From his childhood in Gaza to his successes in the medical field, Izzeldin Abuelaish has a unique life story. Against all odds, which included poverty, refugee camps, isolation and discrimination, he still managed to become the first Palestinian doctor to practice in Israel. Unfortunately, it is the tragic death of his daughters that propels him to international prominence, as the violence of a historic conflict is laid bare on his most personal level. After an incident like this, most people would turn to anger and revenge, but Abuelaish chose a different path and his reasons for doing so are expressed in his book, I Shall Not Hate, 'A Gaza's Doctor Journey'. Against the backdrop of ongoing problems between the Palestinians and the State of Israel, he describes unwavering support for peace and the need for leaders on both sides to make such a breakthrough possible. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Abuelaish also provides first-hand accounts of life in Gaza and how local conditions have been the end result of prolonged global power struggles in the Middle East. For outsiders, trying to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be difficult. In addition to the tendency to project our values and beliefs onto the situation, the history of this region is profoundly complex. It involves the intersection of European imperialism and colonialism with the declining legacy of an ancient Islamic empire. Abuelaish's book is therefore a contemporary narrative about a society whose modern problems cannot be separated from a sequence of events that originated centuries, if not thousands of years ago. Indeed, I Shall Not Hate can be considered the biography of an individual, whose life was profoundly influenced by the historical tensions of the Middle East. The death of his sons was therefore highly symbolic of a region under constant invasion and, at times, a dangerous place for local citizens. He writes: “Throughout history Gaza has been watched by outsiders with conquest in mind. Alexander the Great tried to rule it; the Israelite king David ruled for a while, as did the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and Greeks. Napoleon, the Ottomans and the English did the same. It seems that every warrior king or enacted general who has entered the history books has fled to Gaza.” [1] Abuelaish's story connects directly to the First and Second World Wars, which led to the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. This event shaped his childhood in Gaza, his educational activities, his relationships both with Arabs than with the Israelis, along with with the tragic death of his children and rise to prominence, as a spokesperson for peace. For such a small geographic region, Palestine has seen a disproportionate amount of political maneuvering and conflict. After being operated as a British protectorate from 1917 to 1948, a period in which Jewish immigration to the region began to increase, it saw the Israeli War of 1948, the Six Days of 1967 and another Arab-Israeli war in 1973. This it was followed by the expansion of Jewish settlements, the rise of the PLO and Hamas, along with two intifadas. Furthermore, this period was also characterized by constant infighting, growing factionalism, and the inability of leaders on both sides to establish a lasting peace agreement. [2] Many of the circumstances and experiences described in Abuelaish's book are directly linked to this turbulent history. This is because the lives of Palestinians are strongly influenced by the state's security measures and policies. 34.
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