An-Najah National University
Though a Sufi Muslim, he received his early education at Christian schools in Jerusalem – the first a Roman Catholic primary school, the other a Coptic Orthodox secondary school, and went on then began his tertiary studies at An-Najah National University in Nablus, where he majored in English and sociology. His background thus afforded him a familiarity with three distinct religious traditions each of which would contribute to his non-violent philosophy. His views on non-violence were shaped by Islamic mysticism, by Buddhism, and "Gandhi", the 1982 film.