Razan Ibraheem
Syrian Irish Journalist / UN Speaker / Irish Tatler’s International Woman of the Year 2016
(We sat down with Razan on 27 Feb 2020 to interview her)
Could you tell us about your childhood and about growing up in Syria?
My childhood was interesting, I was born in a Mediterranean town near the Turkish border. It’s open and diverse. Different religions, ethnicities, backgrounds – all living in one city. It’s also known for it’s culture, the music and tasty food. My mam and dad were teachers and became principals later, so I came from an educated background. I was then a teacher for eleven years – I got this from my mam and dad. Syria was extremely safe at that time. We would play outside from 8 in the morning until 10 at night. I was a street child, a tomboy! I was always wearing shorts, playing football, my hair was short. As I grew up, I changed a little bit. I graduated from High School and I did English literature. That was one of the turning points in my life – it opened doors for me to learn other cultures through literature. I studied Irish culture as well, we studied the work of James Joyce, Bernard Shaw, and Samuel Beckett. On a personal level, I think I used to be a one-dimensional person but when I finished literature, I became multi-dimensional with Syrian, Arabic, Muslim, Christian cultures all in me in addition to different cultures from the West. It shaped my life. After that I did a Diploma in Education in Syria and then I wanted to continue my studies, but I had no money. My dream was to continue my studies and do my Master’s, but I needed money, so I worked abroad to save money and eventually saved my university fees to travel to Ireland.
Were you always so outspoken?
No. I used to be very shy and self-conscious. I was conscious of my English – I didn’t want to say anything wrong.
Did you speak English as a child?
I started learning it when I was 9-years old and then I did it in college too. I was way better at writing English but then I was really shy when I started to speak it in case I said something wrong. But then I realised that people were not judging me or checking my mistakes so I began to get confidence and educate myself.
You went to university in Limerick - what attracted you there?
Many things. I had already studied Irish literature, and I wanted to go to the best school in English Language Teaching. So, after exploring options, Limerick came back as one of the best universities doing this course. I already knew about Ireland and the culture and I had a friend who used to live in Ireland, and he had had a great experience in the country.
Do you have a favourite book?
Zorba the Greek by the Cretan author Nikos Kazantzakis. This novel had a big impact on my life.
Who were your role models growing up?
I’ve started to realise my role models recently. I would say I have role models and one of them is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – someone I absolutely love and respect. She is my true inspiration. What she’s doing – she started from zero and look at her now. She is a powerful speaker and her words are full of confidence and knowledge.
You’ve said before that the land is really important in Syria – the same could be said in Ireland. Have you noticed any other similarities or differences in cultures?
Yeah, definitely. Land and owning a house are important in Syrian culture. I think it is similar to Ireland. The family connection is another similarity. Many friends of mine at the weekend go back to their families. So the Irish society is somewhat family oriented, especially in rural Ireland and this is very similar to Syrian culture. There is also a love for culture, music and art which is also very similar to Syria. The sense of humour is sometimes different – but there are similarities! We welcome new people, we smile, we’re friendly like here in Ireland. I would say that Syrian culture though is diverse, you could go from city to city, from neighbourhood to neighbourhood and it can be very different in it’s culture. This could be down to different languages, religions, migration etc. Syria has also Armenian and Kurdish cultures, different religions, so it’s very diverse from place to place. That’s why, when I look at the war, I can’t comprehend what is happening now. We had an inclusive society and we had our own problems like any country – but when I look at my homeland now, it is a country I just don’t know. A stranger.
Have you been back to Syria since coming here in 2011?
No. I haven’t been back since I left, almost nine years ago. I can’t tell you how much I dream of the day when I can go back. I never imagined I would stay in Ireland. My plan was to finish my studies and go back home and start up my own language school. When I finished my Masters, I started to give my winter clothes to charity because I thought, you know ‘I won’t use them at home for a while’ – but circumstances were against me and against millions of Syrians and things changed. So, I had to make a decision and stay. It was very hard.
You went to Greece in 2015 to hear the stories of the refugees and to help in any way you could – could you tell us about this?
It was another turning point in my life. At that time in my life I was working in social media and 24 hours a day, at work and at home, I was exposed to these images and stories of people fleeing wars. People I recognize sometimes, people from my homeland, my neighbourhood! I was watching all the time and I felt so drained and powerless and I thought – what is the end? What can I do? At that time, one of the images I saw on social media was of a man, an Arab man, arriving in Greece holding his two children and crying. So, I knew I had to be there and helping the people there. For me, sitting and watching wasn’t helping me at all. So, a few days later I was in Greece. I volunteered for around ten days – and every day we used to wake at about 2am and go to the beach with binoculars to watch refugees arriving. If we identified any boats coming, we would straight away run to them and give the people food, clothes, water – whatever they needed. The heart-breaking thing was when they arrived, sometimes you could hear a mother screaming ‘my child! Where is my child?’ – when they would realise one member of the family was missing. That was in 2015 and at that time the refugees would arrive and continue their journey. Greece was a transitional country. But now the camps are like detention centres.
