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The Journal-team looks back at 2021 - today with Melody Hansen. The past twelve months have been exciting, challenging and enriching, and they also mark our first digital birthday. To celebrate the occasion, each team member has chosen the piece whose research or production had the biggest impact on them in 2021.
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"In order to […] accept each other, you have to understand each other." That's what Wafaa Abo Zarifa said during our very emotional interview this summer. The young woman fled to Luxembourg from the Gaza Strip in Palestine six years ago and told how she experienced the eleven days in May 2021 when Palestinians and Israelis brutally fought each other. A short time later, I also spoke with Farah Livneh about the events. She was born in Israel, grew up in Luxembourg and now lives in Israel again. At the beginning, she was afraid to speak publicly about the "conflict" between Israel and Palestine, which has already accompanied her all her life. She feared arguing too much for or against a certain side and being attacked for it by the other side. In the end, she decided to tell her story. "Because if no one talks about it, because no one dares, there is a lot of room for extreme opinions", Faran said.
At Lëtzebuerger Journal, it was important to us from the beginning to focus on people and their stories. I believe that journalism has the power to trigger understanding and compassion in others. Through our work, we can open people up to realities of life that they might otherwise never have come into contact with. Reading an article can help the reader understand decisions he or she has never had to make. In our articles, people not only express their opinions, but also tell how they came to them. Their biography, with all the strokes of fate and high points, plays a major role. It's the same with Wafaa and Faran – two women who want nothing more than to live in safety with their families and who, despite their different views, have one thing in common: They don't judge each other. Both are committed to peacebuilding at the local level, bringing Palestinians and Israelis together to overcome their differences.
"Through our work, we can open people up to realities of life that they might otherwise never have come into contact with."
They have not given up on remaining in dialogue, listening to each other and wanting to understand. Qualities that are more important than ever, especially in today's world. In a time when hate speech – especially online – is the order of the day. In a time when more and more politicians and other public figures are speaking openly about how hard it is to bear the hatred they face, and when some are leaving office early for health reasons.
For a year now, we at the Lëtzebuerger Journal have been taking our time. A precious commodity in a society where news abounds and we all sometimes feel overwhelmed by it all. We take time to listen to people, to understand them and to put their thoughts into a bigger picture. We try to get insights into lives that are not our own. So that in the end we all have a little more understanding – and the hate becomes a little less.
Faran Livneh
