Climate Summit, Qarib Award and Lebanon Truce amidst ongoing war in Gaza
November witnessed a significant event for the Qarib program, which was the announcement of the Qarib Journalism Awards at a ceremony held in the Jordanian capital, Amman. Thirteen journalists from several Arab countries won in the award’s special categories this year.
We will soon announce the support that we have decided in the Qarib program to allocate to producing cross-border investigative work, a decision we announced at the Qarib Journalism Awards ceremony. Our goal through this support is to encourage independent media institutions to participate in cross-border investigative journalism that has an impact on people’s lives.
Lebanon and the 60-day truce and its impact on our partners
November also witnessed the announcement of a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel after a thirteen-month war that witnessed its most violent forms since last September, including Beirut and its suburbs. This war posed a major challenge for our partners in Lebanon in terms of their insistence on covering what is happening and the impact of the war on their daily lives and mental health, while at the same time striving to maintain the safety of the work team.
Alia Awada, Executive Editor of Noqta Platform, wrote about the impact of that war…
“I still remember our return to our home on the outskirts of the suburb after the July 2006 war. The irony of this war is that it ended, but we were still in our home, which was not included in the red squares that the spokesperson for the occupation army had published. We listened to the warnings and prepared daily for a round of violent raids whose sound and effect would reverberate throughout the world. It is the war of 2024, but the difference is that I am a mother to my ten-year-old son, Daniel. What will happen? How will I protect my son and my family? How will we continue our work at Noqta? How will I take care of the mental health of my colleagues while they are at the heart of the event? Some of them were displaced and some of them had their homes destroyed. Many responsibilities that I tried to respond to with the greatest degree of flexibility accompanied by apprehension and anxiety about the unknown. Modifying publishing plans, working in relief, staying up nights and days. I forgot about all this change and fatigue Today at dawn, when “Daniel” woke up to the sound of gunfire at four o’clock, he asked me, “What is the alarm, Mama?” I told him, “Go back to sleep, my love, the war is over.”
Thus, “Ghawa”, one of the journalists at “Noqta” documented her return to her mother’s house that was destroyed by Israel in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
With the announcement of the truce, Qarib’s partners in Lebanon devoted a large space to talk about the dimensions of the truce agreement and the return of the displaced. This report by the Megaphone platform accompanies this return.
In contrast, the war on Gaza continued, and the tragedies experienced by the people of the Strip continued. Despite the impossible living conditions, our partners in Palestine continued to work amidst these circumstances, including the “Akher Qissa” website in Gaza, which shed light on the impact of the siege and war on people. Among these stories was a story about the shortage of baby milk.
Thirteen journalists supported by the Qarib program at the Climate Summit
One of the goals of the “Qarib” program is to shed light on the deterioration of the environmental and climate reality, which directly affects people’s lives. In this context, and for the second year in a row, the Qarib program supported the participation of Arab journalists in the climate summit. Thirteen journalists from different Arab countries participated in the second week of the summit, which was held this year in Baku, Azerbaijan. The participating journalists covered the summit and produced journalistic materials of interest to their countries and followed climate issues after receiving training prior to their travel to Baku, which included informing them of the most prominent thorny climate issues and their backgrounds.
Suzanne Baaklini, the Qarib program manager for the summit coverage, wrote:
“For me, the Baku summit is the eleventh summit that I have covered. It had a special flavor, although its results were disappointing. The journalistic work I did was mixed with exchange and participation with the 13 journalists. In this sense, the pleasure of covering it was doubled, as was the fatigue. After returning from the summit to Beirut, which has also regained its health, I can say that I highly value this experience and the effective participation with the group that was characterized by a sense of responsibility and seriousness in work.”
“Why was the Baku summit disappointing? Because it was a financing summit, meaning that the financial contribution of developed countries should have been renewed and increased from 100 billion US dollars per year. This contribution is very important for developing countries to adapt to climate change. However, the hopes of these countries, which were demanding a contribution of one trillion dollars, were disappointed when the decisions came to talk about only 300 billion dollars per year for the next ten years. The specter of US President-elect Donald Trump loomed over this summit, as he will most likely withdraw his country, the first superpower, from the Paris Climate Agreement when he arrives at the White House.”
These are some of the productions undertaken by the participants in covering the summit:
Hala Nasser El-Din wrote on the “Daraj” platform about the financing dilemma.
As for Munir Qabalan from the “Raseef22” website, he read about the reasons for the failure of climate summits to find solutions.
In the following report by Lina Odeh from “Roya Palestine TV”, she sheds light on Palestine’s position at the summit.
As for Edward Safir from the 961Siansta platform, a website specialized in scientific issues, he chose to highlight Ukraine’s keenness at climate summits by pointing out its exceptional efforts in recycling
Some platforms covered the summit live, including the “Palestinian News Network” platform, whose editor-in-chief, Munjed Jeddo, had some live views from Baku.
