Trainers

Zaal Abu Rokty became a refugee as a baby in the wake of the war of 1948 and returned to Palestinian Territories after signing of the Oslo Accords in 1994 assuming a leading position at the Palestinian National Radio and TV Corporation. During the years outside of his homeland, he has obtained a bachelor’s degree in Arab Literature in Lebanon, hosted a talk show for a PLO run radio station in Syria, held the position of the Secretary and Media Officer in the Palestinian Delegation in Qatar and worked as the Media Officer of the Arab Media of the PLO in Tunisia. Moreover, Mr. Abu Rokty has participated and facilitated several conferences tackling topics such as freedom of press, democracy and cultural dialogue.

To Present, Mr. Abu Rokty is working as an advisor to the Palestinian National Radio and TV Corporation, and presents a weekly talk show that deals with political issues in Palestine, in the Arab region and in the world.

EMAJ 2009 Lecture:
Immigration in Palestine and its effects/impact on the Palestinians and worldwide
Media in Palestine: facts, situation and impacts

Journalist and editor Francesca de Châtel is based in Damascus, Syria. For the past two years she has worked as the managing editor and editor-in-chief of the country’s first English-language magazine, Syria Today. Previous to that Ms. Châtel has been freelancing for various publications and has written a book on different aspects of water use in the MENA region, entitled Water Sheikhs and Dam Builders: Stories of People and Water in the Middle East.

EMAJ 2009 Workshop:
Moved by Drought - Migration in the Context of the Middle East Water Crisis

Steven Crombez (1967) is an award winning documentary maker from Belgium with long list of successful TV projects to his name. Mr. Crombez has worked for over ten years for a renowned television production company Woestijnvis, first as a reporter for the popular TV-daily Man Bijt Hond and later as a producer of the series The Mole. Today, his main focus is making documentary series such as 0032 where he in one episode followed Gorcha, a Kazakhstani immigrant, who travelled back to her home town. The story and his sensitivity to the person behind the story won him the Prix Europe Iris award in 2007.

Mr. Crombez has a master degree in Roman Philology (French-Italian) and a bachelor degree in Business Economics, both at the Catholic University Louvain. He specialized in journalism and communication at the University of Milan, Italy.

EMAJ 2009 Lecture:
Challenges posed by the global migration in Amsterdam

Nasry Esmat is a journalist at Al-Ahram newspaper in Cairo covering judicial events and interactivity editor at FilGoal.com. He is also a trainer and a lecturer at the Ain Shams University where he teaches journalism and leads newsroom simulations. Mr. Esmat has participated in seven cultural exchange programs as well as a fellow at the University of Florida. In 2002 he was awarded with the Mostapha Amin Prize for young journalists for a printed feature entitled "The sin of silence" discussing the future of Egyptian women subjected to rape and violence.

Nasry Esmat is a former participant of EMAJ 2008 and part of the organizing team of this year’s edition of the Academy.

EMAJ 2009 Group Presentation:
Challenges faced by immigrants in the participants' home countries
EMAJ 2009 Workshop:
The Stereotyping Game
EMAJ 2009 Debate:
Immigrants – The Presumed Others. Bridging gaps in the representation of immigrants in the media and art

Suzanne Hoff is an International Coordinatior of the La Strada International Association, a European network against Trafficking in Human Beings. She has been with the organisation since 2002 monitoring anti-trafficking developments inside and outside of the Netherlands, reporting on the progress of the La Strada Programme as well as devising anti trafficking network strategies and policies. During her 6 years in the field she has contributed to numerous reports, manuals, studies and researches and other publications.

Ms. Hoff has an academic background and holds a Master's degree in East European Studies from the University of Amsterdam (including Russian language) and a Higher Vocational Education degree (HBO) for Journalism, at the Academy of Journalism in Zwolle.

EMAJ 2009 Workshop:
Human trafficking and media

Probably the best-known Turkish Human Rights activists in the world, Kursad lived in UK 30 years. He was the Secretary General of International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) for 7 years (1999-2006). Currently he is the General Secretary of KAOS GL.

He studied industrial engineering in Turkey and philosophy in UK and since then has written, lectured and campaigned for equal opportunities more than three decades.

His involvement with trade unions and work as professional trade unionist made him a rather unusual LGBT activist. 4 years ago he moved back to his native Turkey, he is now a journalist writing at BirGün daily and lectures at Bilgi University, Faculty of Law Human Rights Program in Istanbul.

Gisèle Khoury is a host for Bil Arabi, a talk show on the Al Arabiya news channel, where she interviews decision makers, heads of states, prime ministers and ministers of foreign affairs covering current events and the latest political developments. She started working with television in 1985 with the Lebanese Broadcasting Channel where she stayed for sixteen years presenting cultural and political programs such as al-Mumayazun, Wujuh Min Biladi, Dar al-Funun, Hiwar al-Omr, al-Yom al-Thamin.

