I Shall Not Hate: A Journey of Hope through Faith, Tolerance, and Courage

Dr. Abuelaish is a Palestinian medical doctor and infertility specialist who has dedicated his life to peace in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. He was a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize for three consecutive years. Born and raised in the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, he has overcome hardships of poverty and violence to become one of the most prominent educators and public speakers on peace and development in the Middle East. Dr. Abuelaish received his elementary and secondary educations in the refugee camp in Jabalia, Gaza. He eventually garnered a scholarship to attend medical school at the University of Cairo. He obtained a diploma in Obstetrics and Gynecology with the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia in collaboration with the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of London. He went on to earn his Master’s degree in Public Health, Health Policy and Management at Harvard University. Dr. Abuelaish was the first Palestinian doctor to receive a staff position at an Israeli hospital. For many years, he worked as a senior researcher at the Gertner Institute in Sheba hospital in Israel. Currently, Dr. Abuelaish is an Associate Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, Canada. He is the Founder and President of the Daughters for Life Foundation, a Canadian charity that provides awards and scholarships to young women in the Middle East, in memory of his three daughters.

Dr. Abuelaish has had the opportunity to experience the impacts of conflict in countries around the world, working as both an insider and outsider to conflict. This has led him to consider doctors as peace-makers by the moral doctrine of their profession. Dr. Abuelaish has been an important figure in Israeli-Palestinian relations for years, working in Israeli hospitals, treating Israeli and Palestinian patients with the full belief that health is an engine for the journey to peace. In his presentation, Dr. Abuelaish will discuss further how his work as a healthcare practitioner mobilizes health as a tool for peace.