New! We are pleased to announce the winner of the Dispatches in Exile – Goldziher Fellowship, a four-month paid mentorship opportunity for a Palestinian journalist living outside Palestine.
This fellowship is a collaboration with senior U.S. journalists — including Carla Power and Tara Bahrampour — whose work has appeared in publications such as The Washington Post, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Time. Together, they will mentor fellows in developing and publishing reported stories on displacement, identity, and diasporic communities.
We are delighted to announce that the 2026 recipient is Dima Khater, a young NGO worker and aspiring journalist based in Palermo. Dima pitched a series of compelling story ideas focused on young people in her community, including a proposed piece on Palestinians navigating love and relationships in exile, and another exploring the struggle to survive within the Italian prison system.
As Carla noted: “Tara and I were struck by her passion, commitment, and eagerness.”
ABOUT THE 2025 GOLDZIHER PRIZE
Between 2010 and 2023, The Goldziher Prize awarded monetary prizes first to academics working in Jewish-Muslim relations, then to journalists capturing the richness of Muslim American life, and later to journalists and digital creators portraying the diversity and complexity of Muslim communities around the world.
The most recent prize, in 2025, responded to a public discourse about Muslims and Jews increasingly shaped by violence and deep polarization. At the same time, both Islamophobia and antisemitism have been on the rise, while efforts at solidarity — and the deeper truths they reveal — are too often overlooked.
To highlight stories and perspectives that move beyond binary framings of conflict, we sought work exploring connections between Muslims and Jews, as well as the challenging relationships within each community. While these bonds may be shaped by conflict and burdened by history, they are also sustained by complex, constructive ties.
Even when covering bombs, blood, and bad news, such journalism can make room for stories that range from high-level diplomacy to common decency, allowing for ambiguities and contradictions that spark curiosity rather than shutting it down.
By bringing these stories to light, the Goldziher Prize aims to expand public understanding, deepen collective imagination, and help trace possible paths beyond our current impasse.
Inspired by the legacy of Ignác Goldziher, the Goldziher Prize will continue in 2027, awarding monetary prizes to journalists and organizations that bring fresh perspectives and demonstrate journalistic excellence. The theme for the 2027 prize is currently in development.