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Conference by Gaza journalist Wael Al Dahdouh at Casa Árabe in Cordoba
April 08, 20247:00 p.m.
CORDOBA
Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9).
7:00 p.m.
Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
In Spanish and Arabic, with simultaneous translation.
Gaza journalist Wael Al Dahdouh, head of Al Jazeera’s bureau in Gaza
City and a role model for Palestinian and Arab world journalists, will
be giving a conference on Monday, April 8, at Casa Árabe’s headquarters
in Cordoba.
The session, organized by the Chair of Conflict Resolution at the University of Cordoba, with the support of the Provincial Government Office in Cordoba, will be taking place on the occasion of the awarding to Al Dahdouh of the seventeenth Julio Anguita Parrado International Journalism Award in the city of Cordoba. You can watch the session live on YouTube (in Spanish).
The jury for the seventeenth Julio Anguita Parrado International Journalism Award, organized by the Andalusian Union of Journalists, met at the Rectorate of the University of Cordoba and unanimously decided to bestow this award to the journalist from Gaza, Wael Al Dahdouh. With this award, in addition to distinguishing Wael Al Dahdouh’s career and his commitment to defending human rights, the jury explicitly wished acknowledge the Gazan journalists who are being subjected to extreme violence in Israel’s offensive. To drive this home, the jury pointed out that 75% of the journalists killed in 2023 worldwide were from Gaza.
Wael Al Dahdouh became known around the world as a result of his coverage on Al Jazeera, after his family was intentionally bombed by Israel on October 25, 2023, leading to the death of his wife, son, daughter and grandson, just 18 months old. Al Dahdou was in Gaza City that same day to report on the latest developments when he was informed of his family’s death.
Hours after that attack, Al Dahdou was back on the air, despite his personal tragedy, this time to be interviewed by a colleague, just as he had interviewed so many others before. Dahdouh was also injured in December when an Israeli strike hit a school in Khan Younis where he and a co-worker, Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa, were reporting. Abu Daqqa was killed in the attack.
On January 7 of this year, Dahdouh’s eldest son, Hamza Dahdouh, also a journalist and cameraman for the Qatari television network, was with other journalists on a road between Khan Younis and Rafah when he was killed by Israeli drone strikes. Just a day before his death, Hamza had shared a post on X praising his father’s perseverance. “You are patient, so don’t give up.”
Wael Al Dahdou has since become an icon for the the Palestinian population of Gaza’s resistance and how journalism has been a key element in showing the resilience and dignity of a people suffering an unprecedented massacre in history. They call him “Al-Jabal,” which in Arabic means “the mountain,” for still standing tall as tragedy befell him throughout the course of the war.
Al Dahdouh, 53, was born and raised in Gaza City’s al-Zaytoun neighborhood. He comes from a Palestinian farming family, according to Al Jazeera. He was still in high school in 1988 when he was arrested by Israeli forces for his involvement in the first Palestinian “intifada” which broke out in Gaza before spreading to other Palestinian territories. He earned his high school diploma from jail. After spending seven years in Israeli prisons, Al Dahdouh graduated with a degree in Journalism and Media from the Islamic University of Gaza in 1998.
He attempted to travel abroad to pursue higher studies, but Israel repeatedly prevented him from leaving Gaza. He was finally able to enter Al-Quds University in Abu Dis in the West Bank, where he earned a Master’s degree in Regional Studies in 2007.
Dahdouh worked for several local media outlets, including Al-Quds newspaper, Voice of Palestine radio channel and Sahar satellite channel. In 2003, he signed on with regional broadcasters, working briefly for Al-Arabiya before joining Al Jazeera. Since 2004, he has reported for the pan-Arab network and has managed its Gaza bureau. Dahdouh has reported extensively during each successive Israeli war against the besieged enclave. In 2013, he received the Peace Through Media award during the International Media Awards held in London.
Photo taken by Hamza Al Dahdouh