Shimon Peres Quotes
If we do not have two states [Arab and Jewish], we shall have one conflict. Neither them [the Arabs] or us should condemn our children to fighting forever.
Shimon Peres, President of Israel, Prime Minister, Israel (Labor), Nobel Peace Laureate, Interview, PBS The Charlie Rose Show, July 1, 2014
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Mohamed Anwar El-Sedat
Israel had again been attacked by Arab armies and at the same time the parties were in peace negotiations. Some argued that there should be a cease fire while negotiations were ongoing, but Rabin explained that if the two did not go on simultaneously and independently, neither might go well.
The quotation was made in the context of the Arab Israeli conflict, but the principle is general.
At the time all the Arab armies were attacking Israel. Many Arabs joined the assault or evacuated to return with the “victorious” Arab armies. Many others stayed in Israel. The former became the refugees of the area. The latter, are citizens of Israel with the best health and education in the Middle East and the only Arabs who have the freedom of living in a democracy.
South Africa’s transition from apartheid white minority rule to an interracial society with Black majority rule was one of the great political achievements in history. The Black leadership set a tone of reconciliation and inclusiveness that there was neither back retribution and vengeance, nor extensive white flight. Tutu and Nelson Mandella were two of those most resonsible for the leadership, but the good will and Christian charity of the South African blacks was the key to the success where all other white dominated African nations were NOT able to transition without extensive violence and/or flight.
Shimon Peres was an Israeli politician who served both as ninth President of Israel, (2007–2014) and Prime Minister of Israel, as well as Interim Prime Minister. He was a member of twelve cabinets in a political career spanning nearly 70 years. Peres was elected to the Knesset in November 1959 and, except for a three-month-long hiatus in early 2006, was in office continuously until 2007, when he became President, being in that role for another seven years. At the time of his retirement in 2014, he was the world's oldest head of state. He was considered the last link to Israel's founding generation.
