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In each of us resides a small Mandela
SHIMON PERES
From the office of The President of the State of Israel,
Shimon Peres – Jerusalem. 6 December 2013
With profound sadness on the passing of Nelson Mandela, in my name and on behalf of the people of Israel, I extend our deepest condolences to his family and the people of South Africa on the loss of a great leader who inspired the South African nation and the world as a whole.
Nelson Mandela was not an ideologue; he was far more than that. He was an example. No other person was such an unbelievable example of forgiveness. He was imprisoned, he was alone but he never lost hope, never doubted that a day would come when people would again become one united human race.
Today, the world says farewell to a great man.
He has left us a world with no room for racism. We are today, a concert of differences, not just a collection of all components.
Who remembers now colours, we were born each of us and all of us in the image of the Lord. Nelson Mandela spoke of the long walk to freedom and we can now say that it was along the right road.
It was a path of truth and reconciliation and who knows where he got the strength to forgive those that killed his people.
Nelson Mandela was an example to us all. In each of us resides a small Mandela. In each of us there is a force of forgiveness and hope that rejects discrimination and hate. Now we can see clearly that all of us can learn from South Africa. The world has lost a great leader that changed the course of history with his courage.
A man who changed the world, a man who did it with a moral call stronger than any army. We shall remember him with love and appreciation and his legacy will guide us in the future.
May he rest in peace and may God Bless his memory.
Shimon Peres
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Peres was one of the first heads of State to issue a message of condolence, but has since penned this deeply thoughtful and insightful message which he issued on Friday
