The Road Less Travelled: Reading dr. Izzeldein Abuelaish’s I Shall Not Hate as Responsible Response to Trauma

Abstract

The political and cultural contexts are very important to the experience of trauma (individual or communal), and yet, ultimately every reaction to an event is unique, depending largely on individual positioning and psychic history. ‘True’ versions of traumatic historical events, with minimum contamination or distortion by any specific ideology or unreliable memory, are needed; if these narratives are to have long-term value. Unfortunately, most often the ‘social discourse’ surrounding these is manipulated by institutional forces (including the media) and the main experience gets either downplayed or sensationalised. By focussing on the journey of the Palestinian doctor, Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, this essay attempts to highlight such responsible responses to trauma. Dr. Abuelaish, even after growing up in a refugee camp in Gaza, or after witnessing the death of his three daughters by Israeli tank shells that hit his home, rather than seeking revenge or letting intrusive memories fill him with eternal hatred, continues his humanitarian call for the people of the region to come together, promoting understanding, respect, and peace. His experiences, some of which was captured live on TV, and later penned down in his memoir I Shall Not Hate; and his life choices and activities since the tragedy are the best example how unconventional individual reactions can have largescale repercussions; and hence needs to be chronicled. Dominick LaCapra had pointed out that trauma often leads to distorted identity-formation, where either the subject-position of ‘victim’ or ‘perpetrator’ becomes prominent; “wherein one is possessed by the past and tends to repeat it compulsively” (Representing the Holocaust 12). But this article seeks to reveal how, when some individuals find within themselves to rise above such binaries, and tell their stories sensitively yet objectively- they accelerate the healing process, both for themselves and the community.