A Crack in the Wall: Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan

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.

Now, for the first time, the pair will appear together in Australia for a special World of Words event, hosted by Sally Warhaft. Join Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan as they share their powerful story of loss, personal empathy and peace.

Presented in partnership with Plus61J Media

This event is supported by the Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund, a Victorian Government and City of Melbourne partnership.

From South Korea to Mozambique, the UK to Vietnam, India to the USA – World of Words brings together some of the world’s most exciting writers and thinkers as they share insights, ideas and inspiration from their internationally acclaimed careers.