"The Terrorist's Son: A Story of Choice" is very short, being something between a short book or a long magazine article. So if you're at all curious about it, as I was, pick up a copy. It's a small investment in your time.

It's a story of an American born Muslim, Zak Ebrahim. Ebrahim is the son of a convicted terrorist, El-Sayed Nosair, who murdered radical Israeli rabbi Meir Kahane about twenty-five years ago in NYC, and then while in jail for that crime, helped plan the initial 1993 World Trade Center bombing carried out by members of his radical mosque in Jersey City, NJ.

Ebrahim could have admired his father, and followed in his footsteps, or could have rejected the radical teachings which consumed his father. The positive side of his book is that made the latter choice, rejecting that hateful lifestyle. The negative take-away from this short story is the realization of how easily he could have ended up being as radical as his father, and in some part, hearing about the hard life of his American-born mother, a convert to the Muslim faith, especially after being remarried to another Muslim man she barely knew.

Ebrahim tells his story of frequent moves after his father's conviction, and of how being within a small closed community, being taught those outside your group are not to be trusted, can perpetuate the lifestyle exemplified by his father. Given Ebrahim's unhappy childhood, isolation, and teachings from his father, it's a surprise that Ebrahim rejected hate and embraced peace and non-violence. But it's an individual choice, and a choice not easily made by others taught early in life to hate.

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Zak says,
“When I was a kid, I never questioned what I heard at home or at school or at the mosque. Bigotry just slipped into my system along with everything else: Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Pi equals 3.14. All Jews are evil, and homosexuality is an abomination. Paris is the capital of France. They all sounded like facts. Who was I to differentiate? I was made to fear people who are different and kept away from them as much as possible for my own “protection.” Bigotry is such a maddeningly perfect circle — I never got close enough to find out if I should fear them in the first place.” p. 79 ( )

I just finished this book.

I'm bouncing between a 4 and 5 star rating on this one. I think I'm going to let it settle in for a few days and see how I feel.

It is a short and easy read. It's emotional, heartbreaking, inspirational. There are lines that just sit with you and for a moment. Everything is real, pretty well written, characters are told well.

The narration brings you in. This is something that other books of this type have neglected to do for me (A Child Called It). I do wish it was longer. I think that is my only complaint. ( )

2015 alex award

This was a very short but very intense book by the son of the man convicted of the World Trade Center bombing. It was a tale of how it is possible to be raised in an environment of hatred and violence but come out loving and peaceful.

Zak Ebrahim's father was from Egypt and married an American woman who had embraced the Islam religion. They had three sons and seemed to be a perfect family until things started to go wrong. His father lost his job and had to take ones with less money and less prestige than his engineering background should have provided. The worse things got the more he turned to his mosque and the Quran. He shot and killed a rabbi and was sent to prison for related charges. While he was in prison he organized the bombing of the WTC. After that he was sentenced to life without parole.

Growing up in the middle of all this turmoil, Zak was bullied and brutally abused by his stepfather but made his own mind up to reject the violence and hate. ( )