Moderator: Ricardo Alexandre
Speakers: Ana Gomes, Dima Mohammed
Free access.

The Norwegian sociologist, and main founder of the discipline of Peace and Conflict Studies, Johan Galtung says that peace must be built after the problems caused by structural violence have been eliminated, and therefore what we must seek is a positive, not negative, peace. Nevertheless in Europe, and in today's world, this line of thought seems to be relegated to a footnote in the face of the allure by strong men. Europe is thus wearing a costume that is so outrageous we would never think it could be worn again. Fascism, racism, hatred of outsiders, antisemitism and Islamophobia are hand in hand with a backlash against feminist and LGBTQIA+ achievements, ageism.

How do we fight and reverse this vertiginous descent into darkness? In a Fórum do Real of a festival that proposes, through the provocation of a title, Europe doesn't exist, I’ve been there, to bet on diversity, we call on different experiences, paths and knowledge to sip cinema as an ethical and political conscience, following Galtung's line and building peace where war has been sown, drawing utopias for a Europe that reinvents and reinvigorates itself based on differences and its multiculturalism.

Event held in Portuguese only.

RICARDO ALEXANDRE
Ricardo Alexandre is TSF's international editor, where he acted as deputy director (2018 - 2023). He comments on international politics and currently anchors programs dedicated to international issues. He hosted the show ‘Conselho de Guerra’. He is also a commentator on international politics for SIC. He worked at RTP/RDP for 25 years. He was Editor, Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Director of Information. He has reported on war and post-conflict zones, and has covered elections in several countries. He has a PhD in Political Science from ISCTE. He is an integrated researcher at IPRI at Nova University of Lisbon and a collaborating researcher at Observare at UAL and CEI - at ISCTE. He is a professor at the Master's programme in Journalism at FCSH. He represents the Journalists' Union on CENJOR's Board of Directors. He is the author of several books on journalism and of João Aguardela’s biography. He is a member of EditoRed, the EU editors' association

ANA GOMES
Ana Gomes holds a Law Degree from the University of Lisbon. She joined the diplomatic staff of the MFA in 1980 and served the Presidency office of António Ramalho Eanes, she worked for Portugal's Permanent Missions to the United Nations in Geneva and New York and in the Portuguese embassies in Tokyo and London. In 1999, she became the head of the Portuguese Interests Section at the Dutch Embassy in Jakarta, following the independence process in East Timor. She has been a member of the Socialist Party since 2002. In 2003, she joined the Party leadership with Secretary General Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, where she was responsible for foreign relations. She was elected and served three terms as a Member of the European Parliament. She served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Development, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, the Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Subcommittee on Security and Defence. She was a member of the Delegations for Relations with the USA, Relations with Iraq and the Union for the Mediterranean. She was a member of various Special Committees. She led several EU/EPP Election Observation missions. She ran for President of the Portuguese Republic in the 2021 elections. She chaired the Transparency and Integrity Bureau. She maintains a weekly political commentary programme on SIC Notícias.

DIMA MOHAMMED
Dima Mohammed is a Portuguese-Palestinian academic and activist. She is a Principal Researcher in Philosophy and Professor of Communication at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FCSH) of NOVA University Lisbon. Her academic work is in the area of argumentation, at the intersection of Philosophy, Language and Politics. Beyond the university, Dima is an active member of several cultural collectives and initiatives, including Frames of Palestine and the Palestine Solidarity Committee, as well as a founding member of PUSP, a platform of Portuguese civil society collectives built to promote solidarity with Palestine.