Curing Hatred With Forgiveness & Education: A conversation with Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, 2010 Nobel Peace Prize nominee and internationally recognized human rights and inspirational peace activist, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. Dr. Abuelaish talks to Lakshya about what hatred does to a person and to a community, where he gets his strength to deliver his message of hope and forgiveness, why political leaders need to humanize and not politicize, how health and peace are inter-connected, and why he started the Daughters For Life Foundation. Dr. Abuelaish is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Office of Global Public Health Education & Training at the University of Toronto. In January 2009, an Israeli tank shelled the home of Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish in the Gaza Strip and killed three of his daughters: Bessan, 21; Mayar, 15; and Aya, 13. This tragedy occured only minutes before Dr. Abuelaish was scheduled to speak live on Israeli television. His recorded cries for help captured hearts and headlines in Israel and around the world, and his response to the loss of his daughters was followed by international audiences. Dr. Abuelaish never sought to seek revenge or sink into despair and hatred. Instead, he called for those in the Middle East to stop the bloodshed and facilitate discourse for mutual understanding. His strongest hope is that his daughters will be the last sacrifice on the road to peace between Palestinians and Israelis. He started and chairs the Daughters For Life Foundation in their memory, based on the belief that lasting peace in the Middle East depends on the empowerment of girls and young women through education, which will allow them to become agents of change for the betterment of life throughout the Middle East. His 2010 book "I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor's Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity” has been translated in to 23 languages. Dr. Abuelaish will be speaking at JLF Toronto on September 28. To learn more about his work, go to https://daughtersforlife.com/