Why Oral Histories?
First hand narratives give people the power to write their own history, to instigate discussions across borders, and to impact research and policy.
The oral history interviews and collections on this site reflect diverse topics and communities of and from the Arab world.
SPOTLIGHT ON SYRIA
Conflict, Migration & Identity
Syrians in Syria and the diaspora explore the impact of conflict and migration on individual and collective identity and consider the impact of changes in identity on belonging, integration, community and engagement....
WOMEN & PEACE
CAROL ZAKHOUR
"Peace means coexisting in an atmosphere of understanding, irrespective of our divergence in opinions, beliefs and ideas. "
Listen to the interviewSELECT INTERVIEWS
Najat Kikhia
When Najat Rasheed Kikhia’s brother Mansour resigned form his post as Libyan ambassador to the UN in 1980, the whole family bore the brunt of...
Omar Jibaiy
For the first ten years of his life, Omar Jibaiy had only ever met his father through the bars of a prison cell. He was...
Basima Jabry
Basima Jabri was born in 1975 to a Damascene father and a Lattakian mother. Her father died one year after her birth. She lived with...
Fathi Terbil
Fathi Othman Terbil is a Libyan lawyer, the son of an ice cream maker, and among Time magazine’s top 100 influential people of 2011. His...
Arda Kashkashian
Although Arda Kashkashian has been living in Lebanon for several years and has received Lebanese citizenship, Aleppo still occupies a special place in her heart,...
Maayouf Halasa
Maayouf Massoud Halasa is from the town of Kabaw in the Nafusa Mountains in the west of Libya. He was a graduate of law and...
Ilham Dabboub
Nursery head Ilham Dabboub had a difficult childhood. She was three years old when her father, Omar Ali Dabboub, was first imprisoned in 1973. “He...
Abubaker Ghiryani
Abubaker Mohamed Ghiryani was arrested on a Monday morning in 1997. “It was just before three in the morning when eight cars surrounded my home...
Dheiba Diaf Zirti
Dheiba Diaf is the widow of Othman Ali Zirti, with whom she had ten children. Zirti was born in 1934 in the area of Tripoli...
Mahmood Abu Shkewa
Mahmood Abdelsalam Abu Shkewa is a sportsman, a boxer, a champion. He was born in Libya and represented his county in various title matches. “In...
Zainab AlMadhoun
Beirut resident Zainab AlMadhoun was among the twelve residents of Lebanon to be interviewed as part of the project "Lebanon Livelihoods" that aimed to document and...
Mahmoud Alhaj
Beirut resident and Palestinian Mahmoud Alhaj was among the twelve residents of Lebanon to be interviewed as part of the project "Lebanon Livelihoods" that aimed to...
Yara Al Chehayed
Yara Al Chehayed is Syrian and currently lives in Lebanon. She tells us about her understanding of peaceful coexistence: I believe that peaceful coexistence and...
Abdallah Huseen
Abdallah is 34 years old and lives in Italy. This is a translation of the transcript of his recorded story: "My name is Abdullah Huseen...
Rana Thuraya Alnakshabandi
I am Rana Thuraya Alnakshabandi, born in Damascus 1958. I may seem very old but I think in our lifetime we get to live many...
Jamil Jamaleddin
I am Jamil Jamal al-Din from Syria. I am proud to be from Damascus, Al-Midan neighbourhood. I am 33 years old and currently work in...
