Born in Amarah, Wali fled Iraq in 1980 after the outbreak of the Iran–Iraq War. He lives in Hamburg. Wali has published seven books. He is a correspondent for Al HayatStandard rezension and has written in Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, and elsewhere. In 2009 he published "Reise in das Herz des Feindes" ("Journey into the Heart of the Enemy"), an account of his travels in Israel, which presented a positive view of the country.
