Short Bio of Speakers

Captain Ali Al-Wahabi – Saddam Hussein’s former personal pilot, who rose through the ranks, made a heart-stopping escape from the iron fortress of Baghdad 20 years ago, and who today is a commercial airline pilot with one of the world’s major airlines.  For nearly a decade Ali has called Australia home, living in Sydney with his German Catholic wife and two children.  Recently Ali joined forces with co-writer, Lynn Santer, to document his experiences in Iraq, citing facts about the former iron-fisted ruler of his country that are unlikely to ever be revealed elsewhere. 

His autobiography, “Farewell Brave Babylon” was released in 2006 and has now become in hot demand not only across Australia but indeed across the world.  Raised in Baghdad believing everyone from the West to be a potential enemy, Ali’s eyes were opened when, ironically, he was sent to pilot cadet school in the UK. After seeing that the propaganda he’d been raised with wasn’t as true as he once believed Ali viewed everything with different eyes.  His first-hand observations of the ruling élite in Iraq disclosed a rare insight into their private lives, leading Saddam’s personal pilot to a fateful decision. 

Torn between the love of his homeland and his burning desire to flee from the Mukhabarat (Iraqi Intelligence Service) who were pressuring him to betray a close friend, Ali conceived a daring plan to escape, an escape which very nearly cost him his life.

Rabbi Nir Gurevitch – Israeli born Chassidic (ultra orthodox) Rabbi of Russian decent, trained by the legendary Rabbi Schneerson in New York, Rabbi Nir Gurevitch is father of eight and leader of the Gold Coast’s Hebrew congregation.  The Rabbi asks is peace really achievable or is it just wishful thinking?  At “Passion for Peace” sessions, in using a range of analogies, along with his trademark humor, the Rabbi very eloquently points out that there is no need for us to lose our individuality to achieve peace.  Whatever our differences we all have one undeniable fact in common… we are all members of the same race… the human race.  Our blood is all red and our tears are all salty. 

The word “shalom”, the Hebrew word for peace, is derived from a word that means “whole”, and the Rabbi argues that as such we should recognize we are all part of the same environment that binds us together and only in unison of vision, while retaining our individual beliefs, can there be completeness.

Robyn Wigmore – former spokesperson and campaigner for the Christian aid organisation, World Vision, qualified teacher and tour guide, Robyn recently led a group of 20 schoolchildren on a historical journey through Japan. 

A mother of two Robyn has used her demonstrably solid faith to steer her through several life changing tragedies while retaining a sense of humor, a joyous spirit, and positive attitude.  Her experiences as an exchange student in Japan were equally life changing when she found herself living in the home of a man who had been on the opposite side of a war with members of Robyn’s family.  The buoyant personality and effervescent nature of this lady are infectious and the observations she’s made and lessons she’s learned from her life experiences are inspirational.

Lynn Santer – founder and manager of the Passion for Peace team, Lynn is a best-selling author and awarded screenwriter who has been an active campaigner for wildlife conservation since she was a small child.  Her first award for animal welfare was presented when she was just eleven years old, and she sent her first manuscript to a publisher at the ripe old age of nine! 

Today that manuscript “The Magical Scarecrows” has been rewritten and illustrated and is being produced by Lynn specifically and solely to be donated to children’s hospitals and children’s charities.  Lynn is the co-author of Ali’s autobiography “Farewell Brave Babylon”, a member of Rabbi Gurevitch’s Hebrew Congregation, and close friend to Robyn Wigmore.  She is also the author of the forthcoming authorized biography of enigmatic adventurer, forerunner to Steve Irwin, and fellow conservationist, Alby Mangels, as well as the author of the controversial best sellers “Professor Midnight” and “Land of the Free”. 

Channel Nine’s high rating “Sunday Program” has produced major cover stories on all of these projects, the most recent of which featured Lynn’s close friend, Alfred Hitchcock’s star of “The Birds” and Melanie Griffith’s mum, Tippi Hedren.  Together Lynn and Tippi have hired ex SAS commandos to plan an undercover mission in Africa to expose brutal atrocities against endangered big game by some of the wealthiest men on earth.  “Land of the Free” is the lightly fictionalized chronicle of this saga.

 
TOPICS
TOPIC: Racial tolerance and coexistence
TOPIC Title:   Passion for Peace
Target Audience:  Adults, intellectuals, business people, religious leaders,
   politicians, etc
Level of
Sophistication:  Intermediate/Advanced

Duration of Talk:  Can be tailored to suit occasion

Book sales and signings of Captain Al-Wahabi’s tell-all, true-life, mile-high adventure/autobiography “Farewell Brave Babylon”.  It is NOT a requirement this be included at all presentations, but it is preferred.

List of connected topics: Religion, the Middle East, Enlightenment, Courage.

Synopsis of Presentation :

Passion for Peace - The Mission – to address audiences (mainly the leaders of tomorrow, i.e. school children and university students) about peace, tolerance, coexistence, and understanding, demonstrating how two men traditionally seen as enemies on the world stage, and indeed the antithesis of one another, can become firm friends and together with their Christian friend show people that they don’t need to change the whole world, just their small corner of it, to create a ripple effect that makes tomorrow a better place.  The logo of the team is a dove, about which the Rabbi tells the story of Noah and the ark: when Noah sent out the dove to see if there was dry land to settle on he reached out his hand to receive the dove when it returned.  Why, when there was no option for the dove but to fly back into the ark?  The lesson the Rabbi tells us is in this story is that one has to reach out to achieve peace and not just expect it to happen through the efforts of others.  The entire Passion for Peace team is proud to be conducting this initiative in loving memory of Lynn’s late father, Neville Santer.

Who Should Attend :

Anyone who can think who doesn’t carry a bomb!!!

How you will benefit :

Inspiration, education, awareness – almost all members of the general public sadly suffer from a frighteningly high level of ignorance about both the Jewish and Muslim faiths – including many Muslims!  Hardly anyone knows why the tension between these two religions started, nor are they aware of how many similarities there are between the religions in language, customs, and even favourite foods!  The three religions here: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, ALL spring from ONE founding father, in Abraham, which is unique against any other religion in the world and completely forgotten about as radicals hijacking any of these faiths set about trying to obliterate their neighbours… and cousins.

Classification :

Please specify here how you will classify this seminar
Inspirational… and educational… evocative and courageous.