Ghazal Omid

Ghazal Omid is an Iranian-Canadian author. She wrote an autobiographical work entitled Living In Hell: A True Odyssey of a Woman's Struggle in Islamic Iran Against Personal and Political Forces. She is known in the United States as an advocate for human rights and women's rights and is also a Shi'a legal scholar.

Personal life
Omid was born in 1970 in Abadan, Iran. Her father was a multi-millionaire that abandoned the family and sought refuge in the United States when she was a child. She grew up in Isfahan and was 9 years old when the Shah of Iran was overthrown by the Ayatollah Khomeini. Omid is a practicing Muslim and has made the religious pilgrimage to Mecca. In 1995, she fled Iran and moved to Canada.

Activism
Omid's autobiography, Living In Hell is critical of Iran and the human rights abuses there. Because of this, her book's website has been the focus of online abuse and threats from computer users in Iran, Turkey and Pakistan. Omid has criticized Iran for using books to teach martyrdom to children. She wants the books to be changed so that they don't refer to the United States as the "Great Satan". Omid is concerned that the book may be turning children into "ticking bombs".

Currently, Omid is the Executive Director for Iran & Its Future.org, a US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on advocating for the improvement of life in Iran.

Media appearances
In 2007, she appeared on Glenn Beck's TV show on CNN to talk about the treatment of women in Iran. Since then, Omid has appeared in various television interviews on CNN, Fox, MSNBC, CNBC, CSPAN, and VOA, as well as a number of radio interviews.

Publications

 * Living In Hell: A True Odyssey of a Woman's Struggle in Islamic Iran Against Personal and Political Forces (2004) Park Avenue Publishers ISBN 978-0-9759683-0-7