The search for truth is the duty of every human being and even more so of every journalist. Every one of us must endeavor to break free from the ignorance in which state and media powers try to maintain us. Every citizen must know how to overcome the obstacles that prevent us from seeing the other side of the mirror. It is in seeking the truth with honesty, courage and determination, no matter what the consequences for us might be, that our dignity lies.

Providing independent and honest information and telling the truth on the various forms of terror or oppression practiced by some states may contribute to peace, save lives and alleviate suffering. Even though telling the truth and denouncing abuses and crimes might expose us to insults and threats, we must never be intimidated or give in to fear. One must solely be concerned about those bruised human beings that claim their own dignity and ask to be recognized in their humanity. It’s on that side of the mirror that truth awaits us and gazes at us with benevolence.

Potted biography

Silvia Cattori is well known in Asia and in the Middle East for her outspoken views and defence of Muslim and Arab world. She is a freelance journalist and a Swiss citizen of Italian mother tongue. After training at the Institute of Journalism of Fribourg University (renamed Department of Sociology, Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences in 1998) and a period of work experience at Schweizerische Depeschenagentur AG (SDA) (Agence Télégraphique Suisse (ATS), she left Switzerland to work in various press organs. The years she spent overseas, notably in Southeast Asia and in the Indian Ocean, in close contact with diplomatic circles and UN agencies, provided her with a certain understanding of the world, its power mechanisms and its injustice.

In April 2002 she was in Israel when Ariel Sharon launched a massive and savage military offensive against the West Bank. Worried about the impact of the Israeli Army’s acts of war on children she travelled to occupied Palestine to see with her own eyes what was going on there. The horrifying scenes she witnessed were mind-boggling. From then on she has been writing numerous articles to bear witness to the acts of violence committed by the Israeli Army against a despoiled and outcast people inexplicably left without protection.