Mustafa Barghouti reflects on the work and life of Edward Said
Al-Ahram Weekly
"Edward Said saw the Palestinian cause as inseparable from its global environment. He defended the rights of our people from the standpoint of his commitment to the defence of the rights and dignity of all people and his revulsion for all forms of intolerance and narrow-mindedness. He brought Palestine to the world, just as he brought the world, and the best of its culture, ideas and civilisation, to Palestine. He became a towering pioneering figure for the Palestinians, the Arab world and the world at large, not by virtue of force of arms, control over material resources or the manipulation of political power, but by virtue of the power of his ideas and his moral influence, which he shaped through his personal rectitude, his love for people, and his insatiable thirst for knowledge and discovery.
He will always be with us. Those who leave us are those who cling to the past even while still alive. In stark contrast, Edward Said represents the future, the future we dream of for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren, and for our nation which has been plagued by seemingly endless pain."
No comments:
Post a Comment