Daughter of jihadist to speak at Jewish Academy

Nonie Darwish, the daughter of a jihadist, will speak at 8 p.m. Mon., Feb. 11 at the Conejo Jewish Academy, 30345 Canwood St., Agoura Hills. The subject of her talk is her book, "Now They Call Me Infidel- Why I Renounced Jihad."

Darwish was raised as a Muslim in Cairo, Egypt, and the Gaza strip. Her father headed the Egyptian military intelligence in Gaza and the Sinai in the 1950s when Gaza was under Egyptian control. He headed the Fedayeen operations against Israel under the leadership of President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt. He was killed in Gaza in a targeted assassination in 1956 when Darwish was 8 years old.

Darwish was taught hatred, jihad, vengeance and retaliation. But she questioned her culture, and the answers convinced her to choose a different path that brought upon her head the label of infidel.

She founded the website www.ArabsForIsrael.com.

Prepaid admission is $12, and at-door admission is $15.

For more information or tickets, call (818) 991-0991 or visit www.JewishAcademy.com.