Dignity First
By Nidal Sakr
(MAF – 2/23/09) – “Hand me death but with dignity,
and do not give me life in disgrace” is another famous Arabic saying we can all subscribe to. We always talk about human rights, civil rights, the rights to this and the rights to that, but often forget the one right that is most important of all.
Every human was born with one entitlement – that is freedom. From that basic right to freedom comes all other rights. From freedom you choose what to believe or think, what life and future to have, what contribution to make to your family and community, what to die for, and what to leave behind. We all own these rights, but we do not all enjoy the rights we are all entitled to.
Whenever you see injustice, you know that these rights are being taken away. Whenever you see oppression and corruption, you know that someone is taking something that is not theirs, and whenever you see misery, you must know that someone is taking more than what they are entitled to.
These are not things we normally like to think or talk about, particularly when things are going well for us. After all, why all the blues and why spoil the fun? But now things are not going well for us, and things have not been going well for much longer for many more people other than us. Read more
