Nuseir Yassin mourns his friend Zaki Jamal, an Israeli investor who believed in Jewish-Arab friendship and backed Nuseir's early video work at Harvard. Zaki founded the Fresh Fund, hosted backgammon tournaments bringing Jews and Arabs together, and invited Nuseir's Muslim parents to Shabbat. Yassin asks viewers to carry forward Zaki's legacy of peace.
My longest friend died suddenly from a heart attack. I've known him for 15 years and we texted 6 hours before his death. And because of the war, I had to watch his funeral online. His name is Zaki Jamal.
Hi, my name is Zaki and I love gays.
This video is about him, but by the end, it's about you and me. I met Zeki on my first week at Harvard University.
I thought he was a fellow Arab Muslim. Nope! He's Jewish and Israeli.
He was the first Israeli to extend his hand to me and say, "Let's be friends." That simple gesture changed my world because one, Zeki believed in me even if I didn't believe in myself.
He believed in my videos 3 years before Nas Daily.
He believed in my company and was the first investor. He believed in my future and supported it.
But above all, Zeki believed in peace. He started a backgammon championship for Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem just so they can meet and play with each other. He invited my Muslim parents to their first ever Shabbat with his family. He deeply, to his core, believed that Muslims and Jews could be friends. And he worked on that every single day because Zucky believed in all people. It was even his job. He was a seed investor and invested millions of dollars in hundreds of startups.
I run a small venture capital fund called Fresh Fund. It also do well and make money, but also do, do good in the process.
That is who Zucky was. He believed in you before you believed in yourself. And the world lost that human. My friend Zaki, an Israeli Jew who was la la la, smile smile.
They say a man dies twice. When he takes his last breath and when his name is spoken for the last time. So let us remember Zaki's name because I should be like Zaki. You should be like Zaki.
And believe in the goodness of others, even if they don't believe in themselves, even if they are our enemy, and even if the human died, his humanity should continue to live in all of us.
Rest in peace, Zaki.
