''I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor's Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity'' (2011) is a book by Izzeldin Abuelaish which describes his life in Gaza and the killing of three of his daughters in 2009. It narrates both Abuelaish's own story and explores the history of the conflict, as well as supporting calls for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, stating that "violence begets violence and breeds more hatred".

Background

Abuelaish grew up in a refugee camp in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

and studied medicine in Cairo, the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. By the time of the 2008-2009 Gaza War, he had worked at two Israeli hospitals and was a well known public figure. In January 2009, an Israeli shell was fired directly into his daughters' bedroom in Gaza, killing three of them. Abuelaish, who had already been involved with the peace movement by this time, refused to let the killings make him hate or seek revenge, instead publicly arguing for co-existence between the Palestinians and Israelis.

Reception

The book received positive reviews, and Abeulaish was later nominated for the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote that the book is notable for containing a rare undistorted description of everyday life in Gaza, as well as life during the siege, which will serve as "an eye-opener for many readers". A review in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' called the book "amazing", and according to the ''

National Catholic Reporter The ''National Catholic Reporter'' (''NCR'') is a national newspaper in the United States that reports on issues related to the Catholic Church. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, ''NCR'' was founded by Robert Hoyt in 1964. Hoyt wanted to bring t ...

'', "Abuelaish's story does not demonize Israelis" but "offers an Islamic and medical perspective... to respond to the blood and tears of our time with a mixture of toil and sweat in pursuit of the common good." Iain McClure, a psychiatrist at the

Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh The Royal Hospital for Sick Children was a hospital in Sciennes, Edinburgh, Scotland, specialising in paediatric healthcare. Locally, it was commonly referred to simply as the "Sick Kids". The hospital provided emergency care for children from ...

states that "every doctor should read this book" and notes that Abuelaish does not deny the anger he feels at the events, but recognizes the need for an "immunisation programme" against the "disease of hatred" through "respect, dignity, and equality". The book has received several awards, including the

Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organizatio ...

, the Search for Common Ground Award, the

Middle East Institute The Middle East Institute (MEI) is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank and cultural center in Washington, D.C., founded in 1946. It seeks to "increase knowledge of the Middle East among the United States citizens and promote a better understan ...

Award, and the Stavros Niarchos Prize for Survivorship. The book was adapted into a play by the Mosaic Theater Company of DC in 2016, it was performed in Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles, and was directed by Shay Pitovsky. Artistic director Ari Roth ended each performance with a discussion panel on the issues in the play, and Abuelaish himself attended the first performance. The book was adapted by Tal Barda into the 2024 documentary film '' I Shall Not Hate''.Olivier Du Ruisseau
"«I Shall Not Hate»: épopée politique au Festival de cinéma de la ville de Québec"
''

Le Devoir (, ) is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. is one of few independent large-circulation newspapers in Quebec ...

'', September 11, 2024.

References

External links

* {{cite book , last=Abuelaish , first=Izzeldin , url=https://archive.org/details/ishallnothategaz0000abue_g7h1 , title=I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor's Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity , date=2011 , publisher=

Bloomsbury Publishing USA Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located ...

, isbn=978-0-8027-7917-5 , access-date=
Daughters for Life Foundation
- Abuelaish's scholarship foundation, established in memory of his three daughters 2011 non-fiction books Memoirs Israeli–Palestinian conflict books Books about Palestinians Walker Books books