Interest in the Charter for Compassion has been growing in the city of San Antonio, Texas, ever since the day it was inaugurated internationally, November 12, 2009,  and a local university gathered representatives of the major faith traditions to speak on compassion. The San Antonio peaceCENTER invited more participation and programing. During his first meeting of the San Antonio City Council in 2017 newly sworn-in Mayor Ron Nirenberg encouraged the city to join the International Charter for Compassion to focus on improving the lives of others. The Faith-Based initiative under the Department of Human Services especially promotes resources from the international Charter for Compassion and has helped to build coalitions that further compassionate action.   

A group of San Antonio citizens attended the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Monterrey, Mexico, a Sister City, and also a Compassionate City working with the Charter.  In this World Summit, a favorite speaker was Dr. Abuelaish. He has twenty Honorary Doctorates and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times. Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, is a Palestinian-Canadian citizen born in Gaza. His content was relevant to the challenges San Antonio has experienced.  

The Justice, Peace, and Creation Committee of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word brought Dr. Abuelaish to San Antonio to further compassion efforts in the city. The University of the Incarnate Word and the Peace Center at Northwest Vista College, were main co-hosts for Dr. Abuelaish’s message of forgiveness, compassion, and peace. See the full schedule of his presentations.  

Faith, Community, and Civic Leaders via Podcast. 

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, a Canadian-Palestinian and full-time professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto brought the briefing as a visiting doctor to San Antonio. He is an internationally recognized medical researcher, human rights and peace activist, whose life and research show that hatred is a contagious and destructive disease. A life-long cultural bridge-builder born and raised in Gaza, Dr. Abuelaish was one of the first Palestinian doctors to work in both Israeli and Palestinian hospitals. In the Gaza war of 2009, three of his teen-aged daughters and his niece were killed. He has transformed this tragedy into an even stronger commitment to heal hatred and revenge with peace and forgiveness.  Dr. Abuelaish has received 20 honorary degrees and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. 

Recording available at: www.sacrd.org/pages/attheintersection (February 20, 2025 @TheIntersection podcast) 

Podcast Production: Ann Helmke, Faith Liaison, City of San Antonio, TX

Public Community Engagement with Dr. Abuelaish and Multidisciplinary Doctors Panel about Hatred as a Contagious Disease. 

 The Doctors Round Table opened the critical yet essential conversation that is needed everywhere in local context, but specifically in opening minds and hearts and action in terms of the conflict in the Holy Land. Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish’ research and health approach to hatred is an opportunity to openness. One that cannot be denied, warms the heart and hands into action, and gives hope through an experiential and scientific method approach. Many of us have searched for just such a method to open instead of polarizing such conversations.  Doctors actively engaged the scientific methodology of researching hatred as a disease and represented the healthcare disciplines of public, spiritual, ethics, dental, pediatric, palliative, and clinical healthcare. 

About a hundred people attended both online and on the campus of a university known for its six health profession schools. Participants had a diversity in age, race, religious affiliation, etc. as well as health disciplines represented in the panel of doctors at the Round Table. A list of the doctors and their disciplines can be provided upon request. 

Round Table Quotes 

Dr. Abuelaish brought to me a new perspective on the concept of hate; that is, to see hate as a disease. Using a public health approach to hate as a disease opens up a path to study its origins, etiologies, and mechanisms of action and spread. With this background it becomes more feasible to develop treatments and remedies and most importantly, prevention strategies. His personal story is both heartbreaking and inspiring and gives him incredible gravitas. What a privilege it was for me and our community to meet him and learn from him!

 ~ Dr. Adam V. Ratner

 Dr. Abuelaish’s presence and words gave San Antonio healthcare leaders an opportunity to help our local community connect the dots between hatred and disease both in our neighborhoods and across the seas.

~ Cathy S Woodward, DNP, APRN, PNP-AC, FNP

The University of the Incarnate Word Library has provided this guide to resources by Dr. Abuelaish.  

Conversation Coordinator as Point of Contact and possible panelists: Ann Helmke, Faith Liaison, City of San Antonio

Peace Community Engagement with Dr. Abuelaish via a Breakfast Table Conversation with local peace, government, and youth leaders. 

