On April 3, the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts hosted a moving talk. This talk emphasized the significance of making the right choice, revisited the necessity of embracing peace by rejecting hatred and brought goosebumps to every single member of the Rozsa’s audience. It was a thought-provoking memoir by the son of a terrorist, Zak Ebrahim. He discussed how his childhood was constrained by an extremist ideological bubble, how he managed to repel those lessons and how he became a peace activist. The talk was a part of the Rozsa’s Van Evera Distinguished Lecture Series and further underlined Michigan Tech’s efforts towards promoting nonviolence, peace, tolerance and acceptance for all.
Zak Ebrahim was born to El Sayyid Nosair, a man with radical beliefs who was convicted of involvement in the 1993 New York World Trade Center bombings and also charged with the assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane, the leader of the Jewish Defense League. Nosair was sentenced to life imprisonment for his crimes. In the talk, Ebrahim started with a discussion about his childhood. Ebrahim was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as Abdulaziz El Sayyid Nosair, to an Egyptian industrial engineer father and an American mother, who was a school teacher. He said that his father was one among the fervent religious followers who believed they are supposed to take any means necessary to make others live as they do.
Ebrahim was lacking in social skills as a result of events surrounding his upbringing. His family was constantly moving and he had to switch schools often. Being the new kid, he was subjected to bullying, which made him stay at home and he could hardly socialize. He was essentiality raised to judge people based on random metrics; however, Ebrahim had a few major experiences that led him to change his perspectives and challenge his teachings. He discussed how he made friends with an individual during a National Convention unbeknownst to the fact that the friend was Jewish. He realized that the religion barrier that he was made to believe in as a child was, in fact, untrue. Also, a multifaceted experience during his job at the Busch Gardens forced an exposure to people with varied backgrounds, faiths and cultures. These interactions, among other such experiences, allowed Ebrahim to develop his own beliefs and shrug off his childhood bigotry.
Ebrahim’s is an inspiring story of making the right choices despite the circumstances, challenging biased beliefs and parting ways with violence. Although the story itself is stimulating, he explains his real motivation for sharing his experiences, “I do it in the hopes that perhaps someone someday who is compelled to use violence may hear my story and realize that there is a better way. That, although I had been subjected to this violent, intolerant ideology, I did not become fanaticized. Instead, I choose to use my experience to fight back against terrorism, against the bigotry.” Zak Ebrahim’s wonderful life story is documented in a book, “The Terrorist’s Son: A Story of Choice,” written by Ebrahim himself. Zak Ebrahim continues to be a distinguished speaker, an honest messenger of peace and a savior who strives to help liberate those strangled in strings of intolerance, hatred and violence. If you would like to purchase a copy of his book, it is available on Amazon and is well worth the price. If you missed his lecture and are interested in learning more and hearing him speak, you can follow this link to watch his Ted talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/zak_ebrahim_i_am_the_son_of_a_terrorist_here_s_how_i_chose_peace
