Israeli-Palestinian Mira Awad on ‘Indentities, Narratives and Maintaining Hope’

Mira Awad, renown Israeli-Palestinian multifaceted artist and relentless activist for co-existence, will be speaking on March 14 via Zoom. Born in the village of Rameh in the Galilee to a Palestinian father and Bulgarian mother, she currently lives in Tel Aviv. A singer, songwriter, actress, stage performance coach, artist and content creator, Awad has been a star on Israeli television, in cinema and on stage.

Awad studied music at the Rimon School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, released two solo albums and collaborated with many international artists including Noa, Idan Riachel, Andrea Boccelli and Bobby McFerrin. Throughout her career, Awad developed a unique fusion of sounds by combining the East with the West and weaving the Arabic language and its ornaments with Western harmonies to create unique modern Arabic fusion music with a rich tapestry of sounds.

As an actress, Awad participated in numerous theater productions, her most memorable part being Eliza Doolittle in the musical “My Fair Lady.” She starred on the highly rated Israeli television series “Arab Labor” and hosted several TV shows. She also created and co-wrote the TV drama “Muna.”

Awad is an Artivista who uses her stage visibility to promote peace. Through her art, she is a relentless activist dedicated to promoting equality and human solidarity. A big believer in dialogue and co-existence, she speaks out for women's rights, equal citizenship for Palestinians living in Israel, a two-state solution and environmental awareness. She deals with these issues in her songs and plays. Since she identifies as both an Israeli and a Palestinian, she is attacked by advocates of many sides of the conflict.

Together with Achinoam Nini, Awad represented Israel in the prestigious Eurovision song contest in 2009. Nini, known as Noa, is a Yemenite Israeli Jew who performed in Rhode Island several years ago for a Yom Ha’Atzmaut concert. At the time, Awad was the first Christian Arab Israeli to represent Israel at Eurovision, which she did despite much pressure by Palestinian and Arab activists.

On March 14, Awad will speak about “Indentities, Narratives and Maintaining Hope.” She thinks that the Israeli-Palestinian issue has never been so personal and asks, “When each side in a conflict pulls you to join their bunker, how do you stay in the open and avoid self-victimizing?”

This program is sponsored by The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island along with The Jewish Agency for Israel and the Southern New England Consortium (SNEC) of Jewish Federations that have partnered with the Afula/Gilboa region of Israel in Partnership2Gether. The program will take place at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 14. To receive a link to the Zoom presentation, register at https://jewishfederationofgreaternewha.regfox.com/mira-awad.

LARRY KATZ (lkatz@jewishallianceri.org) is the director of Jewish life and learning at the Jewish Alliance.