A Palestinian-American activist recalls his adolescence in Gaza during the Second Intifada, and how he made a solid commitment to serenity when confronted with devastating brutality within this moving, candid, and transformative memoir that reminds us of the importance of searching beyond prejudice, anger, and fear.

Yousef Bashir’s story starts in Gaza, on the verdant ten-acre plantation beside an Israeli negotiation and military bottom. When the soccer-mad Yousef was eleven, the next Intifada exploded. First about The Words of MY DAD: Like and Discomfort in Palestine emerged the shooting, then your profession. Ordered to keep their family home, Yousef’s father refused, even when the Israeli military transferred in, seizing the very best two floors. For five long years, three decades of the Bashir family members were digital prisoners in their own home. Despite this, Yousef’s father-a well known Palestinian schoolteacher whose belief in coexisting peacefully along with his Israeli neighbors was unshakeable-treated the military as honored guests. His dedication to peacefulness was absolute.

Though Yousef’s family attracted worldwide media attention, and received letters of support from all over the world, Yousef witnessed the destruction of his home, his neighborhood, and the content life he had known with developing frustration and confusion. For the very first time he pondered if his father’s perception in peace was justified and whether he was strong enough-or also wanted-to follow his example. At fifteen, that question was tested. Standing up in his front yard with his dad and three US observers, he was shot in the spine by an Israeli soldier, departing him within a wheelchair, paralyzed through the waist down, for a year.

While an Israeli soldier shot him, it was Israeli doctors who saved Yousef and helped him ultimately learn to walk again. In the wake of that knowledge, Yousef was forced to reckon with the words of his father. And like the generous, empathetic guy who elevated him, he as well became an outspoken activist for serenity.

Amid the tragedy from the ongoing Middle Eastern discord, WHAT of My Father is a powerful story of moral awakening and a fraught, ferocious, and profound relationship between a kid and his dad. Bashir’s story as well as the ideals of serenity and empathy it upholds certainly are a relaxing balm for these dangerous and troubled occasions, and a reminder that like and compassion are a gift-and an option.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.