Yvonne Ridley
| Yvonne Ridley | |
|---|---|
Ridley in 2009
|
|
| Born |
23 April 1958 Stanley, County Durham, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Website | http://www.yvonneridley.org |
Yvonne Ridley (born 23 April 1958) is a British journalist and Respect Party activist. She was captured by the Taliban in 2001, and converted to Islam after release. She is now an outspoken opponent of Zionism and vocal critic of Western media portrayals of the War on Terror, and has done speaking tours throughout the Muslim world. She has been called "something close to a celebrity in the Islamic world", and in 2008 was voted the "most recognisable woman in the Islamic world" by Islam Online.
Ridley was born in Stanley, County Durham -- the youngest of three girls -- and began her career at the local Stanley News. From there she moved to Newcastle. She also attended the London College of Printing. As a journalist, she has written for The Sunday Times, The Independent on Sunday, The Observer, The Mirror and the News of the World. She was deputy editor of Wales on Sunday and was chief reporter when the Sunday Express sent her to Afghanistan after 9/11. In one interview she mentions having "a reputation as the 'Patsy Stone of Fleet Street'" that she was happy to have left behind with her conversion to Islam. Her passion for left, anti-imperialist causes predates her conversion, she left Labour before she turned to Islam, and soon joined the Respect party.
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