AKADEMIE FORUM: ALENA JABARINE

As a child, she had only a vague sense that a border – initially invisible – divided this land into two worlds – worlds with vast differences in terms of rights, life expectancy and even status in the eyes of the world.

In early 2020, Jabarine moved to Ramallah to understand what ‘Palestine’ means: for the people on one side of the wall and for those on the other. And for her own identity. In her book *Der letzte Himmel* (*The Last Sky*), she tells stories of humanity and joie de vivre, but also of resistance. Stories that help us to understand the reality in Israel and Palestine.

Alena Jabarine, born in Hamburg in 1985, is German-Palestinian with German and Israeli citizenship. She grew up in Hamburg, studied politics and completed a journalism traineeship at NDR. She subsequently worked primarily for public service broadcasters. From 2020 to 2023, she lived in Ramallah, where she worked for a foundation. During this time, she began posting on Instagram about the everyday lives of the Palestinian people and explaining the political context. Particularly since the start of the current war in Gaza, she has been regularly invited as an expert speaker to venues including the NATO Defence College in Rome, the Münchner Kammerspiele and the Berliner Ensemble. She is one of the few Palestinian voices in the German public discourse.

Event in German and English

Featuring a musical performance by students from the Barenboim-Said Academy