On my way to the Netherlands to participate in the Explore the North Festival in Leeuwarden. Lisa Weeda and I will be interviewed by the great Chris Keulemans. 23 Nov 2024, 18:45 – 19:30 Podium Explore Language: English Link: https://explorethenorth.nl/podium-explore-festivalweekend/ Looking away from war – you too? What responsibility do we in our (for now) safe, Western Europe have towards our fellow human beings in war zones? Why are we so quickly distracted from suffering and scroll on to smiling otters and trendy knitting patterns on instagram? Do we not care? Or do we feel powerless? Lisa Weeda’s book Dans Dans Revolutie makes looking away from war impossible. Because of her Ukrainian ancestry (which Weeda explores in her book Aleksandra), she is deeply connected to the country and the horrors that continue there to this day. But living in the Netherlands, she knows: we only sympathize with the people there up to a certain point. At some point, we just turn on Netflix again anyway. The same goes for Palestinian poet Ghayath Almadhoun, who fears for his family’s life every day. His calls for compassion and justice for the Palestinian people are met not only with shrugs of shoulders, but sometimes even outright exclusion and censorship. Oppression in free Europe, you might say. His poetic lyrics are raw and ragged. He puts the war in your lap, where you have to look at it. Weeda and Almadhoun will be interviewed by Chris Keulemans, author of the recently published book Verzet, containing stories about people who rise up against injustice, sometimes even against their better judgment.