Born in Israel to Iraqi Jewish parents[1] in Ramat Gan,[2] Shabi grew up in the UK.

Shabi is a journalist based in the UK, having also reported from the Middle East including on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and from Tunisia and Egypt.

As well as focusing on the Middle East, she writes on issues such as progressive politics, the far right, counter-extremism and migration.

In the work, Shabi argued that Israel has discriminated against and culturally stripped its population of Jews from Arab and Muslim countries.

Shabi was shortlisted for the 2011 Orwell journalism prize[6] and was a joint winner in the Press Category of the Anna Lindh Journalist Award for reporting across cultures (for her article "We were looking for a nice, peaceful place near Jerusalem", published by The Guardian) the same year.