Speakers :
Slava Svitova, Ukraine (Creative Women Publishing)
Bayan Rashad Faraj, Palestine
Qamar Abdulrahman, Palestine
Anastasiia Lytvynenko, Ukraine
Hala Bizri, Lebanon (Snoubar Bayrout)
Moderated by Samar Haddad, Syria (Atlas)
Slava Svitova : “When we talk about these small, manageable communities, this is what authoritarian systems are afraid of : these little communities that you can’t destroy. You can destroy physical buildings, or you can destroy an institution, but you can’t destroy these resilient circles of people who are crisscrossing and are ready to build horizontal networks.”
Bayan Rashad Faraj : “The most dangerous thing that people can use is their ability to dream.”
Qamar Abdulrahman : “The most important form of resistance in our life during war is to live our daily life as human beings, to live our teenage lives.”
Anastasiia Lytvynenko : “For Ukrainians, it’s very unusual not to feel guilty when you’re creating those safe spaces. You usually think, ‘Oh my God, there is a war out there and I am here, chilling with my coffee, writing part of my novel and enjoying this life.’ We constantly feel guilty, and writing, expressing myself, and doing some art probably are some of the least guilty pleasures of my life here, living in the war.”
Hala Bizri : “Many communities give you a sense of oxygen, and we move from one place to another to see where we can belong. When you help others, you feel like you’re helping yourself.”
Samar Haddad : “You shouldn’t feel guilty if you smile, if you laugh, if you listen to music, if you go to a concert, if you go to an art exhibition. You shouldn’t feel guilty if the times are bad. For example, in Damascus, there was a concert and people attended in large numbers. Some of them were crying, but it was a sense of collectiveness, a sense of solidarity.”
This panel discussion took place during the 2026 edition of the Babelica Book Fair.