We Need to Talk – Peacebuilders Rami Elhanan and Bassam Aramin in Conversation with Michaela Kalowski

Both Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan have lost children to violence in the conflict between Palestine and Israel. Aramin is a Palestinian academic who spent seven years in an Israeli jail for his role in the Palestinian resistance. Elhanan is an Israeli graphic designer who served in the Israeli Army as a young man.

On the first day of the school year in 1997, Elhanan’s daughter, Smadar, was killed by two Palestinian suicide bombers. In 2007, Aramin’s 10-year-old daughter, Abir, was killed by Israeli border police in front of her school.

United by this shared grief, Aramin and Elhanan’s supported each other in healing from unimaginable loss. Their moving story has been shared around the world, and was the inspiration for Colum McCann’s Booker-Prize-longlisted novel Apeirogon.

For the first time, the pair will appear together in Australia in conversation with Michaela Kalowksi. Join Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan as they share their powerful story of loss, personal empathy and peace.

ABOUT BASSAM & RAMI

Bassam Araminwas sent to Israeli prison as a 17-year-old for his role in the Palestinian resistance. He spent seven years there, and eventually started questioning the value of armed resistance. Several years after his release, he co-founded ‘Combatants for Peace’. He has refused to pick up arms since his release, even when, in 2007, his 10-year-old daughter, Abir, was killed by an Israeli soldier’s rubber bullet outside her school. He immediately joined the Parents Circle. Bassam is the protagonist of Colum McCann’s award-winning novel, Apeirogon, and the former co-Director of the Parents Circle.

Rami Elhanan is a 7th generation Jerusalemite graphic designer. He identifies himself as a Jew, an Israeli, and before everything else, a human being. On the first day of the school year in 1997, Rami’s daughter, Smadar, was killed by two Palestinian suicide bombers who murdered 5 people that day. Soon after, Rami joined the Parents Circle as an active member facilitator, speaking before Israeli, Palestinian and International audiences. Rami is the protagonist of Colum McCann’s award-winning novel, Apeirogon, and the former co-Director of the Parents Circle.

INTERVIEWER

Michaela Kalowski is an interviewer, moderator and curator for writers and ideas festivals. Highlight interviews include Margaret Atwood, David Mitchell, Michelle de Kretser, Stan Grant and Etgar Keret. She’s the curator of ABC RN’s on-air writers festival, Big Weekend of Books, now in its 4th year. She hosts a monthly books conversation event for Petersham Bowling Club in Sydney. Michaela has conducted radio interviews for ABC RN’s The Music Show, Big Ideas and The Bookshelf, ABC Classic and has presented programs across ABC radio.

WHEN: 7pm, 21 May

WHERE: ARA Darling Quarter Theatre, Terrace 3, 1-25 Harbour St, Sydney

TICKETS: CONCESSION $20 | ADULTS $25

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