Last year I received a random message from some person, and it said ‘Hi Razan. Maybe you don’t remember me, but you gave me shoes in Greece and I wanted to say thank you. I am in Sweden now and I am learning the language of the country and I’m working as well. I’ve been looking for you since 2015 and finally, I found you!’ So that made me feel that all I did was worth it, that’s why I volunteered another year. For me, to see the reality of what was happening was important – seeing people as human beings and not just as ‘refugees.’
The media coverage of the ‘refugee crisis’ in 2015 was constant. There were reports of water canons being fired at people, this country and that country closing its borders, etc. The images coming out of these places were horrific as well. Can you talk to us about the rhetoric that was used and how this maybe influenced how western society perceived everything? And also, what is going on in Syria right now, because obviously the conflict is ongoing…
When we saw the image of the three-year old boy, Alan Kurdi, washed up on a beach, we saw a turning point in refugee narrative. There was more of an emphasis on highlighting what was happening on the ground with refugees.
But then we started to see key words like refugees ‘flooding’ -a flood is something negative and danger, something that causes destruction. The media started to use these terms ‘refugees are flooding…’ and ‘crisis’ etc. If there was one negative story then that story became the focus of the media and they would neglect the other positive ones, and this was really damaging. The media dehumanised refugees and made them a category of people, not people. The media also started using the word ‘immigrants’ to describe refugees – but they are not immigrants, they are refugees. They are different. An immigrant is someone who chooses to leave their homeland and travels to another country for work, an adventure or for education. A refugee is forced to leave for safety. They’re escaping persecution and war.
The media now is underreporting on the refugee’s situation, though their situation on the Greek islands is worse than ever. What refugees are facing now is extremely bad. What people in Syria are facing is worse than anything you would imagine. In the past two months, one million people have been displaced – half of whom are children. They don’t have food, water or heating. It’s freezing in Syria in Winter. People have no heating. There are families living in caves right now and there are women burning plastic to provide heat for their children. There’s no milk or clean water. People are hungry. There is no mention of what’s happening in the media. This is the biggest humanitarian crisis since World War II.
You talked at the UN … could you tell us about this?
The UN came after my experience in Greece. At that time there was a conference about providing safe pathways for refugees instead of taking these dangerous ways. So, it was a call to think out of the box and help refugees arrive to other countries safely. I was invited to speak at this conference at the UN in Geneva, and I talked about my experience in Greece and be the voice of the people I met.
You’ve said before that being Syrian outside of Syria and watching the devastation happening there is like watching your child die. This must be really difficult on your mental health?
Oh, it is, it’s very hard. When I came back from Greece I was depressed for a while. I lay on my bed and I looked up and I was like ‘I have a roof. I have a warm bed. But what about those people?’ I didn’t leave my room for a week. I didn’t go to work or do anything. But after that, I looked at myself in the mirror and thought ‘Razan, wake up. If I stay like this in my room and do nothing, then what have I learned? What benefit am I to these people?’ So, I said to myself, I can’t stay silent in my bedroom, these stories should be told and heard. These stories that I’ve witnessed. I started to speak about it, and do interviews and I just tried my best to highlight what’s going on.
You were made Irish Tatler’s International Woman of the Year in 2016. Tell us about that.
I received an email and I couldn’t believe it. It’s been one of the biggest honours of my life. But it’s not just for me, it’s for Syrian women who are struggling, who are suffering, who are neglected, who are double victims – victims of the patriarchal society and victims of the war. So, I dedicated it to the Syrian women and to their resilience and strength. They come from war and death, they watch their children dying, they pull their children from under the rubble, but they are still resilient and strong and holding the family together and trying to get a better future for their kids. It was a great honour and opportunity to speak about these women.
Can you tell us about what you’re working on these days?
A lot of things! So, I’m an Assistant Editor and senior journalist at Storyful, a news agency. We at Storyful verify content on social media. We identify misleading information and debunk fake news. It is very interesting and challenging work. We work with the biggest news agencies in the world. We provide, clear and verify content for them. My focus is on the Middle East and North Africa region.
I also involve myself in many projects, for example I’m on the Amnesty National Board in Ireland. I’m involved with some projects about community sponsorships in Ireland. I try to participate in fundraising for refugees, women’s issues etc. It’s very busy but this is who I am, and this is what I love to do. I have so much energy and I want to use it. I try my best.
If we were sitting here one year from now celebrating what a great year you’d had, what is it that we would be celebrating?
We would be celebrating something I’m currently working on which is a documentary on women from the middle east. I’m focusing on women who are challenging their community and are trying to make real change. It’s going to be a positive, uplifting story of these women.
We asked Razan to provide a few suggestions and links for further information on what Irish people can do to help refugees:
Community Sponsorship
http://www.integration.ie/en/isec/pages/community_sponsorship_ireland
Also email : info@amnesty.ie
https://www.unicef.ie/donate/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqoaU2unp5wIVh6ztCh3CHgKBEAAYASAAEgJGe_D_BwE#1
https://www.trocaire.org/whatwedo/wherewework/syria
https://www.savethechildren.net/