In the Monitor’s newsroom this afternoon, we were joined by a thoughtful group of visiting journalists from Israel. They asked how we look at a world in turmoil and find empathy. We wanted to learn what enabled them to keep reporting their country’s most prolonged conflict without yielding to discouragement or despair.

Two societies we report on today offer healing insights. Syria set up a Transitional Justice Commission last week to further its turn from civil war and tyranny. The panel aims to affirm the dignity of ordinary Syrians through reconciliation. In France, meanwhile, a timely verdict on the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival punctuated a national reckoning over respect for women. “What we need now is to stop and think, talk to one another, and take responsibility,” says Hélène Merlin, a director.