Interview with a Syrian mother
Rula Al-Aken is a Syrian native and mum-of-two living in Limerick.
Rula moved from Syria to Ireland in 1999.
She says that Ireland is her home now and she doesn't know if she can ever go back to Syria.
"My country seems so unrecognisable now. It's hard for me to think of going back there and not seeing the same Damascus. It's all gone."
Rula's father passed away in 2013, but as it was during the war, Rula could not travel home for the funeral.
Rula is urging Irish people to allow Syrians to come here. "People are being raped and murdered. It's not safe in Syria."
She speaks about the conditions that the Syrian people are now facing. "There is only four hours of water a day and two hours of electricity a day. There are no basic things left to survive. People with children have to leave to protect their children. No Syrian person wants to leave Syria but they have to."
Rula also speaks about ISIS. "What ISIS is doing to Syrian people is inhumane. ISIS are not Syrian. It's important that people know what this group is doing to other human beings."
"If Ireland can afford to bring more people into the country I would love that."
"To live away from home is very different from imply visiting a different place. When I settled here I just had to think, 'that's it, this is home now.'"
Rula moved from Syria to Ireland in 1999.
She says that Ireland is her home now and she doesn't know if she can ever go back to Syria.
"My country seems so unrecognisable now. It's hard for me to think of going back there and not seeing the same Damascus. It's all gone."
Rula's father passed away in 2013, but as it was during the war, Rula could not travel home for the funeral.
Rula is urging Irish people to allow Syrians to come here. "People are being raped and murdered. It's not safe in Syria."
She speaks about the conditions that the Syrian people are now facing. "There is only four hours of water a day and two hours of electricity a day. There are no basic things left to survive. People with children have to leave to protect their children. No Syrian person wants to leave Syria but they have to."
Rula also speaks about ISIS. "What ISIS is doing to Syrian people is inhumane. ISIS are not Syrian. It's important that people know what this group is doing to other human beings."
"If Ireland can afford to bring more people into the country I would love that."
"To live away from home is very different from imply visiting a different place. When I settled here I just had to think, 'that's it, this is home now.'"
Just covering all things… Journalism
I'M sure you are all aware of the tragic incident that happened on Tuesday 6 January when a car carrying five girls was involved in a collision with a van in Athy. Sadly, four of the girls died that night. The driver sustained serious injuries and is still in hospital.
After going online with the incident a mere few hours after it had occurred, the journalists in question had the nerve to insinuate that the crash was caused by this young girl. Imagine her and her family’s position. She has just been through a hugely traumatic ordeal, she has lost four of her best friends and is surviving with serious injuries and these ‘journalists’ decide to name and shame her?!
A journalist’s role is not to add to the situation but to explain it. This inaccurate, untrue and sensationalist garbage needs to stop. This girl has been affected enough without the media adding more! I have only been studying journalism for three months and even I know that. Anyone would.
Much of the media’s coverage of this event has been disgraceful. Images of the crashed car on the internet made my stomach turn. Imagine how their families feel, and seeing all of these images on top of it?! It is appalling. We need to step up as writers and take a look at ourselves. News writing isn’t just about trying to get a ‘one-up’ with sensationalist headlines and inaccurate statements. A journalist’s role is simply to report the news, accurately and fairly.
If you would like to sign a petition against the reporting of the accident, follow this link: https://www.change.org/p/irish-daily-mirror-irish-daily-mirror-s-editor-in-chief-and-journalists-david-coleman-colin-brennan-and-gareth-mccreevy-are-to-publicly-apologise-to-the-kearney-family-for-insensitive-and-inappropriate-reporting-of-the-accident-their-daughter-was-inv?recruiter=33283623&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=share_facebook_responsive&utm_term=mob-xs-share_petition-no_msg&utm_content=rp_petition_fb_share_desc%3Acontrol
Just covering all things… Journalism
Oscar Pistorius trial-what's your verdict?
It was announced today at the High Court in Pretoria that Paralympics champion and first amputee to win an able-bodied world track medal, Oscar Pistorius, was to receive a 5 year sentence for the killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. The Olympic runner was convicted of culpable homicide, or negligent killing, but acquitted for murder for in February 2013.
So what's your verdict on this case? Most of us are shocked that Pistorius will only receive a five-year sentence for taking another person's life (whether it be intentional or unintentional). On the Irish Times website it stated that Pistorius’ defence lawyer Barry Roux said he expected the jailed athlete to serve only 10 months of the five-year sentence behind bars, and the remainder under house arrest. Does this really seem like a fair sentence?
Do you think there has been allowances made for the athlete, due to his success in the 2012 Olympics or Paralympics? Or are his claims of self-defence, believing there was an intruder in his home, justified?
Another argument is the attitude towards violence against women in South Africa. Delving deeper into the background of criminal cases in South Africa, it is alarming to see the difference between the sentencing for violence against women there than in a 1st world country. The Huffington Post documented in August 2013 that South Africa had the highest rate of violence against women in the world. "If data for all violent assaults, rapes and other sexual assaults against women are taken into account, then approximately 200,000 adult women are reported as being attacked in South Africa every year," Lerato Moloi of the South African Institute for Race Relations said. The real figure is considerably higher, she said, since most cases are never reported.
So what's your verdict on the case? Do you think if Pistorius lived in another part of the world that his sentence would be harsher? Or do you think that the South African judicial system should have made an example out of the case in order to protect women's rights and given him a stricter sentence? Feel free to comment on your opinions below.
Lots of love,
Siun X
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| Pistorius in court |
So what's your verdict on this case? Most of us are shocked that Pistorius will only receive a five-year sentence for taking another person's life (whether it be intentional or unintentional). On the Irish Times website it stated that Pistorius’ defence lawyer Barry Roux said he expected the jailed athlete to serve only 10 months of the five-year sentence behind bars, and the remainder under house arrest. Does this really seem like a fair sentence?
Do you think there has been allowances made for the athlete, due to his success in the 2012 Olympics or Paralympics? Or are his claims of self-defence, believing there was an intruder in his home, justified?
Another argument is the attitude towards violence against women in South Africa. Delving deeper into the background of criminal cases in South Africa, it is alarming to see the difference between the sentencing for violence against women there than in a 1st world country. The Huffington Post documented in August 2013 that South Africa had the highest rate of violence against women in the world. "If data for all violent assaults, rapes and other sexual assaults against women are taken into account, then approximately 200,000 adult women are reported as being attacked in South Africa every year," Lerato Moloi of the South African Institute for Race Relations said. The real figure is considerably higher, she said, since most cases are never reported.
So what's your verdict on the case? Do you think if Pistorius lived in another part of the world that his sentence would be harsher? Or do you think that the South African judicial system should have made an example out of the case in order to protect women's rights and given him a stricter sentence? Feel free to comment on your opinions below.
Lots of love,
Siun X
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