I say: The time has come for my courageous and proud people, after decades of displacement and colonial occupation and ceaseless suffering, to live like other peoples of the earth, free in a sovereign and independent homeland.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the right of a people to achieve freedom and sovereignty after enduring hardship and injustice.
Mahmoud Abbas articulates a powerful call for the liberation and autonomy of his people, who have faced prolonged oppression and displacement. This appeal speaks to the fundamental human desire for self-determination and highlights the need for dignity and recognition of their rights, allowing them to exist as equals among other nations.
In practice
In a speech about human rights, one could use this quote to highlight struggles against oppression.
Once I came out in sports, I basically told myself, 'I'm coming out, officially. I wanted to be able to look in the mirror and tell myself that I was being true to me. I wanted to help the younger me, when I was a kid, give them somebody for them to look up to.
For the kids out there that are worried about what the future holds, especially the LGBTQI+ kids, our brothers and sisters that came before us didn't fight for nothing. Trust me: we will only move forward, but you need to put your fear aside and find the strength to believe that.
Don't make assumptions. Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want.
An act of heroism, of extraordinary courage, the grandeur of it, won't easily inspire us to act in imitation, but it can inspire us to emulate its author. For that, we should learn what we can of the whole experience of the subject, the hero's life, as it was before and after, and believe that trying to emulate the character it reveals is one tried way to prepare for the tests that might await us and gain hope that our courage will not be wanting in the moment.
During the course of 1989, more and more East Germans lost their fears of the state's repression and chicanery and went out on the streets. There was no turning back then. It is thanks to their courage the Wall was opened.
Given the same amount of intelligence, timidity will do a thousand times more damage than audacity
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