The Terrorist's Son

A Story of Choice

By: Zak Ebrahim

Narrated by: Zak Ebrahim

An extraordinary story, never before told: The intimate, behind-the-scenes life of an American boy raised by his terrorist father—the man who planned the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

What is it like to grow up with a terrorist in your home? Zak Ebrahim was only seven years old when, on November 5th, 1990, his father El-Sayyid Nosair shot and killed the leader of the Jewish Defense League. While in prison, Nosair helped plan the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. In one of his infamous video messages, Osama bin Laden urged the world to “Remember El-Sayyid Nosair.”

For Zak Ebrahim, a childhood amongst terrorism was all he knew. After his father’s incarceration, his family moved often, and as the perpetual new kid in class, he faced constant teasing and exclusion. Yet, though his radicalized father and uncles modeled fanatical beliefs, to Ebrahim something never felt right. To the shy, awkward boy, something about the hateful feelings just felt unnatural.

In this book, Ebrahim dispels the myth that terrorism is a foregone conclusion for people trained to hate. Based on his own remarkable journey, he shows that hate is always a choice—but so is tolerance. Though Ebrahim was subjected to a violent, intolerant ideology throughout his childhood, he did not become radicalized. Ebrahim argues that people conditioned to be terrorists are actually well positioned to combat terrorism, because of their ability to bring seemingly incompatible ideologies together in conversation and advocate in the fight for peace. Ebrahim argues that everyone, regardless of their upbringing or circumstances, can learn to tap into their inherent empathy and embrace tolerance over hatred. His original, urgent message is fresh, groundbreaking, and essential to the current discussion about terrorism.

Excellent book!

Loved it! I wanted to hug the narrator / author at the beginning and definitely by the end of the book.

super message

great book. great message. the world would be a better place if more folks took this approach.
best of luck to zak!

redeem faith in people

if you are struggling with finding the goodness in people, in the world, read this book. it brought me hope.

This will move you

This book hurt and healed my heart. Direct honesty. Vulnerability. Direct and to the point descriptions without excuses. It's clear this man cut off the negative potential generational trauma at its knees. It's educational, has inside information and covers a multitude of topics. I'd give the author a hug if I could.

Fantastic!

I went last week to a local synagogue to see him speak and felt absolutely compelled to know more of his story.

Zak's story is impactful as well as compelling. He is so grounded in his truth it is admirable. His message of love instead of hate is absolutely how I choose to live my own life. Perhaps if more people could hear his words and then followed in his footsteps, THAT would be a new dogma that could spread like wildfire!