Zak Ebrahim
Autor/a de The terrorist's son
Obres de Zak Ebrahim
Etiquetat
Coneixement comú
- Altres noms
- Nosair, Abdulaziz El Sayyid
- Data de naixement
- 1983-03-24
- Gènere
- male
- Nacionalitat
- USA
- Lloc de naixement
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- Biografia breu
- Zak Ebrahim was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 24, 1983, the son of an Egyptian industrial engineer and an American teacher. When Ebrahim was seven, his father shot and killed the found or the Jewish Defense League, Rabbi Meir Kahane. From behind bars Ebrahim's father, El-Sayyid Nosair, co-masterminded the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Ebrahim spent the rest of his childhood moving from city to city, winding his identity from those who knew of his father. He now dedicates his life to speaking out against terrorism and spreading his message of peace and nonviolence. In 2013, he participated in TED's talent search in New York City, and was selected to speak at the main TED Conference the following year. [from The Terrorist's Son (2014)]
Membres
Ressenyes
"The Terrorist's Son: A Story of Choice" is very short, being something between a short book or a long magazine article. So if you're at all curious about it, as I was, pick up a copy. It's a small investment in your time.
It's a story of an American born Muslim, Zak Ebrahim. Ebrahim is the son of a convicted terrorist, El-Sayed Nosair, who murdered radical Israeli rabbi Meir Kahane about twenty-five years ago in NYC, and then while in jail for that crime, helped plan the initial 1993 World Trade Center bombing carried out by members of his radical mosque in Jersey City, NJ.
Ebrahim could have admired his father, and followed in his footsteps, or could have rejected the radical teachings which consumed his father. The positive side of his book is that made the latter choice, rejecting that hateful lifestyle. The negative take-away from this short story is the realization of how easily he could have ended up being as radical as his father, and in some part, hearing about the hard life of his American-born mother, a convert to the Muslim faith, especially after being remarried to another Muslim man she barely knew.
Ebrahim tells his story of frequent moves after his father's conviction, and of how being within a small closed community, being taught those outside your group are not to be trusted, can perpetuate the lifestyle exemplified by his father. Given Ebrahim's unhappy childhood, isolation, and teachings from his father, it's a surprise that Ebrahim rejected hate and embraced peace and non-violence. But it's an individual choice, and a choice not easily made by others taught early in life to hate.
… (més)
It's a story of an American born Muslim, Zak Ebrahim. Ebrahim is the son of a convicted terrorist, El-Sayed Nosair, who murdered radical Israeli rabbi Meir Kahane about twenty-five years ago in NYC, and then while in jail for that crime, helped plan the initial 1993 World Trade Center bombing carried out by members of his radical mosque in Jersey City, NJ.
Ebrahim could have admired his father, and followed in his footsteps, or could have rejected the radical teachings which consumed his father. The positive side of his book is that made the latter choice, rejecting that hateful lifestyle. The negative take-away from this short story is the realization of how easily he could have ended up being as radical as his father, and in some part, hearing about the hard life of his American-born mother, a convert to the Muslim faith, especially after being remarried to another Muslim man she barely knew.
Ebrahim tells his story of frequent moves after his father's conviction, and of how being within a small closed community, being taught those outside your group are not to be trusted, can perpetuate the lifestyle exemplified by his father. Given Ebrahim's unhappy childhood, isolation, and teachings from his father, it's a surprise that Ebrahim rejected hate and embraced peace and non-violence. But it's an individual choice, and a choice not easily made by others taught early in life to hate.
… (més)
Zak says,
“When I was a kid, I never questioned what I heard at home or at school or at the mosque. Bigotry just slipped into my system along with everything else: Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Pi equals 3.14. All Jews are evil, and homosexuality is an abomination. Paris is the capital of France. They all sounded like facts. Who was I to differentiate? I was made to fear people who are different and kept away from them as much as possible for my own “protection.” Bigotry is such a maddeningly perfect circle — I never got close enough to find out if I should fear them in the first place.” p. 79… (més)
“When I was a kid, I never questioned what I heard at home or at school or at the mosque. Bigotry just slipped into my system along with everything else: Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Pi equals 3.14. All Jews are evil, and homosexuality is an abomination. Paris is the capital of France. They all sounded like facts. Who was I to differentiate? I was made to fear people who are different and kept away from them as much as possible for my own “protection.” Bigotry is such a maddeningly perfect circle — I never got close enough to find out if I should fear them in the first place.” p. 79… (més)
I just finished this book.
