One Year, Five Stories

October 7th was a day that forever changed the course of life for thousands

Every political story I've written about the Middle East over the last twenty years has been fraught with considerations over language, framing, and sourcing. My guiding compass when making these editorial decisions has always been based on answers to these questions: Whose voice or perspective has been missing in the news narrative? How can I center the experiences of those who have been impacted most? 

This time, though, I set out with a different goal. October 7th, 2023 has become synonymous with tremendous grief across communities. For many of us, that grief is reinforced daily through horrific images and visceral commentary online that only threatens to deepen the polarized society we find ourselves in. 

I believe compassion and openness to learning about and respecting each other's pain are one way to move forward, and this story attempts to do just that.

I am honoured to publish my first story with Montreal-based news outlet La Converse: a compilation of five people's reflections about how that day profoundly changed their life or worldview. 

The interviews for this story were compiled over a month, with support from reporters Melissa Haouari in Montreal and my former journalism student Laviza Syed in Toronto.

And in the spirit of La Converse’s unique, people-centred approach to storytelling, I will add a transparency note which relates to the news gathering process of this story: First, we tried extensively and without success to include a voice from Lebanon. More than 2,000 people have been killed and thousands more displaced and injured from cross-border attacks from Israel over the last year. Everyone we spoke to on the ground felt too scared and mistrustful - both towards Western media and Israeli surveillance tactics - to share their story with us. 

Second, all of the interviews with our sources were shared in their entirety, except for the account of Raquel Look, a mother who lost her son Alexandre on October 7th. After consulting with several trusted individuals from both Muslim and Jewish communities, Melissa, Laviza, and I chose to omit sharing the second part of the conversation, which reflected much of Look's anger towards Palestinians in general. In making this decision, we were able to stay true to our stated goal in creating this piece: to broaden hearts and minds in learning about the 'other.' 

Pain, let us remember, is universal.

You can read our story here.

Shenaz

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