Media Advisory – February 12th 2014

Palestinian Australian playwright, poet and human rights advocate to draw in crowds from Christchurch to Auckland.

Renowned author, TV commentator and acclaimed playwright, Samah Sabawi, is embarking on a speaking tour of New Zealand this weekend hosted by NZ Palestine Solidarity network.

New Zealand's own representative to the UN Security Council recently voiced strong criticism of the UN's inability to resolve the Palestine/Israel issue, proposing a Palestinian state as the only realistic option to bring peace to the region.

Samah Sabawi will be here to discuss the Palestinian bid for statehood and to explore the various options that are facing the Palestinian people.

“New Zealand's comments at the UNSC no doubt signalled a positive step forward,” says Samah Sabawi “but it is important that we understand the ramifications of accepting Abbas's statehood bid as some kind of a magic formula.”

“Offering Palestinians statehood recognition while ignoring their right to have a state that is viable and contiguous, to have control over their borders, to be in charge of their own security, to have the right to defend themselves and the right to seek justice and accountability, this is dangerous,” says Ms. Sabawi.

Samah Sabawi is Gaza Born and Melbourne based. She has written and produced the plays Cries from the Land (2003) and Three Wishes (2008), both having staged successfully in Canada. In 2014, Sabawi completed a sold-out season of her acclaimed play, Tales of a City by the Sea, which had an Arabic production by Al Rowwad Theatre in Palestine and an English production by La Mama Theatre in Melbourne, Australia.

Sabawi's essays and opeds have appeared in various media outlets including The Australian, Al Jazeera, Al-Ahram, The Globe and Mail, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. Her poetry has been featured in various magazines and books, most recently in an anthology published by West End Press titled With Our Eyes Wide Open: Poems of the New American Century. She is a frequent guest/co-presenter on 774 ABC Melbourne's Jon Faine's Conversation Hour. She appeared alongside Israeli writer Ari Shavit, BBC News New York and UN Correspondent Nick Bryant, actress Miriam Margolyes, and numerous others.

Sabawi is a policy advisor to the Palestinian policy network Al Shabaka, and a member of the board of directors of the National Council on Canada-Arab Relations. She participated in various public forums on peace building, women in conflict areas, the Palestinian right of return, as well as various presentations for interfaith groups.

TOUR DATES

WELLINGTON SAT 14 FEB, 6:00 pm Kilbirnie Community Centre,56 Bay Rd.

CHRISTCHURCH SUN 15 FEB (all day from 10 am ) Seminar on Palestine feat. Samah Sabawi, WEA Centre, 59 Gloucester St. Christchurch

CHRISTCHURCH MON 16 FEB, 7:00 pm WEA Centre, 59 Gloucester St., Chch

WELLINGTON TUE 17 FEB, 6:00 pm, 19 Tory Street, Wgtn

HAMILTON WED 18 FEB , 7:00pm Room 1.04, Block A, first floor WINTEC, Access via Gate 3, High Street (off Tristram St), Hamilton City

AUCKLAND THURS 19 FEB, 6:00 pm University of Auckland, Room 220, the Arts 1 Building, Building 206 (Off Symonds Street), Auckland City

ENDS

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