Aziz Abu Sarah
Aziz Abu Sarah | |
---|---|
al-Eizariya, Jerusalem | |
Occupation(s) | Tour operator, journalist |
Known for | Peace activism, international conflict resolution |
Aziz Abu Sarah (
After watching his brother die of internal injuries subsequent to being released from an Israeli jail following a year-long detention for
Abu Sarah co-founded the alternative tour company Mejdi with his Jewish friend Scott Cooper, which gives different perspectives on any given point of interest to tourists in various multi-cultural locales. He later received recognition for his conflict resolution work in such disparate places as Colombia and Afghanistan. He has advocated for better political representation and living conditions for Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem through his association with political advisor Gershon Baskin.
Early life
Abu Sarah was born in
When Abu Sarah was 9, his older brother Tayseer was arrested from home by the
The family moved to nearby
After finishing high school, Abu Sarah enrolled in an
Activism
I believe that if you're not doing something, then you accept reality, and if you accept reality, then you agree with the fact that the only solution is for us to keep killing each other. It's hard for me to understand how you can accept something like that. One should do whatever he or she can to change the situation. Even if there is a tiny bit of hope, I think it is better to try to do something than sit there and do nothing.
-Aziz Abu Sarah[1]
Abu Sarah has been described as being both a Palestinian peace activist, and a Palestinian patriot and nationalist.[4]
To illustrate the impact of the death toll as a result of the
Abu Sarah is a former co-executive director of the
Professional career
Journalism
Abu Sarah hosted Changing Directions, a program broadcast on the All for Peace radio station. The format revolved around interviews of members of the Bereaved Families Forum, and sought to find out how the respondents changed their outlook to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a result of experiencing tragedies. The station was shut down by the Israeli government in November 2011.[1]
As a National Geographic Explorer, Abu Sarah hosted the 4-part web series documentary Conflict Zone in 2013, featuring perspectives from both sides of the conflict.[5][2] He has written columns for The New York Times, Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post,[6] The Washington Post,[7] +972 Magazine[8] and provided analysis on programs broadcast on CNN, Fox News and al Jazeera.[6]
Tourism
After studying tourism management, Abu Sarah founded his own tour company. Through the course of this work he met
Political career
When all you do is boycott the elections, you're doing Israel a favour. You're giving Israel a blank check to do whatever it wants in our city.
-Aziz Abu Sarah[10]
In 2018, Abu Sarah started a campaign to be the first Palestinian since 1944 to become elected
Israeli law forbids non citizens Palestinians from East Jerusalem such as Abu Sarah who are not Israeli citizens from running for office.[14] He planned to sue to obtain this right in the Supreme Court of Israel.[10] He asked, "If Israel really claims to be a democracy then how is it that 40 per cent of a city (the Palestinians) cannot hold the most important job?"[13]
On 25 September 2018, Abu Sarah dropped out of the race. He cited an Israeli threat to revoke his Jerusalem resident I.D. on the grounds that most of his time was being spent outside of Jerusalem, and with his tour company.[15] He was also concerned about opposition from Palestinian election-boycott activists who were "applying strong pressure on our candidates and their families" to end their campaign.[8]
Personal life
Abu Sarah divides his time between Virginia and Wadi al-Joz, a neighborhood of East Jerusalem.[10] He speaks Arabic, Hebrew and English fluently, and enjoys country music.[3]
Awards and recognition
- Goldberg Prize for Peace in the Middle East from the Institute of International Education[16]