Ms. Khoury was married to journalist Samir Kassir until his assassination on June 2, 2005. Since her husband’s death, Giselle Khoury has been active in promoting and supporting the Democratic Left Movement, the party her husband helped to found.

EMAJ 2009 Lecture:
Women in migration
EMAJ 2009 Debate:
Reportin on Europe - Reporting on the Middle East

EMAJ 2009 Debate:
Immigrants – The Presumed Others. Bridging gaps in the representation of immigrants in the media and art

Hilal Sezgin works as a writer and journalist in Gemany, freelancing for Die Zeit and taz, as well as many other high profile periodicals. In her work she digs deep into the subject of Islam, Islamophobia and multiculturalism in Europe. She has also explored the subject in her most recent books on the second generation of Turkish immigrant workers (2006) and on modern readings of the Quran (2008, together with Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid).

Ms. Sezgin has studied philosophy, social sciences and German literature in Frankfurt and worked as a cultural editor for the Frankfurter Rundschau from 1999 to 2005. Her other areas of interest are women, feminism and animal ethics.

EMAJ 2009 Group Presentation:
Challenges faced by immigrants in the participants' home countries
EMAJ 2009 Workshop:
The Stereotyping Game
EMAJ 2009 Open Debate:
Journalist - Immigrant - Refugee. World through the eyes of immigrant-journalists

Robert Slagt studied journalism in London and has been working as a print- and tv-journalist since 1990. He was foreign editor at Associated Press and RTL Nieuws, and worked as news editor for Metro newspaper and RTV Noord-Holland.

Since 2003 he divides his work between writing freelance for magazines and newspapers, and teaching journalism in The Netherlands and Eastern Europe.

EMAJ 2009 Workshop:
Terminology in reporting on immigrants and minorities

EMAJ 2009 Topic:
Jewish Immigrants in Amsterdam

Joshka Wessels is an award-winning eco-documentary film maker and camera journalist based in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Over the past six years, she has produced several television documentaries on water issues in the MENA region for international broadcast channels. Joshka has a PhD in development studies and wrote her thesis on rural water management in Syrian communities.

EMAJ 2009 Workshop:
Moved by Drought - Migration in the Context of the Middle East Water Crisis

Maciej Woroch is the Foreign News Correspondent in London for Polish Television Network TVN. Since the beginning of his work as journalist specialized in Middle East conflicts, Islam World relations with The West and covering all areas of interests in Middle East and Asia. Mr. Woroch started his work at RMF FM - a Polish radio network - and as it's correspondent covered preparations for war in Iraq in 1998, being the youngest journalist in Baghdad, and only Polish. Later the same year covered operation "Dessert Fox" for RMF radio. He worked for BBC Radio in Warsaw, and London covering upraise in former Yugoslavia. The end of it, and trial of Slobodan Milosevic reporter as journalist of the biggest Polish television network TVN.

As a war correspondent for the same tv covered preparations for war in Afghanistan after 9/11, war in Iraq where he been based since 2003 to 2005, traveled to Israel and Palestine on regular basis to cover ongoing events, also Afghanistan, Iran, United States. After Tsunami in 2004 reported from Thailand and Sri Lanka, and covered conflict between Isarel and Lebanon from Beirut in 2006. Since 2008 as Correspondent in United Kingdom, he covering ongoing events there still flying places where he used to fly from Poland. Latest travels was Israel and Afganistan.

EMAJ 2009 Workshop:
Reporting on “the Others” from war zone
EMAJ 2009 Open Debate:
Journalist - Immigrant - Refugee. World through the eyes of immigrant-journalists

Jamila Zekhnini is the winners of the Second Edition of the Euro-Mediterranean Journalist Prize for Cultural Dialogue 2007 for her series of articles "MusulWomen", published in Agenda Interculturel, October 2007. Jamila Zekhnini praises a new movement of Muslim women who are standing for their rights through an Islam that promotes gender equality. The prize was established by the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures and the International Federation of Journalists to encourage reporting on citizens in Europe and the Mediterranean space living together in culturally diversified societies.

"What fascinates me most in journalism is definitely the many people one is able to meet through that work: diverse people, points of view, a constant reminder that ‘Truth’ does not exist. It is also a reminder that many paths can be followed, that any particular path is only one amongst many others and that each of those have a particular value; they represent a real wealth and a necessity. I am still fascinated when I come across the different life paths of most of the people that I encounter, which are usually breathtaking."

EMAJ 2009 Meeting:
MusulWomen in Europe