Speakers » Izzeldin Abuelaish

Izzeldin Abuelaish, known as "the Gaza Doctor" and author of I Shall Not Hate, is a Palestinian doctor and infertility expert who was born and raised in the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Tragically, his three daughters and a niece were killed in January 2009 during the Israeli incursion into Gaza, yet this devastation did not harden Abuelaish's heart. Instead, he has directed his energy toward spreading the doctrine that from tragedy can come good; from conflict and hardship can come peace and well being in hopes that the lives lost during this time would be the last. Nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 and winner of humanitarian awards around the world, he now lives with his family in Toronto, where he is an associate professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Abuelaish has founded Daughters for Life, a Canadian charity that provides young women in high school and university the opportunity to develop a strong voice and play a more influential role in improving the quality of life throughout the Middle East through their education.

"I know that what I have lost, what was taken from me, will never come back. But as a physician and a Muslim of deep faith, I need to move forward to the light, motivated by the spirits of those I lost. I need to bring them justice. I will keep moving but I need you to join me in this long journey."  I Shall Not Hate

Dr. Abuelaish's website: http://www.daughtersforlife.com/foundation/