Lifelong peace community activists and leadership, along with the mayor of the city and youth leaders from multi-religions gathered to break bread and converse about hatred as a health concern and viral contagion. The conversation with about 36 people was first introduced by Dr. Abuelaish’ personal experience as a Palestinian and as a doctor serving in both Israeli and Palestinian hospitals; and professionally in terms of teaching as a professor in Toronto and his extensive research focus of hatred as a destructive and contagious disease. His clinical definition of hatred is a significant turning point in this local and global conversation. 

Conversation Coordinator as Point of Contact and possible speakers/panelists: Mig Garcia, Executive Director, Peace Center of San Antonio

College Scholarship Fundraising and Sponsorships.  

Dr. Abuelaish’s experience of this daughters and niece being killed and his research on positive societal change have led to the creation of the Daughters for Life Foundation which provides scholarships for young women of the Middle East. He believes that educated women assuming more leadership is crucial for building justice and peace, for healing the world.    

Over 260 people in San Antonio, felt called to join a dinner, “Lift a Daughter for Life” and to donate. They could see that love is stronger than hate. Compassion and education are the paths to flourishing for all.  This benefit dinner sold out. The enthusiasm of the people clearly indicated that people want for our city to have a scholarship for a Middle Eastern woman to study in San Antonio at Northwest Vista College and the University of the Incarnate Word that she may be a peacebuilder. NVC and UIW could be Academic Sponsors working with Daughters for Life, the Canadian Non-profit founded by Abuelaish in memory of his daughters. These institutions would be listed among generous schools committed to a better future. This effort raised $15,890. 

See the film of Dr. Abuelaish’s presentation and the PowerPoint introducing his work.

Sofia Elias, Com Arts Intern, and the Young Women’s Global Leadership group worked to make the programs successful.  

Coordinator of the event and contact and for possible panelists: Narjis Pierre and Sr. Martha Ann Kirk, University of the Incarnate Word

 Communitywide Hybrid Book Read. 

The Executive Book Review is a community of Life Long Learners led by Mark Wittig.  Dr. Abuelaish spoke on his book which has been translated into 23 languages, I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor's Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity and about 200 people attended.  Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Laureate, wrote, "This story is a necessary lesson against hatred and revenge." Dr. Abuelaish is a Palestinian Canadian physician serving as a Professor in the Global Health Division - Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. He was raised in Jabalia Refugee Camp in the Gaza strip and was determined to be a healer. He got a medical degree, worked and was respected in both Israeli hospitals and those in Gaza. Dr. Abuelaish experienced the overwhelming tragedy of his three daughters and niece being killed in Gaza.  His response has been “I shall not hate.”  

See the Study Guide used for discussion.  

Contact: Mark Wittig

University and College Engagement in Classrooms. 

A few hundred University of the Incarnate Word students attended his presentations including those in the following classes: Community Health in Education,  “The Word in the World,” first year Religious Studies classes,  History of the East ,  Dimensions of Wellness Health Professions, Food Insecurity Nutrition Class,  Introductory Spanish,  Finance, Introduction to Philosophy,  BioEthics, and other classes.  An article form UIW Communications describes some of the student response. 

Religious studies classes from St. Anthony’s Catholic High School attended Some of these students are doing an Artistic Bridges exchange with Palestinian youth who go to the Palestinian Sustainability Museum at Bethlehem University on Friday afternoons. When the person scheduled to do the CTSA, Catholic Television of San Antonio program with Dr. Abuelaish got sick, the UIW Communication Arts Department stepped up producing a quality program. 

See Catholic Television of San Antonio “Food for Thought”  

The Peace Center at Northwest Vista College hosted him for an afternoon and many students benefited. The Department of Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship at Texas Lutheran University Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, Texas, prepared classes to ask him questions on ethical issues and this led to good student engagement.   

Contacts: Sr. Martha Ann Kirk,  Migdalia Garcia,  and  Dr. Amanda Kaminski

Jewish Community Engagement with Dr. Abuelaish and Hatred as a Contagious Disease. 

A small and safe group of about ten people had a conversation with Dr. Abuelaish at the main campus of the Jewish Federation. This was an opportunity for candid sharing about painful realities.  

From a member of the Jewish community group who participated in that conversation:  

 “Thank you for bringing Dr. Abuelaish for the lively heart-to-heart we had with him. It was a great opportunity for our community, who is so deeply impacted by the attacks on Israel, to discuss what could bring peace in a real way, beyond idealistic concepts, and what is working and what isn't.” 

Planning and Communications of Dr. Abuelaish visiting San Antonio.  

Rev. Julie Rowe, Chaplain, University Hospital and Sr. Martha Ann Kirk were main contacts with Dr. Abuelaish.  

