WE WANT TO LIVE!

Renata Schmidtkunz in conversation with Emran Feroz

WE WANT TO LIVE!

For over a hundred years, at the latest since the first oil discoveries in the 1910s, the so-called „Middle East“ has not been at peace. The most recent unprovoked war of aggression by Israel and the USA against Iran is bitter proof of this. Back in 2017, the political scientist, journalist and author Emran Feroz, who was born in Innsbruck in 1991, described the world's first drone war, which took place in Afghanistan. Feroz, whose parents fled to Austria at the time of the Russian intervention in Afghanistan, visited his parents„ home country several times and recorded his experiences and knowledge in 2021 in the bestseller “The Longest War. 20 years of war in terror". His latest book has now been published:

We want to live!

From Afghanistan to Gaza - an outcry against dehumanisation and war. 

 In it, Feroz exposes the double standards of the West and creates a vision of a sustainable peace that could give the people of the „Orient“ faith in a future.

Feroz is one of the most interesting young journalists who deals with the region and encourages many other journalists with his honest reporting. He has dedicated his new book to the journalists killed in Gaza.

 Emran Feroz, Author and journalist specialising in the Middle East and Central Asia. He reports regularly from Afghanistan and works for numerous German and English-language media. Feroz is the founder of "Drone Memorial", a virtual memorial for civilian drone victims. In 2021, Feroz was awarded the Austrian Concordia Prize in the human rights category for his work.

Renata Schmidtkunz, Journalist, presenter and documentary filmmaker and worked for many years at ORF, including for the radio station Ö1 and the programme „Im Gespräch“. She has been awarded several prizes: 2012 Journalism Prize of the City of Vienna, 2014 Axel Corti Prize, 2020 and 2026 Radio Prize for Adult Education, 2025 Silver Medal of Honour of the Republic of Austria.