Sumud: Palestinian resilience and its impact on the world

Against a background of what some have described as ongoing apartheid and an unfolding genocide, this series of public events explores the resilience of Palestinian people, and the intersections between this resilience and political action around the globe.

Through evocative and informative depictions of life in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the series examines how governmental actions have inhibited discourse on Palestine and contributed to scholasticide. Featuring lectures and panel presentations from world-leading scholars and journalists, film screenings, and artistic performances, the series celebrates the concept of sumud, and the ways that Palestinian people sustain community against adversity.

Event 1

Film screening: The Doctor’s Wife

Thursday 31 July, 6pm

B201, 10 Symonds Street

Lecture Theatre: 201-393

A feature-length documentary film by Paula Whetu-Jones.

After retiring from a distinguished career as a cardiac surgeon in New Zealand, Dr Alan Kerr led a Kiwi team to Gaza and the West Bank to operate on children with heart disease. What started as a two-week visit became a 20-year commitment to Palestine, involving 40 medical missions to Gaza and the West Bank and hundreds of operations.

Dedicated to the health of Palestinians living under occupation, Dr Kerr was instrumental in the establishment of an independent Palestinian cardiac unit. He trained the first Palestinian paediatric cardiac surgeon, and has since been recognised as the ‘Father of Paediatric Cardiac Surgery' in Palestine. However, he couldn't have achieved this on his own—his wife, Hazel Kerr, travelled with him, bringing a different kind of healing to the people she met in Palestine.

The screening of this film is followed by Q&A with Alan and Hazel Kerr, and Paula Whetu-Jones.