Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

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Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross is currently vice-president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. In 1999 he worked at Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation which is accused of conspiracy and tax fraud for allegedly providing funds to Chechen separatists[1]. He has used this experience to portray himself as an expert on terrorism and ‘radicalisation’. In November 2006 the International Herald Tribune called him a 'rising star in the counterterrorism community'.[2]

Biography

Gartenstein-Ross was born into a liberal Jewish family. He studied an undergraduate degree in communications at Wake Forest University[3], during which time he converted to Islam in the autumn of 1997[4]. He graduated in 1998 and before joining law school the following year spent nine months working for the Islamic charity Al Haramain.[5] He left the charity in August 1999 to attend law school, but stayed in touch with his former colleagues.[6] He spent three years studying a J.D. from the New York University School of Law during which time he converted to Christianity. After graduating in 2002[7] he became a law clerk for Harry T. Edwards of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit[8]. On his application he stated that he had worked for Al Haramain, which attracted the attention of the FBI.[9] Gartenstein-Ross says he assisted the FBI in their investigation into Al Haramain which now faces charges of conspiracy and tax evasion[10]. After graduating from law school he went on to work as a commercial litigator at the law firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner (2003-2004)[11] where he had worked during his summer break of his second year at law school.[12]

Terrorism Expert

Whilst still at Boies, Schiller & Flexner Gartenstein-Ross began his conversion to terrorism expert. He started work as a senior consultant for the Gerard Group[13] and subsequently became a terrorism analyst at Steve Emerson’s Investigative Project[14]. He later moved to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies where he is now vice-president. He is a contributer to Counterterrorism Blog, and in 2007 he published his first book My year inside radical Islam: a memoir.[15]

Media Pundit

Gartenstein-Ross has written for Reader’s Digest, Middle East Quarterly, The Wall Street Journal Europe, Commentary, Middle East Times, The Weekly Standard, and The Dallas Morning News. He has appeared on al-Jazeera, Hannity & Colmes (Fox News Channel), Glenn Beck on Headline News (CNN), The 700 Club (CBN), PBS, NPR, The Laura Ingraham Show, The Radio Factor with Bill O’Reilly, and The Dennis Prager Show. He has also appeared on TV and the radio in Afghanistan, Britain, Canada, Finland, France, Indonesia, and Turkey.[16] In May 2007 he reported from Iraq embedded in the U.S. Army's 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery[17]

Resources

Affiliations

Contact information

Website: http://daveedgr.com
E-mail: dgr.feedback@gmail.com

References

  1. *CNN: Rejecting radical Islam -- one man's journey, 17 August 2007
  2. Marc Perelman, 'Jew, turned Muslim, offers knowledge of Al Qaeda', International Herald Tribune, 27 November 2006
  3. Marc Perelman, 'Jew, turned Muslim, offers knowledge of Al Qaeda', International Herald Tribune, 27 November 2006
  4. Fora.TV recording of Daveed Gartenstein-Ross speaks about My Year Inside Radical Islam: A Memoir
  5. Marc Perelman, 'Jew, turned Muslim, offers knowledge of Al Qaeda', International Herald Tribune, 27 November 2006
  6. Les Zaitz, ‘Former charity worker now sees dark ties’, The Oregonian, 25 September 2006
  7. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, ‘Jihadi Rap’, FrontPageMagazine.com, 10 November 2004
  8. Biography from FrontPageMagazine.com (accessed 4 April 2008)
  9. Les Zaitz, ‘Former charity worker now sees dark ties’, The Oregonian, 25 September 2006
  10. *CNN: Rejecting radical Islam -- one man's journey, 17 August 2007
  11. Biography from FrontPageMagazine.com (accessed 4 April 2008)
  12. [www.wfu.edu/magazine/archive/wfm.2001.06.pdf Wake Forest Magazine June 2001 (PDF)
  13. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, ‘Special Report: The Death of Shamil Basayev’, The American Spectator, 14 July 2006
  14. Biography from Counterterrorism Blog
  15. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, My year inside radical Islam: a memoir, (New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2007)
  16. Biography from http://daveedgr.com (accessed 4 April 2008)
  17. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, ‘Baghdad: Patrolling Yarmouk’, Counterterrorism Blog, 25 May 2007