May was a month full of diverse productions from our partners, covering topics ranging from environmental issues to women’s rights, the rights of people with special needs, youth issues, and political participation. These productions reflected various aspects of reality, some of which are often unspoken in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan, where our partners work. May is also the month when journalists and advocates for freedom remind the world that journalism is not a crime. World Press Freedom Day, which falls on May 4th each year, is an occasion to reaffirm the need to protect and defend press freedoms and to hold accountable those who violate them, especially when journalists are assaulted—whether by imprisonment, beating, or even killing—to silence their voices and prevent them from telling the truth. It is also a call to end impunity for those responsible for crimes against journalists.
📢 Qarib Talks Seminar on Press Freedom
On this occasion, the Qarib program organized a seminar as part of Qarib Talks, bringing together experts and members of international organizations to discuss the violations journalists face. The seminar featured Daja Daoud, a journalist and advocate for journalists’ rights; Jonathan Dagher, the Middle East representative of Reporters Without Borders; and Ayman Muhanna, the executive director of the Samir Kassir Foundation. Mustafa Nasser, head of the Association for the Defense of Press Freedom in Iraq, also participated, along with Diaa Al-Kahlout, a journalist from Gaza who was arrested and tortured by Israeli forces during the raids in Gaza and is now outside the Strip.
Highlights from Our Partners’ Reports
Our partners’ productions in May were extensive, diverse, and addressed issues that impact our daily lives. Here are some of the pieces you can find in full on our website:
Our partners in Palestine continue to cover the impact of the war in Gaza and events in the West Bank, providing distinctive reports from both regions. One such report from “Women of the Chimera” tells the story of a Palestinian doctor who was displaced multiple times and turned her tent into a clinic to treat other displaced patients.
The Palestine News Network shed light on the initiative of three girls displaced within Gaza who started making handicrafts from beads to earn a living.
In Jordan, our partners covered various topics, including youth issues, political participation, and women’s empowerment. Their productions came in articles, videos, and podcasts. One notable piece is a video produced by the Aramram platform on a topic that remains taboo in many Arab societies: mental health. Mental health and psychotherapy are still stigmatized and surrounded by misconceptions that discourage people from seeking help from a psychiatrist.
In Lebanon, a video from the “Beirut Today” platform examines the pollution of the Litani River, which is vital to Lebanon’s food basket and spans 170 kilometers. Originating and flowing within Lebanon, the river has been found to be contaminated with carcinogenic substances due to several factors discussed in the video.
In Iraq, our partners produced a wide range of content from both the northern and southern governorates. You can find most of these on our website, but one standout report from the Yalla platform introduces us to a unique place in the city of Dohuk in northern Iraq—a village known as the “Village of Twins.”
From the city of Mosul, which is striving to rebuild its social fabric after years of conflict, the Ezidi 24 platform published a piece on illustrated stories for children that highlight the city’s heritage and aim to bridge divisions.