Dr. Yasmeen Abu Fraiha with Bedari Kindness Institute staff and student interns.

By Hannah Park

On Monday, Nov. 3, Dr. Yasmeen Abu Fraiha, a research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Middle East Initiative and internal medicine physician, engaged with UCLA students and faculty in a lunchtime conversation hosted by the Bedari Kindness Institute (BKI). Dr. Abu Fraiha shared her story as a first responder to victims in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and her approach to dialogue across difference and compassion in the hardest of circumstances.

Participants engaged in a roundtable discussion that explored concepts as diverse as confirmation bias, perceptions of indigeneity, nation-states as political constructs, privilege as a mode of empowerment and responsibility, and personal stories as a means to defuse tension—all centered around the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. From her unique position as a Palestinian Bedouin citizen of Israel and firsthand witness of the suffering experienced by civilians, Dr. Abu Fraiha reflected on her simple, compassionate approach to medical practice. According to Bedouin tradition, anyone who comes under her tent is treated—no questions asked.

Abu Fraiha’s humanistic approach is rare in the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, where many individuals on opposite sides of the conflict claim they have lost the ability to empathize with each other. The unfavorable reception of her article in the New England Journal of Medicine, “Standing by Our Colleagues in Gaza — A Plea to the U.S. Medical Community”, only heightened Dr. Abu Fraiha’s perception that speaking out about conditions she could only describe as “terrible” was seen as a betrayal by close friends and colleagues. 

In this climate, Abu Fraiha stressed that it is more important than ever to listen to personal, “disarming” stories rather than instigating arguments with “big words”: triggering buzzwords that mask the people behind the ideas. Moreover, BKI Director Prof. David N. Myers urged others to avoid “zero-sum thinking”: the essential belief that “if I win, you have to lose.” Instead, people should use their resources and existing privileges to assist others who, regardless of their creed or identity, share the same humanity. 

The BKI anticipates hosting similar lunchtime talks in the future. Sign up for the newsletter here to stay updated about these and other upcoming events. You can also watch last year’s Compassionate Conversations program featuring Dr. Abu Fraiha here.

About the Speaker

Dr. Yasmeen Abu Fraiha is a research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Middle East Initiative and an internal medicine physician. She is a Palestinian Bedouin citizen of Israel and a physician who both served as a first responder to victims in Israel on October 7th and lost friends and family in Gaza.

Abu Fraiha is a remarkable clinician, activist, and humanist. She is the co-founder of two NGOs: Rodaina, which works to prevent genetic diseases through premarital screening, and Yanabia, which promotes socioeconomic development in Bedouin communities. Moreover, she also serves on multiple Board of Directors of NGOs aiming to improve Bedouin lives in Israel. She has won several awards, including the 2007 Ramon Award for quality, leadership, and excellence and was chosen to be part of Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list. In 2023, she was named one of Israel’s 50 most influential women by Globes Magazine.