People & Players
Zak's birth name, which he changed to distance himself from his father.
What is Abdulaziz?
The American city where Zak was born and where his father first radicalized.
What is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania?
The literary genre of The Terrorist's Son, which is a true story written by the person who experienced it.
What is a memoir?
Zak's reaction to the hateful behavior of his father and uncles.
What is he rejected it or hated it?
The final action Zak's mother took to permanently separate her family from the life of El-Sayyid Nosair.
What is filing for divorce?
Zak's father, an Egyptian industrial engineer and convicted terrorist.
Who is El-Sayyid Nosair?
The major terror attack in 1993 that Zak's father was later convicted of planning from prison.
What is the first World Trade Center bombing?
A person or group that uses violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political or ideological aims.
What is a terrorist?
The age Zak was when his father murdered Meir Kahane.
What is seven?
Zak's mother told him they had to leave and move a lot because his father was doing this kind of work.
What is missionary work?
The founder of the Jewish Defense League who was assassinated by Zak's father in 1990.
Who is Meir Kahane?
The large Florida theme park where Zak and his brother got their first jobs, which exposed Zak to people of all backgrounds.
What is Busch Gardens?
The central theme of the book, which Zak says is always possible to select even when you are raised to hate.
What is choice?
The people who Zak told his story publicly during the Epilogue of the book
What is a room full of federal agents (FBI agents)?
The mother's confession that allowed Zak to begin his own journey of rejecting hate.
What is "I'm so sick of hating people"?
Zak's mother, who made the difficult choice to leave her extremist husband and protect her children.
Who is Karimah (or Khallat) Nosair?
The country Zak's family visits where he sees his father and radical uncles engaging in target practice with real weapons.
What is Egypt?
What Zak argues is more powerful than hate, and that he found through his varied experiences.
What is empathy (or tolerance)?
Zak realized this type of feeling for the first time when he felt bad after bullying another kid in school.
What is empathy (or feeling sorry for someone)?
She took her children out of the extremist community to protect them from this process.
What is radicalization (or becoming a terrorist)?
The name of Zak's uncle who took over as the male authority figure in the home and continued to preach radical ideology after his father's incarceration.
Who is Jamil Ibrahim?
The building where Zak's family was living when the police came to arrest his father for the assassination of Meir Kahane.
What is an apartment complex in Brooklyn (or New York City)?
Zak's belief is the only way to solve conflicts.
What is nonviolence?
The main activity Zak dedicates his life to as an adult to combat terrorism and the message of his father.
What is speaking out for peace/nonviolence (or sharing his story)?
The job Zak's mother held, which was the opposite of what her husband, Sayyid, believed in.
What is a school teacher?