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Yousef Bashir (born 1989) is a
Palestinian-American Palestinian Americans ( ar, فلسطينيو أمريكا) are Americans who are of full or partial Palestinian descent. It is unclear when the first Palestinian immigrants arrived in the United States, but it is believed that they arrived d ...
author and
peace activist A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world pea ...
.


Early life

Bashir was born in and grew up in the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza. ...
. His father, Khalil Bashir, was the headmaster of the German school in Gaza. Bashir's parents stressed nonviolence as a form of resistance, and told him that hatred would not lead to peace. His family's home was occupied by Israeli soldiers in 2000, during the
Second Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinians, Palestinian uprising a ...
, due to its proximity to the religious settlement of
Kfar Darom Kfar Darom ( he, כְּפַר דָּרוֹם, ''lit.'' South Village), was a kibbutz and an Israeli settlement within the Gush Katif bloc in the Gaza Strip. History Kfar Darom was founded on 250 dunams of land (about 25 hectares or 60 acres) ...
. Although given the opportunity to leave, the Bashir family was determined to stay, knowing they likely would not be able to return to their property if they left. The soldiers destroyed the family's greenhouses and orchards and forced his family (Bashir, his parents, grandmother, and seven siblings) to sleep in the living room, while the soldiers used the second and third floors of the house. That year, Bashir's brother, Yazen, was shot non-fatally by soldiers while putting out a fire in the family's garden. Bashir was shot by an Israeli soldier on February 18, 2004, at age 15, resulting in a spinal injury. The shooting occurred at Bashir's home, while the family was saying goodbye to UN staffers who were visiting. Although the Israeli army took responsibility for the shooting, they did not provide an explanation as to why it happened. He was brought to a hospital in a UN car. Because the local hospital did not have the resources to treat him, Bashir was brought to a hospital in
Tel HaShomer Tel HaShomer ( he, תֵּל הַשּׁוֹמֵר, ''lit.'' Hill of the Guardsman) or Kiryat Krinitzi is a neighborhood in Ramat Gan, Israel. It is bordered to the north by Kiryat Ono, to the east by Yehud, and to the south by Or Yehuda. A major ...
, Israel, where he formed connections with some of the Israeli healthcare workers who treated him. After four months in the hospital, he was transferred to Shikum Yiladem, a rehabilitation center where he lived and attended physical therapy with 12 Israeli children, whom he also made connections with over the sixteen months he spent there. By the end of his stay, Bashir was able to walk again, and he returned to his family home in Gaza. In 2005, Bashir attended an American summer camp in
Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...
run by Seeds of Peace. The experience made Bashir decide he wanted to pursue his education in the United States. His family regained full control of their home in September 2005.


Education

Following rehabilitation for his injury, Bashir chose to attend a
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
high school in Ramallah. However, he remained interested in studying in the United States, and in 2006, at age 16, he moved to the US, where he attended school at
Wasatch Academy Wasatch Academy is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory boarding school for grades 7-12 located in Mount Pleasant, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by Reverend Duncan McMillan, a Presbyterian minister who had come to ...
in
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
. Bashir earned his undergraduate degree in international studies at
Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in Charlotte, North C ...
in Boston, although he had originally hoped to attend
Brandeis University Brandeis University is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational institution sponsored by the Jews, Jewish community, Brandeis was established on t ...
. He was able to attend Brandeis for graduate school, where he received a master’s degree in Conflict and Coexistence. As of 2023, Bashir is finishing a Ph.D. in international affairs at
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...
.


Career

In 2009, Bashir's father died. Bashir was inspired to write a memoir based on his childhood experiences and his father's teachings on nonviolence. In 2018, Bashir published a memoir, ''The Words of My Father: Love and Pain in Palestine,'' in the United Kingdom. In 2018, the Times Literary Supplement included the memoir on its Books of the Year list. In a review for the
Jewish Book Council The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.MIT Press The MIT Press is a university press affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States). It was established in 1962. History The MIT Press traces its origins back to 1926 when MIT publ ...
noted the omission of any "exploration of the role or methods of Palestinian leadership." In 2014, Bashir expressed interest in becoming a diplomat and returning to Gaza in that role. In 2017, Bashir interned on
Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...
for Representative
Gerald Connolly Gerald Edward Connolly (born March 30, 1950) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 11th congressional district, first elected in 2008. The district is anchored in Fairfax County, an affluent suburban count ...
. At the time, he expressed interest in working on Capitol Hill full-time as a foreign affairs advisor. He was later hired as an intern for Senator Bernie Sanders. Bashir has written for ''
The Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ...
'' and ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', and has spoken with
MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politic ...
. He has lobbied for Palestinian interests and spoken to pro-Israel organizations, including AIPAC, and to Jewish audiences about his personal experiences and to make the case for peace. As of 2022, Bashir was Director of Research & Operations for the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace.


Personal life

Bashir became a U.S. citizen in 2019, after applying in 2017. As of 2017, Bashir had not visited Gaza since he left in 2006, out of fear that he would be unable to leave again. Bashir lives in
Washington, D.C ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, N ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bashir, Yousef 1989 births Living people 21st-century American people 21st-century Palestinian writers American anti-war activists American activists with disabilities American writers with disabilities Brandeis University alumni Naturalized citizens of the United States Northeastern University alumni Palestinian anti-war activists Palestinian children Palestinian emigrants to the United States Palestinian memoirists Palestinian people with disabilities People from the Gaza Strip Violence against children in Asia Writers from Washington, D.C. Writers from the Gaza Strip