Religious Leaders via a Dinner Table Conversation.  

The San Antonio Raindrop Foundation which was founded by Turkish Muslim invited people of various faiths to a closing dinner with Dr. Abuelaish. About 30 people attended.  This gave an opportunity for conversation.  A Muslim child shared about being bullied in school. Earlier in the week a Jewish leader had shared that a Jewish child had been bullied in school.  In our city we do not want any child to experience that.  We may have different political points of view, but want to work together for a compassionate atmosphere.  

Contact: Dr. Sumeyra Tek, leader  

Final Reflection on Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish’s Visit To San Antonio from a main local organizer:  

“To those who seek retaliation, I say, even if I got revenge on all the Israeli people, would it bring my daughters back? Hatred is an illness it prevents healing and peace.” “I Shall Not Hate,” P. 188 

“I am a physician, and as a consequence, I see things most clearly in medical terms. I am arguing that we need an immunization program, one that injects people with respect, dignity, and equality, and inoculates them against hatred.” (P. 196-197) 

During the week that he was in San Antonio, I heard Dr Abuelaish share how as a doctor and researcher, he has studied the effect of hatred on the human body. Not only does hatred not bring “healing and peace,” it can be a cause of bodily stress, hypertension, diabetes and other chronic diseases. Holding hatred within our bodies not only is harmful to our own health and well-being, it radiates outward into society, and sickens the body politic. This is one of the most important messages I heard him share with various San Antonio audiences - medical professionals, students, activists and book enthusiasts. 

I also read Dr. Abuelaish’s book, and not once did I come across the word Nonviolence. And I did not hear it used in any of his presentations. As a passionate advocate for “Nonviolence” as the necessary paradigm shift for a world on the brink of destruction, I found this so interesting. Perhaps in Arabic or Muslim traditions or cultural expressions the word Nonviolence does not have meaning. Nonviolence is a very hard word to grasp for many people, English-speaking or not. But he does write about “the anger that signals that you do not accept the evil that happened that spurs you to make a difference.” (p. 196) Even without using the word Nonviolence, he is acting in a very Gandhian way, using anger as a fuel to bring about change through action that benefits both parties or sides of a divide. 

And the word “peace” is found probably on nearly every page in his book. Dr. Abuelaish seems to draw on the very core of his Muslim faith, background, and upbringing to reflect on an attitude that treats an adversary with respect, even in the worst situations. The Islamic word for peace is salam, defined as a situation in which there is quiet and calm, … there is no war, violence, or arguing. I will always remember Dr. Abuelaish for his patience and respect for those who often humiliated him and turned relatively simple procedures like border crossings into opportunities for harassment and tortuous slowdowns. But then he writes, “…If I could know that my daughters were the last sacrifice on the road to peace between Palestinians and Israelies, then I would accept their loss.” (p.317)  A father would easily lay down his life to save that of his child. This father would accept the death of his three daughters if peaceful co-existence became a reality. Izzeldin, for me, embodies a deep nonviolent spirit. 

At the conclusion of his book and the presentations that I heard, Dr. Abuelaish’s “call to action” on behalf of peacemaking is to advocate through his foundation, Daughters for Life, for the education of young Palestinian women. His commitment to women’s empowerment globally is a powerful reminder of one of the holistic structural and systemic changes that are urgently needed to end violence and build a more just world and sustainable future.

~ Margaret Schellenberger, Pax Christi International

University and College Engagement in Classrooms. 

A few hundred University of the Incarnate Word students attended his presentations including those in the following classes: Community Health in Education,  “The Word in the World,” first year Religious Studies classes,  History of the East ,  Dimensions of Wellness Health Professions, Food Insecurity Nutrition Class,  Introductory Spanish,  Finance, Introduction to Philosophy,  BioEthics, and other classes.  An article form UIW Communications describes some of the student response. 

Religious studies classes from St. Anthony’s Catholic High School attended Some of these students are doing an Artistic Bridges exchange with Palestinian youth who go to the Palestinian Sustainability Museum at Bethlehem University on Friday afternoons. When the person scheduled to do the CTSA, Catholic Television of San Antonio program with Dr. Abuelaish got sick, the UIW Communication Arts Department stepped up producing a quality program. 

See Catholic Television of San Antonio “Food for Thought”  

The Peace Center at Northwest Vista College hosted him for an afternoon and many students benefited. The Department of Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship at Texas Lutheran University Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, Texas, prepared classes to ask him questions on ethical issues and this led to good student engagement.   

