Abu Sarah was born in al-Eizariya, a town in the West Bank, to a Muslim family, the youngest of seven children. His father ran a produce import-export company with neighboring Arab countries.[2] As a youth growing up during the First Intifada, he threw stones at passing Israeli cars "because we were bored, with nothing to do."[1] His first stone was accidentally thrown at a neighbor's car.[2] The only Jews Abu Sarah knew of were the soldiers he dodged at Israeli checkpoints, and Israeli settlers.[1]