Yousef Bashir (born 1989) is a Palestinian-American author and peace activist.

Early life

Bashir was born in and grew up in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

. His father, Khalil Bashir, was the headmaster of the German school in Gaza. Bashir's parents stressed nonviolence as a form of resistance, and told him that hatred would not lead to peace. His family's home was occupied by Israeli soldiers in 2000, during the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada (; ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, was a major uprising by Palestinians against Israel and its Israeli-occupied territories, occupation from 2000. Starting as a civilian uprising in Jerusalem and October 2000 prot ...

, due to its proximity to the religious settlement of Kfar Darom. Although given the opportunity to leave, the Bashir family was determined to stay, knowing they likely would not be able to return to their property if they left. The soldiers destroyed the family's greenhouses and orchards and forced his family (Bashir, his parents, grandmother, and seven siblings) to sleep in the living room, while the soldiers used the second and third floors of the house. That year, Bashir's brother, Yazen, was shot non-fatally by soldiers while putting out a fire in the family's garden. Bashir was shot by an Israeli soldier on February 18, 2004, at age 15, resulting in a spinal injury. The shooting occurred at Bashir's home, while the family was saying goodbye to UN staffers who were visiting. Although the Israeli army took responsibility for the shooting, they did not provide an explanation as to why it happened. He was brought to a hospital in a UN car. Because the local hospital did not have the resources to treat him, Bashir was brought to a hospital in Tel HaShomer, Israel, where he formed connections with some of the Israeli healthcare workers who treated him. After four months in the hospital, he was transferred to Shikum Yiladem, a rehabilitation center where he lived and attended physical therapy with 12 Israeli children, whom he also made connections with over the sixteen months he spent there. By the end of his stay, Bashir was able to walk again, and he returned to his family home in Gaza. In 2005, Bashir attended an American summer camp in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

run by Seeds of Peace. The experience made Bashir decide he wanted to pursue his education in the United States. His family regained full control of their home in September 2005.

Education

Following rehabilitation for his injury, Bashir chose to attend a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

high school in

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

. However, he remained interested in studying in the United States, and in 2006, at age 16, he moved to the US, where he attended school at Wasatch Academy in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. Bashir earned his undergraduate degree in international studies at

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

in Boston, although he had originally hoped to attend

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

. He was able to attend Brandeis for graduate school, where he received a master’s degree in Conflict and Coexistence. In August 2024, Bashir finished a Ph.D. in international affairs at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

Career

In 2009, Bashir's father died. Bashir was inspired to write a memoir based on his childhood experiences and his father's teachings on nonviolence. In 2018, Bashir published a memoir, ''The Words of My Father: Love and Pain in Palestine,'' in the United Kingdom. In 2018, the Times Literary Supplement included the memoir on its Books of the Year list. In a review for the Jewish Book Council, Ada Brunstein of the

MIT Press The MIT Press is the university press of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press publishes a number of academic journals and has been a pioneer in the Open Ac ...

noted the omission of any "exploration of the role or methods of Palestinian leadership." In 2014, Bashir expressed interest in becoming a diplomat and returning to Gaza in that role. In 2017, Bashir interned on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...

for Representative Gerald Connolly. At the time, he expressed interest in working on Capitol Hill full-time as a foreign affairs advisor. He was later hired as an intern for Senator

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...

. Bashir has written for ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...

'' and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', and has spoken with

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

. He has lobbied for Palestinian interests and spoken to pro-Israel organizations, including AIPAC, and to Jewish audiences about his personal experiences and to make the case for peace. As of 2022, Bashir was Director of Research & Operations for the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace.

Personal life

Bashir became a U.S. citizen in 2019, after applying in 2017. As of 2017, Bashir had not visited Gaza since he left in 2006, out of fear that he would be unable to leave again. Bashir lives in Washington, D.C.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bashir, Yousef 1989 births Living people 21st-century American writers 21st-century Palestinian writers American anti-war activists American activists with disabilities American writers with disabilities Brandeis University alumni Naturalized citizens of the United States Northeastern University alumni Palestinian anti-war activists Palestinian children Palestinian emigrants to the United States Palestinian memoirists Palestinian people with disabilities People from the Gaza Strip Violence against children in Asia Writers from Washington, D.C. Writers from the Gaza Strip