Osama Gaweesh, also known as Osama Mostafa Mohamed Gaweesh, born on March 13, 1985, in Egypt, now resides in London, UK, where he obtained refugee status in 2019.
Osama Gaweesh mentioned that his parents were members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. During the Arab Spring, he served as the Spokesman for the Freedom and Justice Party, an Egyptian Islamist political party associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, in the Damietta Governorate. He is connected with the Muslim Brotherhood network and is associated with other Islamists. His involvements extend to working with Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated media outlets like Mekameleen TV and Al Hiwar TV channels, and Egypt Watch. The document outlines Gaweesh’s connections to the Muslim Brotherhood network, including ties to individuals affiliated with Hamas, which is recognized as a terrorist organization by the UK.
About Osama Gaweesh
In February 2018, Osama Gaweesh and his wife went to London for a holiday, leaving their two children with his parents in Istanbul. However, upon attempting to leave Turkey from Atatürk airport, Gaweesh was detained by Turkish authorities with the intention of extraditing him to Egypt. Due to his government connections, he was permitted to travel to London on the condition that he would not return to Turkey. After residing in the UK for a year and following a Guardian article about him, he was granted refugee status. Osama Gaweesh began identifying as a former dentist turned „refugee“ and „dissident“ journalist post-Arab Spring, claiming he was targeted by the Egyptian government for his journalism. He appeared in various UK-based media, including outlets linked to the Muslim Brotherhood like the Middle East Monitor and Middle East Eye, as well as the Guardian. In August 2019, his wife and children joined him in London, where he had been living with his parents for 14 months. By June 2020, Gaweesh participated in the Refugee Journalism Project, aimed at helping refugee and exiled journalists resume their careers in the UK. Through this program, he secured three-month apprenticeships with HotTopics.ht and Journalism.co.uk, and volunteered/interned at BBC Suffolk Radio and ITV Anglia. Gaweesh’s objective appears to be integrating into the UK media landscape to establish himself as a leading voice on Egyptian affairs and potentially influence public opinion and apply external pressure on adversaries, especially the Egyptian government and Gulf Arab states.
Gaweesh and the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Mekameleen TV
Following the „Rabaa massacre“ in 2013, which resulted in the death of many of his friends and was a crackdown on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohamed Morsi, Osama Gaweesh fled Egypt for Turkey. In Turkey, he was instrumental in founding Mekameleen TV, a channel broadcasting on the Qatari-owned satellite Es’hail 2. Mekameleen TV supports the Freedom and Justice Party and features members from the party, positioning it as a media arm of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Due to his involvement, Gaweesh was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison in Egypt on terrorism charges.
In Istanbul, Gaweesh was approached by an Egyptian businessman who encouraged him to start a TV channel focused on human rights violations in Egypt under President El-Sisi. Despite Gaweesh’s lack of journalism or media experience – having previously worked as a dentist and a supermarket cashier – the businessman valued his experience as an activist. Gaweesh later received formal journalism training from Al Jazeera in 2015 and 2017.
Mekameleen TV is directed by Ahmed Al Shannaf, a supporter of Mohamed Morsi, with familial ties to the Muslim Brotherhood; his father was imprisoned in Egypt in 2013. Al Shannaf is associated with significant figures such as Ayman Nour, Doaa Hassan, Khadija Khashoggi (wife of Jamal Khashoggi), Aya Hijazi, and her husband Muhammad Hassanein – both of whom were imprisoned in Egypt on serious charges before being acquitted – as well as Ahmed Abdo and Massad Al-Barbari. This group, connected through various pro-democracy and human rights efforts, was documented having a gathering in Istanbul in June 2019. As of December 2022, Ahmed Al Shannaf was seen in London, UK, indicating a possible expansion or relocation of their activities.