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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, November 13, 2015 | 4 Son of a terrorist to speak at YMCA Peace Breakfast by David Lea Oakville Beaver Staff When Zak Ebrahim was a boy, his father, ElSayyid Nosair, was convicted of helping to plan the bombing of the World Trade Centre in 1993. The terrorist act killed six people, wounded more than 1,000 and foreshadowed the even more horrific attack on 9/11. Ebrahim rejected the path his father laid out for him and today is a non-violence advocate and lecturer who travels the world denouncing terrorism and sharing his story. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native, who authored , will bring his message of peace to Oakville Nov. 19 as keynote speaker at the Oakville YMCA Community Peace Breakfast. One of Ebrahim's key messages is you can grow up surrounded by hate, but you do not have to let it define who you are or what you do. "Our actions, our words, have power," he said. "We have the power to determine the direction our lives take." Ebrahim spoke with the Oakville Beaver about his father and about his own path forward following Nosair's arrest. He said not all memories of his father are negative. Zak Ebrahim l r. M ge aris a D'An g hiv ani Sag We offer full Family Dental Services in our brand new, state-of-the-art office in a calm and relaxing environment. We are a paperless office and use digital x-rays. We welcome kids, teens, adults and seniors. NEW PATIENTS are welcome and we will accommodate your dental emergencies. We will directly bill your insurance company and offer convenient evening and weekend appointments. 2525 Old Bronte Road, Suite #130 Palermo Professional Centre (ground floor) Old Bronte Rd. Bronte Rd. Dundas St. W. Pine Glen Rd. 3rd Line www.reflections-dental.ca 905-827-8700 Open HOuse Sunday Nov. 15 · 11am-2pm Tour our expanded facilities including: · Laparoscopic surgery · Laser therapy · Physiotherapy - including an underwater treadmill · Do-it-yourself dog wash with easily accessible tubs and dryers Oakpark Pet Hospital invites you to visit our new, state-of-the-art clinic at our Join us 11 am - 2 pm for our Open House and cHarity dOg walk for the Farley Foundation. Dog walk to take place at 12 pm. Refreshments - Prizes - Facility tours Oakpark Pet Hospital 370 DunDas sTreeT easT, Oakville è N ar o D r. S One of his first is of his father taking him at age three to the Kennywood Amusement Park in Pittsburgh. "My father really didn't become radicalized until I was about six or seven and so I have lots of memories of him being a very kind and humourous man. It was very obvious that he loved our family very much. He was a very caring father. I had great memories of him making us laugh," said Ebrahim. "He wasn't always the man he would become." Ebrahim said he does not know why his father, an industrial engineer originally from Egypt, turned to terrorism. He admitted a sexual assault allegation was brought against Nosair and while charges were never filed, Ebrahim said the accusation ruined his father's standing with the Muslim community in Pittsburgh and helped spur the family's move to New Jersey. "Then when he started work in New Jersey, he was electrocuted very badly. He was sent home on painkillers and anti-depressants and became very withdrawn. He was unable to work and provide for his family." Ebrahim said around this time, his father began interacting with men who would carry out the World Trade Centre bombing. Nosair took his son to a Long Island shooting range accompanied by many of these men. He also began talking about going to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets, but Nosair's father forbade it. "He decided he was going to find some other way to contribute to what he saw as a battle between Muslims and the West," said Ebrahim, adding his father also took him to sermons by the `Blind Sheikh', Omar Abdel-Rahman. During these sermons, Abdel-Rahman, who would also be convicted of plotting terrorist attacks in New York, would speak against the West and Israel, and Ebrahim said he remembers seeing his father visibly moved by the sermons. Nosair's terrorist actions began in 1990 with see Father's on p.5 D www.oakparkpethospital.com www.farleyfoundation.org info@oakparkpethospital.com