Izzeldin Abuelaish is a famous Canadian and Palestinian physician and a social activist. He has an incredibly tragic life story: during the Gaza War, his three daughters were killed, and, later, his wife also died. Eager to share his tragedy with the world and to demonstrate people that one should never give up no matter how hard it is sometimes to continue living, in 2011, after he left Palestine and moved to Canada, I. Abuelaish wrote an autobiographical book “I Shall Not Hate.” In this work, the author formulates a number of rules that he has learned on the basis of his personal experience and wants other people to follow them too if they are eager to be happy and improve the world around. Among the lessons I. Abuelaish wants everyone to learn is that “it is not enough to sow the seeds of wisdom; we are called to action if we are to reap a bountiful harvest (234),” and he demonstrates how one must act on the examples of his professional and private lives.
First, the above-mentioned suggests that no matter how many great ideas a person has, all of them will have no purpose if nobody brings them into effect. Therefore, the author of the book “I Shall Not Hate” makes his small contribution to the improvement of the world through his profession every day. Being a gifted therapist, he has saved many lives and continues doing his job with pleasure and dedication. It is also essential that I. Abuelaish was the first Palestinian doctor who worked in Israel despite the military and political conflicts between these countries. In his book, he expresses his position concerning the war between Israel and Palestine clearly: the citizens of both countries have equal rights and freedoms, and they should stop confrontations and search for a compromise that will satisfy both sides. It goes without saying that this idea is not new and has been already expressed by many public people. However, not many of them ever came to the enemy state to cure people there and save their lives.
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Another factor of the author’s life that has influenced his understanding of the world and led him to the lesson mentioned above is his personal tragedy – the death of his three daughters. Though his pain after the accident was unbearable, I. Abuelaish and his wife still managed to find inner strength and continue their lives dedicating them to their other children and helping young women in Islamic countries to get education. In the book, the author mentions that he is strongly convinced that women are very gifted and have a great potential that should be developed. Once, he dreamt that his daughters would get education and make their contributions to the establishment of peace among people and the improvement of the world. Since their fate was different, now, I. Abuelaish wants other girls to accomplish their dreams. The man claims that his contribution is very small, but, as one of his daughters used to say, “everything starts small and then becomes big (Abuelaish 220).” Very often, even the smallest chance given in the right moment can change the whole person’s life.
Summing up, I. Abuelaish is an example of a strong personality who, despite all the hardships he has faced in the course of his life, continues helping people and inspiring them to do the same. One of his key lessons mentioned in the book “I Shall Not Hate” suggests that one should not just be wise, but do something in practice if one wants to make the world better. The author of the book has learned this lesson from his personal experience and assures that it is one of the most effective ways to change everything for the better.
- Abuelaish, Izzeldin. I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011.
