Ray Hanania has made a career of combining his Palestinian-American identity with his love for communications. For better or worse, his personal website states that he’s a journalist, blogger, author, publisher, standup comedian, pundit, satirist, filmmaker, radio talk show host, motivational speaker, media consultant and – most recently – a self-nominated presidential candidate for the Palestinian Authority.
For the most part, however, Ray’s just a writer. Not the kind that pens hard-hitting exposés or even Ikea instructional manuals, but the type that compulsively updates his Facebook and Twitter accounts, and – every now and then – earns a token-Palestinian guest spot in The Jerusalem Post and, lately, the questionable Palestine Note.
As everyone knows, for a writer the highest honor earned is a Pulitzer Prize. It’s the equivalent of a Grammy for a musician, an Oscar for an actor and a Moon Man for a slutty pop sensation. To Ray Hanania’s credit, he was nominated for one.
Or so he says.
According to Ray’s personal website, he’s a Pulitzer Prize Nominee. More specifically, he’s a “1990 Pulitzer Prize Nominee (nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times).” He claims that he was nominated for a series of articles that he wrote about Palestine’s Intifada.
As impressive as that sounds, it’s hard to believe that Ray Hanania is an actual Pulitzer Prize Nominee. Anyone who has ever read his articles can tell you that his writings suffer from poor research, bad flow and a blatant disregard for grammar. Take, for example, this excerpt from his most recent publication on Palestine Note:
The Electronic Intifada symbolizes everything that has played a role in the failure during the past century of the failure of the Palestinians to achieve statehood. The Electronic Intifada operates from under a rock of conspiring to bring down anyone, especially other Palestinians who dare to express views that challenge the failed rejectionist zealotry. (I counted 3 grammatical errors)
Or this gem from Ray Hanania’s KABOBfest-tribute website:
KabobFest is just not funny. They are the poster children of classless buffoons whose only real talent is to exploit the suffering of the Palestinian Refugees. KabobFest through their network of sinister illiterati — the opposite of illuminati. They are not satire. They are pure buffoonery in uncomedic keffiyehs. (I counted 4 grammatical errors)
The fact of the matter is that Ray Hanania’s ramblings don’t constitute Pulitzer-level quality – which is more of an observation than it is an insult. So how is it possible that the Pulitzer Board nominated him for a prize?
They didn’t. According to Pulitzer.org, no one by the name of Ray Hanania was honored as a Pulitzer Prize Nominee in 1990 or ever.
Furthermore, Pulitzer Prize guidelines state that there are only three Pulitzer Prize designations: Winners, Nominated Finalists and Entrants. While almost anyone may complete an application to be considered an Entrant, only Nominated Finalists and Winners are honored.
Ray Hanania claims that he’s a “1990 Pulitzer Prize Nominee.” That’s simply not true.
While he claims to have been “nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times,” only the Pulitzer Board has the authority to designate an Entrant as a Nominated Finalist.
For the record, I reached out to my contacts at the Chicago Sun-Times. None were able to confirm that their publication ever completed an Entrant application on behalf of Hanania.
It is, however, entirely possible that they did. Then again, the Manassas Observer could have filled out an application on behalf of Chaim Sugarman for his 1998 review of He Got Game. That, however, doesn’t give Chaim the right to call himself a “Pulitzer Prize Nominee.”
Given that the term Nominated Finalist is an honorary designation that only the Pulitzer Board can bestow upon an Entrant, Ray Hanania’s assertion that he’s a “1990 Pulitzer Prize Nominee” is disingenuous – if not downright fraudulent.
To be clear, Ray Hanania (or the Chicago-Sun Times) may have submitted his name for consideration to the Pulitzer Board, but he certainly wasn’t a “1990 Pulitzer Prize Nominee.”
The fact that he continues to promote himself as such is nothing more than a pathetic attempt to seem credible.
Sad but true.
For the record: This is KABOBfest’s last full-post dedication to the fraudulent douche bag. He deserves no more of our time and energy. However, if you’d like to continue mocking Ray, join Chaim’s new Facebook fan page: RAy HAnaNia is so NOT funNy! OKAY??!!?
Related posts:
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- Ray Hanania Needs Circumcision to Stay Afloat
- Paradise Now Nominated for Oscar
- Tareq Salahi and Ray Hanania Pose for Giggles
I love Chaim and Programmer Buydatti.
Posted by UmMazen | January 16, 2010, 11:32 amI didn't know much about him.. i didn't know he was an idiot until his 'Take your Census form and shove it' article! after i responded to him, he deleted me from his facebook 'friends'
Posted by Rashad | January 16, 2010, 1:20 pmyou are a pathetic bunch who act like cancer cells. When the body has cancer, its own cells attacks it. you palestinians are like this. Palestine Note is the FIRST AND ONLY site on palestine that doesn't look crazy or psychotic , and instead of all of these stupid blogs supporting it, they go and do the typical thing , and attack it. you will never get a state, you will be a bunch of dogs shouting on each other, and the world will look and laugh as they have been for decades. I actually happen to like http://www.palestinenote.com, it is not questionable, its a good professional site…look at it and judge for yourselves …their first interview ever was with Khaled Mashaal for two hours by stephen Clemons from new america foundation, thats questionable? you are silly people.
hassan abu nima and his son ali have made a habit of attacking any clean site that comes closely to challenging their little gig…stop being cronies of electronic intifada and think for yourselves for once…try it…
Posted by Khaled Mashaal | January 16, 2010, 2:15 pmHi Khaled! Do you always talk about yourself in the 3rd person?
Posted by Mahmoud Abbas | January 16, 2010, 2:25 pmProfessional? Let's not even talk about content, for a moment…PalestineNote's logo is pixellated, their RSS feed has been broken since day 1, and they have Lisa Goldman, narcissist extraordinaire, as their editor. I'd rather read Arabisto!
Posted by JillianKF | January 18, 2010, 2:50 pmThe logo is not pixilated, it's a charcoal mark! It's art, you Neanderthal! As for the RSS feed – it works just fine. Perhaps you think it ought to be radioed into that tin head of yours? Now, as far as Ms. Goldman goes, she is indeed a fine writer and editor. Certainly she's proud of her accomplishments. Or perhaps you have a misogynistic streak in you?
Posted by Turkey Rocks | January 28, 2010, 3:59 pmYes, he does.
…How are things going on the fatah side? you guys wanna make up? ….khaled will think about it
Posted by Khaled Mashaal | January 16, 2010, 2:48 pmThe electronic intifada is undoubtedly one of the best online sources for in-depth analysis and facts on Palestine, and as we know the zionists are not only waging a physical war but also a PR one, which naturally means that there will be many people putting their best effort into discrediting and putting down EI.
Unfortunately though, every now and then we see Palestinians such as Ray Hanania attacking EI, and by doing so he is aligning himself to zionism's PR machine, and what better than to have those words come out of a Palestinian (in the hope that it will be more trustworthy)?
However, in my opinion all these attempts will fail; not just because of their negative intentions but also because writers such as Ray Hanania do not possess the skill or factual backup to undermine such strong sources like EI.
And if it's about "Peace", I believe that what EI does helps bring true peace, unlike all the nonsense spewed by Mr. Hanania!!
Posted by stoz | January 16, 2010, 2:51 pmyou wanna know more about Electronic intifada, investigate Hassan abu nima and his son ali …. the most corrupt bunch … they will not give a penny to anything… we called them to donate to students in Gaza, and they said they cant afford to, but they will write about gaza, and ask people to give money to help them….
Posted by Mercycorp | January 16, 2010, 2:57 pmHoney! How many times are you going to comment on the same post under different names? LET IT GO.
Posted by Ray's Wife | January 16, 2010, 3:17 pmYou guys are now breaking on of the Golden Rules of the Internets™: "Don't feed the trolls."
Kabobfest is now giving Hanania a forum, giving him exposure, and access to Kabobfest's audience. Before this whole charade began I had never heard of him and most likely never would have.
I remember a time when Kabobfest was actually interesting.
Posted by Anas Qtiesh | January 16, 2010, 5:51 pmAnas: you are 100 percent right. I just read more about Hanania, and actually he is very funny, and interesting. also, http://www.palestinenote.com , a GREAT SITE.
Posted by Omar Rahman | January 16, 2010, 6:07 pmNo one things Hanania is funny. Not me, his son, and not anyone else.
Posted by Hanania's son | January 17, 2010, 12:19 amRead about palestinenote.com here
http://www.ijnet.org/ijnet/training_opportunities…
Posted by Anas Qtiesh | January 16, 2010, 6:38 pmYeah, as if Anas Qtiesh would actually write that.
Posted by JillianKF | January 18, 2010, 3:16 pmWhy does Kabobfest use IntenseDebate that lets people certify their identities (even anonymized ones) and develop reputation but still let anonymous trolls post comments impersonating other people? This is irresponsible when engaging known trolls.
Posted by bangpound | January 16, 2010, 7:05 pmI am a certified idiot, reading your blog post makes me feel like a genius !!! I think Electronic intifada and kabobfest are the worst thing that could have happened to the Palestinians.
Posted by certified idiot | January 17, 2010, 12:45 amIt’s a shame that Ray Hanania and co. have decided to react to my post in such a puerile manner. I expected him to at least address the charge of fraud head-on. If he was, indeed, a “1990 Pulitzer Prize Nominee,” all he’d have to do is provide evidence of the fact and I’d quickly retract my post and issue an apology.
Instead, Ray has decided to post childish nonsense about folks and initiatives completely unrelated to the subject at hand. I’m not claiming that I’m above lampooning those whose opinions I hold disdain for – because I’m clearly not. However, if I had a leg to stand on in the debate over my own professional credibility, I’d at least take the opportunity to silence my critics with truth, not intimidation.
My apologies to whoever’s good name Ray Hanania and co. have insulted and dragged through the mud in his pathetic attempt to divert people’s attention from his lie of being a “1990 Pulitzer Prize Nominee.”
If it’s any consolation, Ray Hanania is a nobody and will always be a nobody. Some readers may then wonder why some KABOB-posters have given him so much attention over the last week or so. The simple answer is that it was just something fun to do. It’s kind of our job to grill the absurd. However, the long answer is that self-righteous bigots like him deserve to be called out on the ignorant things they say and do. He falsely claims to represent the “moderate Arab voice,” when, in reality, he represents no one but his idiot self.
The funniest thing about Ray Hanania is that he takes himself seriously. That's sad.
Posted by Programmer Buydatti | January 17, 2010, 5:56 am@ Programmer Buydatti: I have heard of Hanania being a radio
host of some kind and I always found him to be a pretender.
Now he has resurfaced again like scum in a cesspool.
My question to you is how did you find out that he was a pretender for the Pulitzer Prize, and where can I go to find this info.
Hanania has given himself many designations and I might add awards, like you mentioned Hanania is in it for himself, he is a legend in his own mind.
Thank you, any info that you could give will be appreciated.
Jobe1958
Posted by Jobe1958 | July 31, 2010, 8:03 amhi, i'm a student living in palestine, and i don't really read palestine note…but now i'm very curious–what is so bad about it? many of my friends here read it, along with ei, and don't seem to be "sell outs" or something….do you have any post where you address what your qualms are with the site? it never occurred to me to be skeptical of it.
Posted by lane | January 18, 2010, 2:12 pmHi lane. This isn't a kabobfest post, but the article is interesting nonetheless: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11002.sht…
Posted by Georgia Ross | January 18, 2010, 2:40 pmThis is a great link about palestinenote.com
http://www.ijnet.org/ijnet/training_opportunities…
Posted by Gerogia Ross | January 28, 2010, 4:01 pmhere is a better article about palestinenote.com
http://www.ijnet.org/ijnet/training_opportunities…
Posted by Jane Habash | January 28, 2010, 4:01 pm