An Amazing Escape From Yemen – Dan Friedman In Conversation With Mohammed Al Samawi
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
The Talmud says, “Whoever saves a life, it is as if he has saved an entire world.” But how many of us would actually save a life?
Against the odds, four strangers of three faiths worked together to save Mohammed Al Samawi, reaching out through social media.
Dan Friedman, executive editor and former culture editor of the Forward, will be discussing the astounding new memoir, “The Fox Hunt: A Refugee’s Memoir of Coming to America,” with its author Mohammed Al Samawi, a Muslim refugee from Yemen. Read the review here.
CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS FOR THE EVENT
Mohammed Al Samawi, Daniel Pincus and the Statue of Liberty. Image by Courtesy of Harper Collins
Persecuted in part, for challenging his government’s official anti-Semitism, Al Samawi found himself fleeing for his life. Caught in the middle of Yemen’s brutal civil war, he was rescued — crossing the Red Sea on Passover — by a group of strangers he connected with via social media. Together, these daring young Jews and Christians saved the life of a man they had never met. “The Fox Hunt, a Refugee’s Memoir of Coming to America,” is the true account of Al Samawi’s journey to freedom.
Mohammed Al Samawi with Natasha Westheimer, one of his social media saviors. Image by Courtesy of Harper Collins
Al Samawi will take time off from appearing on NBC being written about in The New York Times, People magazine and talking to NPR to attend a private Forward event in Manhattan on Tuesday, April 24. Friedman will interview Al Samawi and will also welcome Daniel Pincus, one of Al Samawi’s saviors.
Tickets for the event are $36 and include refreshments and a signed copy of the book. Purchase them here
To find out how to become a friend of the Forward and get notices of events like these, email Robbie Caplan.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
