Current Magazine

A CONVERSATION WITH:
Printed Doors
BY HIBA DELAWTI
Abwab Magazine helps refugees
navigate a new life in Germany.
Germany led the charge in opening its borders to waves
of Europe-bound refugees last year. Not surprisingly, the
hundreds of thousands of visitors began taking stock of their
host country: new climate, food, customs, and overall lifestyle
— a lot to adjust to. Ramy Al-Asheq saw many people
who could use a hand navigating the new system. So, last
fall, he assembled a team to help inform fellow migrants.
We caught up with Ramy at his apartment in Cologne.
Tell us about your personal story I’m a Syrian-Palestinian
poet and journalist. I left Syria in May 2012 for Jordan. Some
militias from the regime tried to kill me, because I took part
in a demonstration. But, as a Palestinian-Syrian, I wasn’t
allowed to stay in Jordan. I came to Germany, under an asylum
grant, which protects artists and writers from dangerous
and unsafe countries. I’m now editor-in-chief of Abwab, the
first Arabic newspaper in Germany.
What made your start Abwab? When I came to Germany,
there weren’t any Arabic newspapers. I initially had the
idea of making a website in two languages, Arabic and
German to bridge the two communities. Then a publisher
contacted me with some funding and an idea to make an
Arabic print paper. Since I have a good network of writer
and journalist friends, we began planning, and we launched
Abwab in just a month. ‘Abwab’ means ‘doors’, so it’s like a
guide to Germany.
What’s your vision for the paper? We’re not in Germany
because of choice. We were forced to leave our countries.
As a result, we don’t know much about that culture, the
life, the bureaucracy. Abwab is a newspaper by refugees,
for refugees. There are articles about education, about
finding food your recognize, and these pieces are written
by either Germans or older Arab people who have lived
here for a long time. We have sections — ‘doors’ — for
international news and German news, doors for community
news, reports, interviews, literature, concerts. There
are two pages for feminism and women, two pages for
success and happiness, and two pages for arts, literature,
poetry, and caricature. So in a sense, we are a map.
14 CURRENT FALL 2017