Razan Ibrahim says it was often upsetting to see the media coverage of the war in her native Syria
Razan left Syria in 2011, and came to Ireland, to complete a masters at University of Limerick, having done an under-grad in English and Irish literature in Syria. She told me that Ireland always had a huge place in her heart, well before she actually moved here. Razan saved money over a ten year period to pay for her studies at UL.
Why Ireland?
Razan says Ireland's history, culture, music and literature were a huge draw for her and she researched UL before she went there, being satisfied that it was a top quality college.
Violence in Syria
Razan says the war was only underway four months when she left her home country, but she unfortunately was exposed to a lot of the horrors, through the media and social media. This made her feel quite helpless and she worried a lot about her friends and family back home. Her parents still live in Syria and do not want to leave. She explains in the interview below, that it's very hard for people to uproot themselves from the place they have lived all their lives.
Media coverage
Razan has both the perspective of a journalist and a Syrian native, when she discusses the media coverage of the war. She says the coverage always depends on the outlook and ideology of the news agency in question. She says politics play a big part in this. Razan says there were amazing journalists on the ground in the beginning of the war but many of them were not allowed continue their coverage as the fighting continued, which meant that often times the independent voice was lost.
Why was Razan in Waterford?
She was giving a talk for International Women's Day, as part of an event held by Waterford Area Partnership. You can find out more here about the services WAP provides.
Razan then dropped into our WLR studios and had a chat with me, and you can hear the first part of the interview in the link below. The rest of it will be aired "On the Fringe" on Tuesday March 12th.
If you're interested in hearing strong female voices on air, this recent interview "On the Fringe" with Michelle Dooley Mahon about her play The Scourge might be of interest..
And here's Razan Ibrahim...
https://soundcloud.com/wlrfmwaterford/part-1-of-marys-interview-with-syrian-journalist-razan-ibrahim
And here's part 2 of the interview...
https://soundcloud.com/wlrfmwaterford/part-2-of-marys-interview-with-syrian-journalist-razan-ibrahim
