, something good is meant to happen out of it.”
For the last two years, Ziada has partnered with Hillel International for her lectures on the changing geopolitics of the Middle East following the Oct. 7 attacks. She also speaks out against the Muslim Brotherhood, which she said is now a terrorist designated organization in the United States.
“We felt it was important to amplify Dalia Ziada’s voice, as her story represents both the hope and the difficulty in bringing peace to the Middle East,” said StandWithUs Northwest Executive Director Randy Kessler, a Mercer Island resident. “It is brave, forward-thinking Arab leaders like Dalia who will drive peace forward in the future, and we hope to have her back and have many others like her visit our area in the future.”
Ziada said her message at the lectures is mainly about giving hope to the audiences that the aforementioned threat to destroy liberal democracies is temporary.
“I think in contexts like the United States where liberal democratic values are very much appreciated by everyone, the potential for the good forces to win against the forces of evil is even higher,” she said.
