Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish knows better than most people about hatred.

He was born into a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, into the lines that divide the Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East. He is a doctor with a degree from Harvard, but also a father who, on Jan. 16, 2009, saw three of his daughters and a niece killed and another daughter blinded. During a three-week war in Gaza, an Israeli tank shell exploded in the girls’ bedroom.

Abuelaish, rather than turning to hatred or revenge, has turned to peace and wrote a book about his situation, “I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity.”

“It represents a human story, a challenging story of not giving up, and channeling your anger and everything that occurred into peace,” Abuelaish said.

Abuelaish brought his message into the Champaign-Urbana community over the weekend. He participated in book talks and discussions and promoted Daughters for Life, his new foundation for girls in the Middle East.

His visit was sponsored by the Urbana-Champaign Peace Institute. The group’s goal is to educate the community on peace and justice, especially in the Middle East.

“It’s important to be able to think about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and hear that there are peaceful voices in the community,” said Niloofar Shambayati, member of the Peace Institute.

Abuelaish has devoted his life in medicine to the reconciliation between the Israelis and Palestinians as a physician who treats patients on both sides. His response to the event has won him humanitarian awards around the world.

Abuelaish’s three daughters appear in a photo on the cover of the book taken just two weeks before they died. Abuelaish said he had taken his girls to the beach that day to help them recover from their mother’s death.

“The book is overwhelming. As a mother I can’t imagine having gone through what he did,” said Jamie Storm, member of the Urbana-Champaign Peace Institute.

By the summer, the book will be released in 15 different languages worldwide. Abuelaish said he wants to send the message that tragedies are not the end of the world, and it is important that they are overcome.

“The message is spreading, and I feel satisfied that it has touched at least one person,” Abuelaish said.

John Setterlund, a member of the Urbana-Champaign Peace Institute, said he was one of the many moved by the book.

“It’s heartbreaking and gut-wrenching. I can’t believe the courage this man has,” Setterlund said.

Setterlund spent two years on the west bank of Palestine and said he thinks it is good for people to hear an inside view on the conflict, since the media portrays Palestinians as all barbarians.

Abuelaish’s foundation will help provide scholarships for girls in the Middle East, and said he wants to put an emphasis on education.

“We must remember to not say tomorrow,” Abuelaish said. “But instead spend as much time as you can with the people you love.”