| Sulayman Abdallah Sharif Schleifer | |
| Birth Name: | Schleifer, Marc |
| Birth Date: | 1935 |
| Birth Place: | Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Alma Mater: | B.A., University of Pennsylvania, Political Science, 1956 M.A., American University of Beirut, Political Studies, 1980[1] |
| Occupation: | Journalist, Commentator |
| Years Active: | 1970 - present |
| Employer: | the American University in Cairo |
| Organization: | Global Experts Foreign Policy Research Institute, Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Al Arabiya |
S. Abdallah S. Schleifer (born Marc Schleifer; 1935[2]) is a prominent Middle East expert; a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (United States) and at the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought (Jordan).[3]
A former NBC Cairo Bureau chief (1974 - 1983),[3] Schleifer also served as the Al Arabiya News bureau chief in Washington D.C. (2006 - 2007) and currently writes periodic columns for their website. He is the chief editor of the annual publication The 500 Most Influential Muslims.[4]
His career in journalism in the Middle East began in 1965, when he served as the first managing editor of The Jerusalem Star, an English-language Jordanian newspaper that has since changed its name to The Palestine News. In 1967, Schleifer became an editorial assistant and then a special correspondent for The New York Times in Jerusalem and then in Amman, and, from 1968-1972, the Middle East correspondent of Jeune Afrique.[3]
He is professor emeritus and senior fellow at the Kamal Adham Center for Journalism Training and Research, at the American University in Cairo - which he founded, and for which he served as its first director (1985 - 2005).[1] [3]
Schleifer was executive producer of Control Room (2004), a documentary film about Al Jazeera and its relations with the US Central Command.
During his career, he has interviewed many Middle Eastern leaders—heads of state as well as Ayman al-Zawahiri the leader of Al-Qaeda since 2011.[5]
Born Mark Schleifer to a secular Jewish family on Long Island, he received his BA in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1956[1] where he was involved in Marxist movements. He is a convert to Islam with Sufi-orientation.[6] [7]