Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Yousef Bashir
Palestinian-American writer and peace activist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Yousef Bashir (born 1989) is a Palestinian-American author and peace activist.
 | This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (November 2023) |
Early life
Summarize
Perspective
Bashir was born in and grew up in the Gaza Strip.[1][2] His father, Khalil Bashir, was the headmaster of the German school in Gaza.[3] Bashir's parents stressed nonviolence as a form of resistance,[4] and told him that hatred would not lead to peace.[1]
His family's home was occupied by Israeli soldiers in 2000, during the Second Intifada, due to its proximity to the religious settlement of Kfar Darom.[1][5] Although given the opportunity to leave, the Bashir family was determined to stay, knowing they likely would not be able to return to their property if they left.[5] The soldiers destroyed the family's greenhouses and orchards and forced his family (Bashir, his parents, grandmother, and seven siblings)[3] to sleep in the living room, while the soldiers used the second and third floors of the house.[1][2][5] That year, Bashir's brother, Yazen, was shot non-fatally by soldiers while putting out a fire in the family's garden.[3][5]
Bashir was shot by an Israeli soldier on February 18, 2004, at age 15, resulting in a spinal injury.[1][2] The shooting occurred at Bashir's home, while the family was saying goodbye to UN staffers who were visiting.[3][5] Although the Israeli army took responsibility for the shooting, they did not provide an explanation as to why it happened.[5] He was brought to a hospital in a UN car.[6][7] Because the local hospital did not have the resources to treat him,[2] Bashir was brought to a hospital in Tel HaShomer, Israel, where he formed connections with some of the Israeli healthcare workers who treated him.[1] After four months in the hospital, he was transferred to Shikum Yiladem, a rehabilitation center where he lived and attended physical therapy with 12 Israeli children, whom he also made connections with over the sixteen months he spent there.[2][8] By the end of his stay, Bashir was able to walk again, and he returned to his family home in Gaza.[1]
In 2005, Bashir attended an American summer camp in Maine run by Seeds of Peace.[5][8] The experience made Bashir decide he wanted to pursue his education in the United States.[8] His family regained full control of their home in September 2005.[5]
Remove ads
Education
Following rehabilitation for his injury, Bashir chose to attend a Quaker high school in Ramallah.[8] However, he remained interested in studying in the United States, and in 2006, at age 16, he moved to the US, where he attended school at Wasatch Academy in Utah.[2][4][8]
Bashir earned his undergraduate degree in international studies at Northeastern University in Boston, although he had originally hoped to attend Brandeis University.[8][7] He was able to attend Brandeis for graduate school, where he received a master’s degree in Conflict and Coexistence.[6][8]
In August 2024, Bashir finished a Ph.D. in international affairs at Johns Hopkins University.[1]
Remove ads
Career
Summarize
Perspective
In 2009, Bashir's father died. Bashir was inspired to write a memoir based on his childhood experiences and his father's teachings on nonviolence.[4] In 2018, Bashir published a memoir, The Words of My Father: Love and Pain in Palestine, in the United Kingdom.[3] In 2018, the Times Literary Supplement included the memoir on its Books of the Year list.[3] In a review for the Jewish Book Council, Ada Brunstein of the MIT Press noted the omission of any "exploration of the role or methods of Palestinian leadership."[9]
In 2014, Bashir expressed interest in becoming a diplomat and returning to Gaza in that role.[6] In 2017, Bashir interned on Capitol Hill for Representative Gerald Connolly.[7][8] At the time, he expressed interest in working on Capitol Hill full-time as a foreign affairs advisor.[7] He was later hired as an intern for Senator Bernie Sanders.[10]
Bashir has written for The Forward[4] and The New York Times,[11] and has spoken with MSNBC.[12] He has lobbied for Palestinian interests and spoken to pro-Israel organizations, including AIPAC, and to Jewish audiences about his personal experiences and to make the case for peace.[10][13]
As of 2022, Bashir was Director of Research & Operations for the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace.[14]
Personal life
Bashir became a U.S. citizen in 2019, after applying in 2017.[4][8] As of 2017, Bashir had not visited Gaza since he left in 2006, out of fear that he would be unable to leave again.[8] Bashir lives in Washington, D.C.[1]
References
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads