Oudeh

MEMORANDUM **

Nidal Mahmoud Oudeh, a citizen and native of Jordan, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) dismissal of his appeal of the immigration judge’s denial of his application for asylum and withholding of deportation. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a). 1 We review for substantial evidence the BIA’s determination that a petitioner has not established eligibility for asylum, Acewicz v. INS, 984 F.2d 1056, 1061 (9th Cir.1993), and will uphold the determination unless the evidence compels a contrary conclusion, INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478 , 481 n. 1, 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992). We deny the petition for review.

A reasonable factfinder could conclude that Oudeh failed to demonstrate a well founded fear of future persecution as a result of his work as a journalist because he failed to meet his burden of “showing by credible, direct and specific evidence” an objective fear of future persecution. See Prasad v. INS, 47 F.3d 336, 338 (9th Cir.1995).

Because Oudeh failed to establish eligibility for asylum, he necessarily failed to establish eligibility for withholding of deportation. See Ghaly v. INS, 58 F.3d 1425,…