This week my friend, Syd Shook, and I launched a new website called The Hillhurst Review. From our About page:
The Hillhurst Review is a space where peoples of faith can be challenged and inspired. A multimedia, journalistic combination of reviews, interviews, opinion and creative pieces from across the globe provides a platform that breeds new insights and new friendships. We seek to give readers the opportunity to encounter extraordinary thought and stories and the people whose life and faith incite them.
We begin with an interview with an extraordinary doctor, sometime known simply as The Gaza Doctor. Syd and I sat down with Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish just over a week ago and spoke to him about his new book, I Shall Not Hate. I first met Dr. Abuelaish in July 2010 at a small gathering of interfaith leaders who are concerned about the way people of faith can affect peace in the Middle East, and specifically Israeli-Palestine. I was struck by his humility and grace. Later that evening I listened as he briefly told the heart breaking story of losing three of his daughters and a neice in the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip in December 2008. That night I pre-ordered his book which was published in the US until January 4, 2011.
During our interview last week we learned that he has again been recommended for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. I highly recommend his book to you, no matter what your position on the conflict in Israel and Palestine has been, or whether it is a completely new topic for you.
Our complete interivew with Dr. Abuelaish is available at The Hillhurst Review. I also wrote a piece for The Huffington Post about this interview and his book. You can find that piece here. An excerpt can be found here, below the fold.
...perhaps what stands out most about Abuelaish is his belief in humanity's inherent goodness. He appears to have no doubts that peace will be achieved between Israelis and Palestinians. When I asked him if he ever lays down in bed at night and thinks to himself, "People will never change!" he replied without hesitation, "Ayyy, no! Never! If I believe in that -- that this patient will never be cured..." His voice trailed off. "I don't believe in that because today he is not going to be cured, but God knows what will happen tomorrow."
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