Words are stronger than bullets

Yesterday afternoon, we held the fall convocation ceremony for the 2015 University of Calgary graduates from the faculties of Arts, Social Work and the Werklund School of Education. In addition to celebrating our new graduates, we also awarded Izzeldin Abuelaish with the honorary degree Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa.

Dr. Abuelaish gives heartfelt convocation address to #UCalgary graduating class

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish is the Palestinian physician who tragically lost three of his daughters in the 2009 Gaza War. Instead of becoming vengeful, he has used his position within the international health community to promote forgiveness, understanding and collaboration. He has become a human rights activist as well as a leader amongst those who promote peace in the Middle East.

It was a great honour to have Dr. Abuelaish at our university today. His convocation address was stirring and thoughtful – he truly spoke from the heart. I unreservedly uphold him as an inspirational role model for our graduating students who are now embarking on the next phase of their lives.

Professor Aritha van Herk, one of our university Orators, delivered the citation for today’s honorary degree recipient. I asked Aritha if I could include her remarks about Dr. Abuelaish in today’s blog entry. These are the beautiful and fitting words that she composed:

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Words are stronger than bullets.  Even if words cannot stop bullets, they can deflect the poisonous hatred resulting from bullets.  Peace is a dangerous idea to those invested in violence. A refusal to hate is the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of human experience and transformation. 

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish is a living example of the power of forgiveness.  Born and raised in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, he was educated there.  Despite the impoverished conditions of the camp and despite having to work to support himself and his family, he was determined to become a doctor and he studied hard to achieve his dream. He won a scholarship to attend medical school at the University of Cairo, and completed further studies in Obstetrics and Gynecology, a residency in Israel, followed by study in Milan and in Brussels. He earned a Master’s degree in Public Health, Health Policy and Management from Harvard University, and was the first Palestinian doctor to receive a staff position at an Israeli hospital. But this extraordinary dedication and achievement was tested beyond endurance when in the 2009 Gaza War, a mere four months after his wife succumbed to leukemia, his home in Gaza was shelled, killing three of his daughters and his niece. 

The anguish of this loss is unimaginable.  But Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish refused to fall victim to despair, and instead vowed to fight–for reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis. His memoir, I Shall Not Hate: a Gaza Doctor’s Journey, presents an incontrovertible message of hope through non-violence and compassion and education.  In memory of his daughters, he established the Daughters for Life Foundation. Believing that lasting peace depends on empowering girls and young women, it provides scholarships enabling young woman of any Middle Eastern nationality or faith to pursue studies otherwise inaccessible to them, thus honouring his daughters’ love of learning and investing in girls as potential leaders. 

Who can measure the magnitude of grief and suffering?  Who can fathom the generosity of a truly great heart?  Who can calculate the power of respect, dignity, and tolerance?  Were we born to hate or to live and to celebrate life?

Eminent Chancellor, let us honour today a man who has gifted Canada with his presence and his work here, a man who fights for all people regardless of religious or political beliefs, who acts as a messenger of understanding and peace, and who models faith and wisdom.

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