num_pages: 96
description: An extraordinary story never before told: The intimate behind-the-scenes life of an American boy raised by his terrorist fatherthe man who planned the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.What is it like to grow up with a terrorist in your home? Zak Ebrahim was only seven years old when on November 5th 1990 his father El-Sayyid Nosair shot and killed the leader of the Jewish Defense League. While in prison Nosair helped plan the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. In one of his infamous video messages Osama bin Laden urged the world to Remember El-Sayyid Nosair.For Zak Ebrahim a childhood amongst terrorism was all he knew. After his fathers incarceration his family moved often and as the perpetual new kid in class he faced constant teasing and exclusion. Yet though his radicalized father and uncles modeled fanatical beliefs to Ebrahim something never felt right. To the shy awkward boy something about the hateful feelings just felt unnatural.In this book Ebrahim dispels the myth that terrorism is a foregone conclusion for people trained to hate. Based on his own remarkable journey he shows that hate is always a choicebut so is tolerance. Though Ebrahim was subjected to a violent intolerant ideology throughout his childhood he did not become radicalized. Ebrahim argues that people conditioned to be terrorists are actually well positioned to combat terrorism because of their ability to bring seemingly incompatible ideologies together in conversation and advocate in the fight for peace. Ebrahim argues that everyone regardless of their upbringing or circumstances can learn to tap into their inherent empathy and embrace tolerance over hatred. His original urgent message is fresh groundbreaking and essential to the current discussion about terrorism.
language: English
title: The Terrorist's Son: A Story of Choice
publisher: Simon & Schuster/ TED