I'm bouncing between a 4 and 5 star rating on this one. I think I'm going to let it settle in for a few days and see how I feel.
It is a short and easy read. It's emotional, heartbreaking, inspirational. There are lines that just sit with you and for a moment. Everything is real, pretty well written, characters are told well.
The narration brings you in. This is something that other books of this type have neglected to do for me (A Child Called It). I do wish it was longer. I think that is my only complaint.… (més)
I'm bouncing between a 4 and 5 star rating on this one. I think I'm going to let it settle in for a few days and see how I feel.
It is a short and easy read. It's emotional, heartbreaking, inspirational. There are lines that just sit with you and for a moment. Everything is real, pretty well written, characters are told well.
The narration brings you in. This is something that other books of this type have neglected to do for me (A Child Called It). I do wish it was longer. I think that is my only complaint.… (més)
Premis
Potser també t'agrada
Estadístiques
- Obres
- 5
- Membres
- 180
- Popularitat
- #119,865
- Valoració
- 3.8
- Ressenyes
- 9
- ISBN
- 14
- Llengües
- 4
An seinem 18. Geburtstag verkündet ZE seiner Mutter, dass er Menschen nicht mehr danach beurteilen werde, ob sie Christen, Muslime, Atheisten, Buddhisten, schwul oder hetero etc. sind, sondern nach dem, wer sie sind. Seine Mutter sagte ihm daraufhin den kraftvollsten Satz, den er bis dorthin je von ihr gehört hatte: 'Ich habe es so satt, Menschen zu hassen.'
ZE beschreibt in feiner Genauigkeit seine eigene Entwicklung und den Druck, dem er ausgesetzt war - ein Kind, das den Einflüsterungen des Isalmismus schutzlos ausgeliefert war, den Schlägen seines Vaters und noch mehr denen des Stiefvaters.
Man versteht, warum Menschen, die in der Fremde drangsaliert und sozial marginalisiert sind, den Verlockungen radikaler Muslime anheim fallen, wie sie durch die Worte Allahs bzw. Mohammeds verändert und auf die anderen, die Ungläubigen, fokussiert und abgerichtet werden können.
ZE hat seinen Weg aus den Verstrickungen herausgefunden. Er ist heute kein Muslim mehr. Seine Welt wird jetzt von der Liebe für seine Familienangehörigen und Freunde bestimmt, von der moralische Verpflichtung, dass wir alle besser miteinander und mit den nachfolgenden Generationen umgehen müssen, und dem Wunsch, den Schaden seines Vater wieder gut zu machen.
Er hält heute Vorträge über den Islamismus und wie man gemeinsam Frieden schaffen kann, ein beispielhafter Weg als Friedensaktivist, der hoffen lässt. Er stellt Menschen über Götter und respektiert die Anhänger jeglicher Glaubensrichtung sowie setzt sich für einen interreligiösen Weg ein.
ZE: "'Ich musste mein Leben lang mit ansehen, wie die Religion als Waffe missbraucht wurde, und lege daher alle Waffen nieder.'"
Ein mehr als beeindruckendes Zeugnis dafür, dass Gewalt und 'Sich-über-andere-stellen' niemals eine Lösung sein kann, sondern nur bedingungslose Liebe. Extremismus ablehnen heißt für ZE, das wahre Leben schon hier, auf der Erde, zu entdecken und nicht vertröstet zu werden auf das Paradies.
Dem Buch vorangestellt ist ein Motto von Gandhi:
Ein Mensch ist nur ein Produkt seiner Gedanken. Er wird, was er denkt.… (més)