Look Who it Was Random video

Refugees vs The West - The Westerners

1,216 views · Published 19 February 2018 · 30:18 · Indexed 21 October 2026

Channel: vpro world stories · 2018 · Travel & Events

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Is it really true that all refugees are eager to travel to the west? Willem Timmers meets refugees in Lebanon who do not think about going to Europe. He also finds migrants who have returned after a stay in our free West did not please.
Willem hangs out with Adham, a Lebanese who runs his own aid organization in the northern Lebanese town of Tripoli. Adham finds it better if refugees are helped as much as possible in Lebanon, by Lebanese who understand the Syrians much better than Europeans.
Financial assistance from the West for the refugees is most welcome. But according to Adham, it is a problem that Western aid organizations are often morally too elevated. They come, for example, to campaign for abortion, which is contrary to the local culture. That kind of phenomena is a thorn in Adham's eye, just like the international NGOs who come to give clown lessons when the real question should be: 'Will we first give these children shoes and food?'
Farouk, a well-known Adhamian who returned to Lebanon after a disappointing stay in Germany: "The people there are just cold and individualistic." 
The point of view of the refugees over our western lives is a real eye opener. 

Day and night, one of our program makers follows remarkable young people who take us into their world. A world that is no longer waiting for Western ideals. Partying, hating, loving, praying and working: we experience adventures with people who are different in life than we are; looking for new ideas, amazing insights and totally different truths.

The westerners step out of their own comfort zone, directly into someone else's existence elsewhere. With an open mind, sharpness, empathy and humor they attract people who are completely different in life. Each and every one of them act from their own perspective and also have to criticize Western ideals such as democracy, religious freedom, women's emancipation or animal welfare. This leads to astonishing insights and confrontations with other truths, on which own prejudices can be tested and perhaps also revised.

Looking beyond our own navel, beyond our Western dogmas - to be able to reflect on what it actually means to be 'Western'. The Westerners combine participatory journalism with telling stories that surprise, move and defy our world view.

One Westerner, one week, somewhere in the world in a completely different culture, challenging the western privilege. With: Nicolaas Veul, Maral Noshad Sharifi, Eva Cleven, Willem Timmers and Stef Biemans
Presented by: Maral Noshad Sharifi, Stef Biemans, Willem Timmers, Nicholas Veul, Eva Cleven, 
© VPRO May 2017

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