In front of a large international audience, Pressenza news agency celebrated the launch of its Arabic edition.
Of particular interest on the occasion was the participation in the celebration of journalists, educators and human rights activists from Libya, Palestine, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Morocco, who congratulated the initiative and expressed the importance and need to spread the culture of peace and nonviolence in the Arab world.
Very relevant in this context was the presence of graduates and professors of the Academic University for Nonviolence and Human Rights (AUNOHR) from Lebanon. Founded in 2014 by Ogarit Younan and Walid Slaybi, the institution is a pioneer in the region and the world, setting goals of academic professionalism in favor of social change, starting with the personal development of each student.
Valerio Marinai, editor and technical architect of the nascent Arabic edition, welcomed the inaugural celebration, emphasizing the volunteer work of Pressenza’s staff. Arabic is now the tenth language in which the agency reports daily, he said.
The purpose of opening up to new languages – having recently launched an edition in Russian and aspiring to do so in the near future in Hindi and Mandarin – goes far beyond mere journalistic zeal.
This was highlighted by the Argentine editor Javier Tolcachier – saying that “we want to go to meet the great historical and current contributions of the different cultures, today unjustly submerged by the interests and stereotypes of the monopolistic power of communication of Western agencies.”
“And on the other hand, we want to establish a true multicultural dialogue, which will be the basis for the construction of the future universal human nation,“ he added.” he added.
Pía Figueroa, co-founder and co-director of the agency, highlighted the positive imprint that this openness to the different ways of seeing and feeling of cultures that have made so many contributions to humanity leaves within her.
Representing the brand-new Arab editorial staff, experienced journalists Farid Adly, of Libyan origin, and Milad Jubran Basir, a native of Palestine, both currently residing in Italy and with a long-standing activism in the defense of human rights and in support of migrants, commented on their impressions.
Adly, director of the Anbamed portal, highlighted the incongruity of a region as rich in resources as the Middle East, wasting them buying armaments instead of promoting the development of the peoples. He therefore considered of fundamental importance the need to propagate non-violence in Arab culture in order to change this orientation.
For his part, Jubran Basir expressed the relevance of creating community awareness to solve the questions of today’s world, in view of the evidence of interconnection between different cultures. He also pointed out the importance of the transfer of information from and to the Arab world through the new instrument represented by the Pressenza platform.
The various interventions coincided in the fact that it is essential to transform the relative ignorance of the Arab cultural universe and the stereotypes that damage, distort and prevent the appreciation of the richness inherent in this culture.
In response to a question about the modalities of participation, those present were invited to connect with any of the editors to contribute with contents. The possibility of teaching a course on non-violent journalism in Arabic based on the book of the same name, which is already used as study and reference material in several communication faculties, was even mentioned.
Valerio finally drew the “veil” of the site, so that the attendees could appreciate the first package of Pressenza articles in Arabic.
Finally, he affirmed the importance that in all the corners of the extended Arabic-speaking space, the existence of Pressenza as a communication alternative is known and the links and participatory links are generated for its enlargement and wide dissemination.
Recreating the hospitality characteristic of the Arab culture, the guests congratulated the effort and raised their cups filled with traditional infusions and good wishes.
Finally, a warm applause resounded, overcoming the illusory nature of distances, nesting within each participant the echo of a hope strengthened by the meeting: That the world may become a non-violent home for the human species.