- Solidar Silver Rose Award at the European Parliament[16]
- Eisenhower Medallion from People to People International[16]
- Eliav-Sartawi Award for Middle Eastern Journalism[16]
- Intercultural Innovation Award from the BMW Group[16]
- Listed in The 500 Most Influential Muslims, 2010—2018[16]
- Recognized by United Nations Secretary General Alliance of Civilizations initiative in February 2013.[6]
Books and publications
- Clark, Kelly J.; Abu Sarah, Aziz; Kreimer, Nancy F. (2018): Strangers, Neighbors, Friends: Muslim-Christian-Jewish Reflections on Compassion and Peace. Cascade Books
- Abu Sarah, Aziz. Column roll, +972 Magazine
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Interview. Aziz Abu Sarah, Just Vision. Retrieved 3 June 2019
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Steinberg, Jessica (12 January 2015) "What Aziz Abu Sarah Learned in Hebrew School", The Times of Israel. Retrieved 3 June 2019
- ^ a b c Profile. "Aziz Abu Sarah", National Geographic. Retrieved 3 June 2019
- ^ For peace activist, see Salopek, Paul (16 May 2014) "Vortex: Walking Jerusalem", National Geographic. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
For patriot and nationalist, see Baskin, Gershon (12 September 2018) "Encountering Peace: Why I Support a Palestinian List in Jerusalem", The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 5 June 2019 - ^ a b c d Staff. (22 April 2016) "How Can Tourism Promote Peace in The Middle East?", npr. Retrieved 3 June 2019
- ^ a b c Staff. "National Geographic Learning Realizará en Argentina dos Conferencias Sobre Cómo la Educación Tiene el Poder de Resolver Conflictos, a Cargo del Reconocido Explorador de National Geographic y Colaborador de TED, Aziz Abu Sarah", America Learning Media (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 June 2019
- ^ Zonszein, Meirav and Abu Sarah, Aziz (7 December 2017) "Israel already controls Jerusalem. Trump’s speech only confirmed that.", The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 June 2019
- ^ a b c Iraqi, Amjad (28 September 2018) "‘This is how you change the status quo’: Rethinking the Palestinian boycott of Jerusalem elections", +972 Magazine. Retrieved 3 June 2019
- ^ Margit, Maya (10 July 2018) "East Jerusalem’s Muslim Tourist Boom", themedialine.com. Retrieved 4 June 2019
- ^ a b c d Ashly, Jaclynn (15 September 2018) "Aziz Abu Sarah Wants to be Mayor of Jerusalem and is Suing Israel", Al Jazeera. Retrieved 3 June 2019
- ^ Hasson, Nir (6 September 2019) "Not an Israeli Citizen, East Jerusalemite Sees His Mayoral Run as Part of 'Palestinian Struggle'", Haaretz. Retrieved 3 June 2019
- ^ Kuttab, Daoud (27 April 2018) "Israeli, Palestinian Candidates Share Electoral List in Jerusalem First", Al-Monitor. Retrieved 6 June 2019
- ^ a b Tlozek, Eric (27 September 2018) "'Some See me as a Hero or a Traitor': Palestinian Candidate Withdraws from Jerusalem Mayoral Race Amid Threats", Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 3 June 2018
- ^ Brennan, David (5 September 2018) "Palestinian Journalist Declares Jerusalem Mayoral Run: "We Will Stand For Our Right to Be Here'", Newsweek. Retrieved 4 June 2019
- ^ Staff. (25 September 2018) "Palestinian Activist Drops Out of Jerusalem Mayoral Race", The Times of Israel. Retrieved 3 June 2019
- ^ a b c d e f "Aziz Abu Sarah", American Friends of Combatants for Peace. Retrieved 4 June 2019
External links
- Conflict Zone, National Geographic Series, YouTube
- For More Tolerance, We Need More...Tourism?, TED talk by Aziz Abu Sarah
- [1], "Revolutionizing Education: Building Peace in a Divided World" - Alianza Cultural Uruguay - Estados Unidos.
- [2], From Revenge to Reconciliation - Nat Geo Live, YouTube
- [3], "From Extremism to Inclusion" - The 4th IPCRI forum for 2016
- [4], NGL presents Voices with Aziz Abu Sarah
- [5], Interview with Aziz Abu Sarah - TESOL COLOMBIA
- [6], UN Vienna Global Forum 2013 recognizes peace activist Aziz Abu Sara
- [7], Aziz Abu Sarah: How can travel change the world