Mahmoud El-Yousseph – 2026 Columbus Free Press Reporter of the Year

The Columbus Free Press staff and writers are mostly volunteer. As a small nonprofit independent media outlet, we are dedicated to giving voices to people in our community. Since our inception in 1970, many have stepped up to cover local, national and international current events, give us political commentary, inform us of events, and advocate for social justice. 

This year we debut our first Free Press Reporter Award and are delighted to honor one of our most prolific volunteer writers for the past few years – Mahmoud El-Yousseph. His daily reporting on Gaza and related topics is so important and has kept our website timely.

Mahmoud El-Yousseph is a Palestinian freelance writer and retired U.S. Air Force veteran who writes about U.S. foreign policy, Middle Eastern affairs, and social justice.

Born and raised in Ain al-Hilweh, a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, El-Yousseph lived there until age 18. In 1971, he moved to Germany, where he lived for seven years and learned to speak and write German fluently. In 1977, he immigrated to the United States. He married a U.S. citizen whom he had met in Germany in 1971.

He attended Columbus Technical Institute in Columbus, Ohio, where he earned a degree in aviation maintenance and obtained his Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) mechanic license. He also served as editor of the college newspaper, Ink Blatter, where he began writing about Islam and Palestine.

During the 1980s, El-Yousseph campaigned extensively in the press to secure the release of his younger brother, Samih El-Yousseph, from Israeli captivity following Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon. During this period, the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) described him as a “one-man army,” while the Columbus Jewish Federation characterized him in local media as “a strident critic of Israel.”

Today, El-Yousseph is a frequent contributor to the Columbus Free Press (freepress.org) and Islamicty.org. He and his wife, Hanaa, live in Westerville, Ohio, and have six children.