Published: 7 June 2022
Last updated: 4 March 2024
DANNY AND LEILA ABDALLAH publicly forgave the drugged driver who killed their children. Now, they are supporting Together with Humanity in helping faith communities forgive, writes PAULA TOWERS
The tragic events of 1 February 2020 shook Australia. A drug-affected driver killed four children as they walked to get ice-cream in Sydney's northwest – three of Danny and Leila Abdallah’s children and their niece.
“Probably the worst possible tragedy…. shocked at the time, broken … later my wife and I made the decision to forgive the driver – for the greater good of our family,” Abdallah told The Jewish Independent. “This message isn’t just because I’m Maronite Catholic – it’s a humanitarian message.”
To honour the children, the couple launched i4give Day and the i4give Foundation. This year’s launch of i4give week on February 1-7 saw multifaith involvement of communities around the State promoting the power of forgiveness – including on their most holy days of the week: Muslims leaders at Friday night prayers, Jewish leaders on Saturday Shabbat services concluding with a collaboration of Christian churches on i4give Sunday.
“In the Middle East, as well as in Australia, we have choices in how we deal with other communities. We could understand common will and purpose."
Rabbi Zalman Kastel
“A lot of people view forgiveness as a sign of weakness, but we view it as a sign of strength,” Abdallah explains: “When you forgive, you free yourself. You’re no longer a victim of the incident – you let go.” [otherwise] “The person that doesn’t care about you the most is dictating how you’re feeling.”
Abdallah will speak about his campaign for forgiveness at a fundraising event for Together for Humanity on 14 June at the Art Gallery of NSW.
He believes his message of forgiveness has value not only for the individual, but also for the larger community, nationally and worldwide, including the Middle East.
