Izzeldin Abuelaish was born on February 3, 1955, in the Gaza
Strip, Palestine. Growing up in the
Jabalia Refugee Camp while sharing a 3x3m
room with his mother, father, and siblings, young Izzeldin did not have much
other than big dreams and bags of potential, and as it turned out, that was all
he needed. His hard work earned him a place in medical school; he eventually
obtained several medical degrees and became the first Palestinian doctor to be
appointed at an Israeli hospital
اضافة اعلان
That alone is no mean feat, but Abuelaish did not stop
there; he went on to dedicate his life to enabling and encouraging peace,
involving himself in conflicts all over the world, using his medical expertise
as well as his peace-making abilities, which eventually led to his nomination
for the Nobel Peace Prize five different times.
Abuelaish was praised by leaders worldwide, including
Barack Obama, who named him as an example of “strength and reconciliation”.
The Belgian Parliament called him the “Martin Luther King Jr of the Middle
East”.
Abuelaish’s autobiography, a best seller, was widely
acclaimed by critics. His charitable organization Daughters for Life, which
works to promote the education of women in the Middle East is a charity
registered in the US and Europe. He is now an associate professor at the
University of Toronto.
These accomplishments are impressive; they also reinforce
Abuelaish’s authority on issues like peace and rejection of hate, an emotion
all too known to the Palestinian doctor.
In the 2009 Gaza War, two Israeli tank shells hit the
apartment complex where the Abuelaish family lived, killing three of Izzeldin’s
daughters as well as his niece. His appeal to the Israeli supreme court for an
apology was rejected, but Izzeldin decided that he could not let hate, anger
and sadness consume him; instead, he used his pain as motivation to make the
world a better place and prevent horrific acts like that from happening to
anyone else.
Recently, Abuelaish imparted to
Jordan News his mission,
philosophy, and view of our world, expressing hope that his promotion of good
can inspire others to follow the same path.
Rejecting
impossibility and taking responsibility
Even a mild understanding of
Abuelaish’s story would be enough to asses the improbability of his success, so
how has he achieved all that he has?
Well, he never acknowledged that improbability.
Instead, he remained confident in his mission, convinced that “the first step
to failure is to lose confidence”. And even if one fails, Abuelaish made clear
that “failure is the incentive, it is the trigger, it is the motive behind our
success”.
For the most part, this precept guided Abuelaish,
convinced him that the concept of impossibility does not exist. The word itself
“is not in my dictionary” he said with unbreakable confidence.
Another key aspect of Abuelaish’s philosophy
regarding failure or goal attainment is assuming responsibility: “The biggest
challenge to human beings is individual responsibility, the easiest thing is to
blame and avoid responsibility.”
According to Abuelaish, shifting blame is not only
unproductive, it is also harmful, and “never leads to personal growth”, for, as
he puts it, “life has been and will always be the result of our efforts, of our
own actions”.
Abuelaish’s journey exemplifies his philosophy in
more ways than one. From growing up in a refugee camp to being nominated for a
Nobel Prize is itself a great achievement. Maybe his view of a refugee had
something to do with it.
“This refugee, is not just someone displaced or
exiled. This human being has a name, has a face, has hopes, has dreams, has
plans, has parents; one day he has a country, he has a home, and the next he is
homeless, deprived of his humanity, exposed to intimidation and humiliation.”
With his view of what a refugee is, Abuelaish
humanizes the issue while others politicize it, and this also sets a more
realistic path for someone in a refugee camp to succeed, a normal human being,
as he points out.
True, the hardship of being a refugee in a camp
could hinder the chances of someone succeeding, especially since living in
conditions such as these could easily make one feel angry and, more
importantly, hate those responsible for his situation.
Anger, he says, may be positive or negative. It is
sometimes necessary, and should even be encouraged in certain situations, “like
being angry when we see injustice and we take action because of it”. It should
be positive anger that motivates one, he stresses, as negative anger is
unproductive and harmful.
Abuelaish views hatred as “a poison”. “Most studies
speak about hatred as a feeling, as an emotion, but I realized as a medical doctor
that hatred is not only a feeling”; it is “destructive, contagious, a disease”.
Moreover, he says, hatred is contagious, ultimately
creating an endless cycle of destruction and conflict.
For him, “the antidote to hatred is resilience,
steadfastness, kindness to yourself, and self-forgiveness. Do not think of the
perpetrator”. Moreover, “if you were a victim of some act, action from others,
do not accept to be a victim more than once”.
Doing this, he says, will transform hatred into
positive energy, enabling a person to “challenge the perpetrator, to not give
up and not forget”.
Aware that everybody handles emotions differently,
that the resilience and steadfastness of one person may not be as potent as of
another, he believes that the best thing is to “prevent exposure to hatred”.
Providing people with peace, justice, equality, and freedom is the best way to
avoid that exposure to hatred, he believes.
The importance of
educating women
After the death of his three
daughters and niece, Abuelaish founded the charitable organization “Daughters
for Life”, for the purpose of aiding and guiding women through education
systems across the Middle East, while also keeping the image of his daughters
alive, for him and for the many he has helped.
“Women do not need to be empowered, they already
have the power, they only need the means, and education is a means to an end,
the means to practice their role as equal to men,” says Abuelaish.
“The best way to measure the development of a
country is to examine women participation in decision making,” he stresses.
Abuelaish stands as a shining beacon of inspiration
and hope to all. He was able to transcend his negative emotions and dedicate
himself to the promotion of good.
“When I go to bed, I will have done something good. If I did
not do something good, I did not do any harm; that is what I want others to
take,” he says by way of advice.
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