In a sense I have been foreign since I was 18, which is when I left Iraq, but I have never felt foreign. Feeling foreign is something that comes from within. I am influenced by how today you look at human beings without actually seeing human beings. The tolerance, which used to characterise Denmark, is hard to find today.
I think that the media carry a big responsibility for that development. They are too one-sided and do not go into details because the news must be communicated so fast. You can now get news by text message, and so the subtlety disappears. I wish that the media had more people in the Middle East, and that there were more reports documenting the life of the people who are otherwise not heard of. In the West we tend to forget that the majority of the victims of the Islamic State are in fact Muslims. For many years I have worked with blind torture victims. I have also been a victim of torture, and I really want to help others back to life. The people I meet through my work change me. They fight and want a life despite their blindness and torture, and this inspires me and gives me belief in life. I like classical music. It gives me a feeling of something original, of a lower speed. The music suspends the common sense for a while, and it appeals to my senses and makes me dance or cry. It speaks to me like a human being and makes me complete. I am not a religious person, but like in Sufism I believe that body and soul can unite via slow music.
54 years / male / in a relationship / family and occupant counselor / Tårnby / from Iraq / came to Denmark in 1991 / residence permit same year