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Izzeldin Abuelaish "continues to fight for peace between the Israeli and Palestinian people and tirelessly strives to build bridges between the two war-torn and weary communities", a
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BRUSSELS (EJP)---A fiery peace-preaching Palestinian doctor from Gaza is among the three finalists for the 2009 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, which the European Parliament awards each year to democracy and human rights campaigners.
Despite losing three of his daughters in the Gaza war in January 2009, Izzeldin Abuelaish, who is a resident of Jabalia, the largest refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, "continues to fight for peace between the Israeli and Palestinian people and tirelessly strives to build bridges between the two war-torn and weary communities", according to the nomination paper.
A Harvard-educated obstetric gynecologist, Abuelaish had practised in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan and commuted weekly from Gaza to a Tel Aviv hospital.
He started last month teaching at the University of Toronto.
Two other finalists for this year's Sakharov Prize are Eritrean writer and political prisoner Dawit Isaak and Lyudmila Alexeyeva, Oleg Orlov and Sergei Kovalev on behalf of the Memorial human rights organization in Russia.
The winner will be selected by the European Parliament’s political group leaders on 22 October.
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament as a means to honour individuals or organizations who dedicate their lives to the defence of human rights and freedoms, particularly the right to free expression.