Here is another great story for generations: I am the son of a terrorist, and how he chose peace.
His father's name is El-Sayyid Nosair, who were convicted for his involvement in the plot that placed a van filled with 1,500 pounds of explosives into the sub-level parking lot of the World Trade Center's North Tower, causing an explosion that killed six people and injured over 1,000 others.
By the time I turned 19, He had already moved 20 times in my life, and that instability during his childhood didn't really provide an opportunity to make many friends. Being the perpetual new face in class, He was frequently the target of bullies. He kept my identity a secret from his classmates to avoid being targeted, but as it turns out, being the quiet, chubby new kid in class was more than enough ammunition. So for the most part, He spent my time at home reading books and watching TV or playing video games. For those reasons, his social skills were lacking, he wasn't prepared for the real world. I'd been raised to judge people based on arbitrary measurements, like a person's race or religion.
So what opened his eyes?
One of his first experiences that challenged this way of thinking was during the 2000 presidential elections. Through a college prep program, he found out that one of the kids he had befriended was Jewish. Now, it had taken several days for this detail to come to light, and he realized that there was no natural animosity between the two of them. There, he was exposed to people from all sorts of faiths and cultures, and that experience proved to be fundamental to the development of his character.
And another reason is here. he'd been taught that homosexuality was a sin, and by extension, that all gay people were a negative influence. As chance would have it, I had the opportunity to work with some of the gay performers at a show, and soon found that many were the kindest, least judgmental people I had ever met. He doesn't know what it's like to be gay, but he's well acquainted with being judged for something that's beyond his control.
"I choose to use my experience to fight back against terrorism, against the bigotry. I do it for the victims of terrorism and their loved ones, for the terrible pain and loss that terrorism has forced upon their lives. For the victims of terrorism, I will speak out against these senseless acts and condemn my father's actions. And with that simple fact, I stand here as proof that violence isn't inherent in one's religion or race, and the son does not have to followthe ways of his father. I am not my father."
今回の話は、「テロリストである父親の息子がどう平和について考えるようになったか」ということを本人が語っています。
父親は、エル・サイード・ノサイル。1993年の世界貿易センタービル爆破計画に関与したとして 有罪判決を受け、のちに死刑になります。その事件とは、爆発物約700キロを積んだバンを世界貿易センタービルの地下駐車場に停車し爆破させ、６名の命を奪い 千人以上の負傷者を出しました。
幼少期は、転校を繰り返し、自分の身分を隠しながら生きていたそうです。当然、社交性もなく、家に閉じこもり、いじめの対象になっていたと。そして彼自身、宗教と人種で人を判断していました。何が彼を変えたのでしょう？
一つは、大学準備プログラムの過程で全国学生議会に参加したとき、グループには 様々な背景の人たちが集まっていました。会議も終盤に差しかかり、これまで仲良くしていた友達がユダヤ教徒だったことを知ります。そして、イスラム教徒とユダヤ教徒は、最初から憎み合う運命にはないことに気づき、宗教で人を判断していた障害を乗り越えられたそうです。そしてもう一つは、ある遊園地でひと夏働いたときに訪れました。そこでは様々な信条や文化の人たちに触れ合い、その経験は彼の人格形成に大きな影響を与えました。それまでの人生では、同性愛は罪であり、ひいては、ゲイは悪い影響を与えると教えられてきました。幸運にも、そこで行われたショーでゲイのパフォーマーと仕事をする機会に恵まれ、彼らの多くが誰よりも優しく、相手を色眼鏡で見ない人たちだと知ったのです。そうした感覚が、彼の子ども時代に植え込まれた固定観念を吹き飛ばしてくれたのです。
彼が子ども時代に置かれた境遇は、一般の家庭に生まれた私には想像すらできない苦悩があったはず。一歩間違えば、彼も父親と同じ道を辿っていたかもしれない。人の生き方は、生まれる前から親によって決められているはずはなく、生まれてから自分で決めていく。自分が成長過程において身を置く場所、出会う人でこれだけの大きな差が生まれると痛いほど感じ取れました。最後に彼のスピーチのセリフを抜粋。
「テロの犠牲者の方々のために私は立ち上がり、こうした非情な行為に断固反対し、私は父の行いを非難します。この単純明快な事実とともに、私は身をもって暴力は宗教や人種に最初からあるものではないと証明します。息子だからといって、父親のやり方に従う必要はありません。私は父ではないのですから。」