Contacts: Sr. Martha Ann Kirk,  Migdalia Garcia,  and  Dr. Amanda Kaminski

Jewish Community Engagement with Dr. Abuelaish and Hatred as a Contagious Disease. 

A small and safe group of about ten people had a conversation with Dr. Abuelaish at the main campus of the Jewish Federation. This was an opportunity for candid sharing about painful realities.  

From a member of the Jewish community group who participated in that conversation:  

 “Thank you for bringing Dr. Abuelaish for the lively heart-to-heart we had with him. It was a great opportunity for our community, who is so deeply impacted by the attacks on Israel, to discuss what could bring peace in a real way, beyond idealistic concepts, and what is working and what isn't.” 

Planning and Communications of Dr. Abuelaish visiting San Antonio.  

Rev. Julie Rowe, Chaplain, University Hospital and Sr. Martha Ann Kirk were main contacts with Dr. Abuelaish.  

Religious Leaders via a Dinner Table Conversation.  

The San Antonio Raindrop Foundation which was founded by Turkish Muslim invited people of various faiths to a closing dinner with Dr. Abuelaish. About 30 people attended.  This gave an opportunity for conversation.  A Muslim child shared about being bullied in school. Earlier in the week a Jewish leader had shared that a Jewish child had been bullied in school.  In our city we do not want any child to experience that.  We may have different political points of view, but want to work together for a compassionate atmosphere.  

Contact: Dr. Sumeyra Tek, leader  

Final Reflection on Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish’s Visit To San Antonio from a main local organizer:  

“To those who seek retaliation, I say, even if I got revenge on all the Israeli people, would it bring my daughters back? Hatred is an illness it prevents healing and peace.” “I Shall Not Hate,” P. 188 

“I am a physician, and as a consequence, I see things most clearly in medical terms. I am arguing that we need an immunization program, one that injects people with respect, dignity, and equality, and inoculates them against hatred.” (P. 196-197) 

During the week that he was in San Antonio, I heard Dr Abuelaish share how as a doctor and researcher, he has studied the effect of hatred on the human body. Not only does hatred not bring “healing and peace,” it can be a cause of bodily stress, hypertension, diabetes and other chronic diseases. Holding hatred within our bodies not only is harmful to our own health and well-being, it radiates outward into society, and sickens the body politic. This is one of the most important messages I heard him share with various San Antonio audiences - medical professionals, students, activists and book enthusiasts. 

I also read Dr. Abuelaish’s book, and not once did I come across the word Nonviolence. And I did not hear it used in any of his presentations. As a passionate advocate for “Nonviolence” as the necessary paradigm shift for a world on the brink of destruction, I found this so interesting. Perhaps in Arabic or Muslim traditions or cultural expressions the word Nonviolence does not have meaning. Nonviolence is a very hard word to grasp for many people, English-speaking or not. But he does write about “the anger that signals that you do not accept the evil that happened that spurs you to make a difference.” (p. 196) Even without using the word Nonviolence, he is acting in a very Gandhian way, using anger as a fuel to bring about change through action that benefits both parties or sides of a divide. 

And the word “peace” is found probably on nearly every page in his book. Dr. Abuelaish seems to draw on the very core of his Muslim faith, background, and upbringing to reflect on an attitude that treats an adversary with respect, even in the worst situations. The Islamic word for peace is salam, defined as a situation in which there is quiet and calm, … there is no war, violence, or arguing. I will always remember Dr. Abuelaish for his patience and respect for those who often humiliated him and turned relatively simple procedures like border crossings into opportunities for harassment and tortuous slowdowns. But then he writes, “…If I could know that my daughters were the last sacrifice on the road to peace between Palestinians and Israelies, then I would accept their loss.” (p.317)  A father would easily lay down his life to save that of his child. This father would accept the death of his three daughters if peaceful co-existence became a reality. Izzeldin, for me, embodies a deep nonviolent spirit. 

At the conclusion of his book and the presentations that I heard, Dr. Abuelaish’s “call to action” on behalf of peacemaking is to advocate through his foundation, Daughters for Life, for the education of young Palestinian women. His commitment to women’s empowerment globally is a powerful reminder of one of the holistic structural and systemic changes that are urgently needed to end violence and build a more just world and sustainable future.

~ Margaret Schellenberger, Pax Christi International