পশ্চিম এশিয়ার সংঘাত সম্পর্কে শিমন পেরেসের উক্তি

‘পশ্চিম এশিয়ায় আজকের যে সংঘাত তা আর সংস্কৃতির প্রশ্ন নয়, আসলে সেটি প্রজন্মের প্রশ্ন।’

— শিমন পেরেস

উক্তিটি ইংরেজিতে পড়ুন

উৎস ও প্রসঙ্গ সম্পর্কে জানুন

Shimon Peres was born in Poland in 1923. To escape
the persecution of Jews, the family fled to Palestine.
Peres grew up in Tel Aviv, studied agricultural
science, and was elected secretary to the Labor
Zionist youth movement in 1943.
After statehood was declared for Israel in 1948,
Peres served as head of Israel’s navy. He was elected
a member of the Knesset, Israel’s legislative body,
in 1959, but is perhaps best known for his work as
Israel’s prime minister—from 1984 to 1986 and from
1995 to 1996. During his first term, he participated
in 14 meetings in Oslo, Norway, with former Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Chairman
Yasser Arafat, negotiating a path to peace. The
Oslo Peace Accords were signed by both sides on
September 13, 1993. In 1994, the Nobel Peace Prize
was awarded jointly to Arafat, Rabin, and Peres.
The Knesset elected Shimon Peres president of
Israel on June 13, 2007. At the time of his retirement
in 2014, he was the world’s oldest head of state.
In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded him
the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Peres died on
September 27, 2016, at age 93—the last of Israel’s
founding fathers.

More Quote:

Life

I’ve been controversial for most of my life. Suddenly, I’ve become popular. I don’t know when I was wrong, then or now. 

September 2007, Haaretz

Sometimes people ask me, ‘What is the greatest achievement you have reached in your lifetime or that you will reach in the future?’ So I reply that there was a great painter named Mordecai Ardon, who was asked which picture was the most beautiful he had ever painted. Ardon replied, ‘The picture I will paint tomorrow.’ That is also my answer. 

May 2011, Maariv

At my age, after looking back, if I feel that I have to make a choice between being experienced and cynical or being curious and innocent, I prefer the second. It is much more appealing. 

May 2000, The Jerusalem Post

Peace

For peace, one must remember: As a bird cannot fly with one wing, as a man cannot applaud with one hand, so a country cannot make peace just with one side, with itself. For peace, we need the two of us. 

June 1996, at Hebrew University in Jerusalem

He who has despaired from peace is the one hallucinating. Whoever gives in and stops seeking peace — he is naïve, he is the one who is not a patriot! In order to be practical and not hallucinate and not be naïve, there is a need to recognize several basic truths that are sharp, clear and eternal:

Israel will not have permanent security without peace. Israel will not have a stable thriving economy without peace. Israel will not have a healthy society free from poverty and discrimination without peace. Israel has no chance of preserving its Jewish democratic character without peace. Israel will be giving up its future if it sees the status quo as its desire. 

November 2014 at Rabin Square

It took Zionism 25 years to overcome its great error — its attempt to ignore the existence of the Palestinians in this land — and Oslo was the true and correct beginning of such a solution. More than anything else, Oslo was proof that we can live in this land another way. 

September 2003, Ma’ariv

Politics

I believe that in foreign policy, it is better to talk like a lion in a sheep’s skin rather than a sheep in a lion’s mane. It’s a matter of taste. I think it is more effective to understate. 

April 2012, Ma’ariv

Nuclear Weapons

The nuclear option is that most of our neighbors, who want to destroy us, believe that Israel has the capability to destroy them. Their suspicion is our strength.”

November 2009, Yedioth Ahronoth

There is no doubt that an Iran with nuclear weapons is a mortal danger. I also have no doubt that Israel has to view this matter with all seriousness and gravity. Iran is a danger to the entire world. It is currently as dangerous to America as it is to Israel, and that is a good union. We have often been alone. 

August 2012, Mako

Judaism

Jewish history is devoid of any desire to rule over another people. I think that what is happening now is a deviation. All the people who ruled over us have been erased from the stage of history. We are the only ones who never ruled over anyone else, and we prevailed. 

February 1988, The Jerusalem Post

Human Rights

I support the right of every human being to marriage, including gay marriage. Every human being has the right to breathe fresh air, to eat food, to fall in love with whoever they want. According to our tradition, we are all created equal. 

December 2013, Facebook

Science and Technology

We know already that computers are mightier than guns. We know that the new opportunities reside in the campuses of the scientists, rather than in the camps of the army. 

May 1994, at the signing of the Gaza-Jericho Accord

Resources

You know what our greatest lack is? It’s that we have nothing. This small piece of land is an arid land — swamp in the north, desert in the south, and no water. We have two lakes — one is dead, the other dying. We have one river — which has fame but no water. If you want to pray, you go to the Jordan River, but if you want to irrigate, go somewhere else. 

November 2011, CNN