The Presidency's Directorate of Communications hosted a panel titled "Women Witnesses to Genocide: Media and Resistance in Gaza" in Ankara.
The panel, hosted by the Directorate of Communications, was attended by First Lady Emine Erdoğan; Head of Communications Burhanettin Duran; Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş; and Anadolu Agency (AA) Chairman and Director-General Serdar Karagöz.
Opening remarks of the "Women Witnesses to Genocide: Media and Resistance in Gaza" panel were delivered by First Lady Emine Erdoğan, Head of Communications Duran, TRT Arabi journalist Somaya M. A. Abunima, and Palestinian journalist, activist, and Oscar-winning filmmaker Basel Adra.
Speaking ahead of the panel, Abunima said she went to Gaza on October 7, 2023, leaving her two children behind in İstanbul, and spent two months witnessing the unfolding realities on the ground.
Abunima stressed that people in Gaza are living under relentless bombardment, facing hunger, and being displaced, adding that the occupation continues unabated.
Pointing to the double standards of the international community, Abunima said: “The world is mobilising every possible effort today to recover the body of a single settler left in Gaza, yet says nothing about the thousands of children and families still trapped beneath the rubble."
Abunima noted that thanks to the journalists and women reporting from Gaza, the voices of Palestinians continue to be heard. “As long as Palestinians keep speaking — even from the smallest of rooms — the truth will not die,” she said.
"Confronting the truth has long been a policy of the Israeli occupation forces"
Palestinian journalist and Oscar-winning filmmaker Adra underscored that journalists cannot obtain visas to enter the West Bank, preventing them from reporting on the situation to the public.
Adra stated that Israel imprisons Palestinians without charge or trial, adding, “Many of these Palestinians are journalists and their only ‘crime’ is filming, reporting, and telling the truth.”
Pointing to the way Western media distorts the facts, Adra said, “As I mentioned, combating the truth has long been a policy pursued by the Israeli occupation forces. Unfortunately, mainstream media in the West also serves these policies, constantly manipulating the truth."
Recalling the violence, detentions, and home raids he had been subjected to from a young age, Adra said these experiences drove him to start documenting what was happening around him. “I found the strength I needed to keep filming, to keep telling the truth, and to continue sharing my story with the world,” he said.
