When Zak was seven years old, his father, El-Sayyid Nosair, shot and killed the leader of the Jewish Defense League. While in prison, Nosair helped plan the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993.

Apart from all the immediate impact in his life, in the long run his father's actions also affected his ability to trust other people and even himself.
Zak shares examples of trust in his life, how he realized when thinking about these examples how much trust relates to a willingness to make ourselves vulnerable to others, and why it is so important to make ourselves vulnerable in order to live a happy life. Zak Ebrahim was only seven years old when, on November 5, 1990, his father, El-Sayyid Nosair, shot and killed the leader of the Jewish Defense League. While in prison, Nosair was sentenced to multiple life sentences for his role in the Day of Terror Plot.
After his father’s incarceration, his family moved more than twenty times, haunted by and persecuted for the crimes of his father. Though his radicalized father and uncles modeled fanatical beliefs, the hateful ideas never resonated with the shy, awkward boy. The older he grew, the more fully Ebrahim grasped the horrific depths of his father’s acts. The more he understood, the more he resolved to dedicate his life to promoting peace. After several years of hiding his true identity Zak began to speak publicly about his personal path to peace. Zak currently travels the world giving lectures about his life story.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx