The Terrorist's Son: A Story of Choice

By Zak Ebrahim

Part of the TED series: The Terrorist's Son

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-Sayed 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-Sayed Nosair."

In both The Terrorist's Sonand his inspiring TEDTALK, Ebrahim dispels the myth that terrorism is aforegone conclusion for people trained to hate. Based on his own remarkable journey, he shows that hate is always a choice-and so is tolerance. Though Ebrahim was subjected to a violent, intolerant ideology throughout his childhood, he did not become radicalised. Terrorist groups tap into certain vulnerabilities that are usually circumstantial: poverty, oppression, disenfranchisement, lack of resources and options. Ebrahim shows how those same vulnerabilities can create great strengths, leading people to form great reserves of empathy and tolerance. He believes that, because we all have a deep capacity for empathy, humans have the choice-and can find the will-to reject negative ideology.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Sep 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781471139079

Zak Ebrahim

Zak Ebrahim was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on March 24, 1983, the son of an Egyptian industrial engineer and an American school teacher. When Ebrahim was seven, his father shot and killed the founder of the Jewish Defense League, Rabbi Meir Kahane. From behind bars his father, El-Sayyid Nosair, co-masterminded the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Ebrahim spent the rest of his childhood moving from city to city, hiding his identity from those who knew of his father. He now dedicates his life to speaking out against terrorism and spreading his message of peace and nonviolence.

Reviews for The Terrorist's Son

[kamgeb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a fascinating story about the son of a terrorist. It is a very fast read and gives insight into a world very few are allowed to see. In some ways I wish the book had included more. For example, the family who grew up in the US, moves to Egypt and very little is told of their move or their adjustment to life in a foreign country. Also I feel like some emotions have been glossed over. It almost seems like an outsider is writing when he tells about the people who did him wrong. He describes the scenes well, but I never feel his anger, resentment or betrayal as I was reading the scene. I would DEFINITELY recommend this book.

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a very honest account of what it was like for the author to grow up with a terrorist father -- a father in sentenced to life plus 15 years for murder and other crimes. The author was taught bigotry and hatred yet managed to overcome his upbringing and choose his own path of acceptance and nonviolence. Inspirational and insightful.

[auntmarge64 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very brief but moving memoir of a childhood damaged by hate and violence. The author's father was El-Sayyid Nosair, who assassinated Rabbi Meir Kahane and then, from prison, helped plan the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Ebrahim was 7 at the time of his father's arrest, and what followed was a childhood lost to confusion, fear, and poverty. As a teenager, Ebrahim was offered a job at Busch Gardens, where he finally was able to meet people of other faiths and ethnicities, and he made a complete break with religion, hate, and his father. In a moving final scene, an FBI agent who had worked on Nosair's case met Ebrahim and said she'd always wondered what happened to Nosair's children. Ebrahim's response: We are not his children anymore.

[mamzel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a very short but very intense book by the son of the man convicted of the World Trade Center bombing. It was a tale of how it is possible to be raised in an environment of hatred and violence but come out loving and peaceful. Zak Ebrahim's father was from Egypt and married an American woman who had embraced the Islam religion. They had three sons and seemed to be a perfect family until things started to go wrong. His father lost his job and had to take ones with less money and less prestige than his engineering background should have provided. The worse things got the more he turned to his mosque and the Quran. He shot and killed a rabbi and was sent to prison for related charges. While he was in prison he organized the bombing of the WTC. After that he was sentenced to life without parole. Growing up in the middle of all this turmoil, Zak was bullied and brutally abused by his stepfather but made his own mind up to reject the violence and hate.