Greens candidate for Blaxland, Omar Sakr, is determined to be a voice for change in this year’s federal election.
“We need good people in Parliament — people who will do the right thing, and oppose injustices and discrimination consistently,” Sakr said in his candidacy statement.
Born and raised in western Sydney to Arab and Turkish Muslim migrant parents, Sakr is an award-winning poet, novelist and essayist. His poetry collection ‘The Lost Arabs’ won the 2020 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards for Poetry and was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, the John Bray Poetry Award, and the Colin Roderick Award.
Sakr’s candidacy statement outlines his ongoing efforts in giving back to, and improving his community’s access to education and the arts. He currently works in Fairfield for an independent arts charity that develops multilingual programs for migrants and refugees.
The candidate is no stranger to speaking out against islamophobia in his community. In an interview with Read Poetry, Sakr says his activism is deeply rooted in his personal experiences as an Arab-Australian Muslim.
“[I] speak back to my family, my faith, my culture, to interrogate what has been done to us, been done to me, and the lies used to justify them,” he says.
Sakr’s campaign, upheld by the Greens’ policies, intends to hold major parties accountable for what he calls islamophobic narratives and end the occupation of Palestine.
Allister Claasz, Convenor of the Hawkesbury Greens, when asked about the position of Palestine-Israel conflict, says his party has always been transparent in their positions against islamophobia, and how they are “in constant communication with Muslim community leaders and members.”
“With many of our members supporting or being a member of the Muslim communities, we are confident in our ability to reflect their perspectives in our policies at all levels of government,” Claasz says.
During his speech at a community BBQ in Guildford last August, Sakr explained how speaking out against zionism and the profound rot of its genocidal racism has cost him professionally. For instance, his contract with the State Library of Victoria was terminated in 2024 on the basis of “child and cultural safety”.
“Not only do I refuse to be quiet about it, but I’m determined to be louder than ever before,” he says.
Sakr says this is what really pushed him to start his political career; the government’s blind eye towards the mass slaughter and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. He adds the only political party to have a human reaction to the monstrosities occurring in Gaza was the Greens.
“I’m disgusted and horrified by the Labor government’s refusal to sanction Israel in accordance with international law, as it carries out a genocide in Palestine,” he said in a media release last year, where Senator Mehreen Faruqi announced his candidacy for the federal seat of Blaxland.
The Greens claim recent data from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade shows that in February 2024, the Albanese Labor government permitted the export of over $1.5 million in ‘arms and ammunition’ to Israel. The claim is disputed by Labor.
“Labor does not care about western Sydney. Labor’s inaction on Israel’s genocide in Gaza has traumatised Arab and Muslim communities in western Sydney, and they teamed up with the Liberals to pass horrific anti-migrant laws,” Faruqi says in the media release. “With people like Omar alongside me, we can keep fighting even more strongly for marginalised communities who have been left behind.”
If voted in on May 3rd, Sakr says he will ensure the voices of the Blaxland community are heard and reflected in parliament.
“Omar will bring the authenticity of western Sydney and its rich multicultural community into the halls of parliament, and that’s exactly what we need,” Faruqi says.
