Malala Yousafzai, Girl Shot by Taliban, Addresses the U.N.

Transcript:

Honourable UN Secretary General Mr Ban  Ki-moon, respected president of the General Assembly  Vuk Jeremic,  honourable UN envoy for global education  Mr Gordon Brown, respected elders and my dear brothers and sisters: Assalamu alaikum.

Today is it an honour for me to  be speaking again after a long time. Being here with such honourable people is a great moment in my life and it is an honour for me that today I am wearing a shawl of the late Benazir Bhutto. I don’t know where to begin my speech. I don’t know what people would be expecting me to say, but first of all thank you to God for whom we all are equal and thank you to every person who has prayed for my fast recovery and new life. I cannot believe how much love people have shown me. I have received thousands of good-wish cards and gifts from all over the world. Thank you to all of them. Thank you to the children whose innocent words encouraged me. Thank you to my elders whose prayers strengthened me. I would like to thank my nurses, doctors and the staff of the hospitals in Pakistan and the UK and the UAE government who have helped me to get better and recover my strength.

I fully support UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his Global Education First Initiative and the work of UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown and the respectful president of the UN General Assembly Vuk Jeremic. I thank them for the leadership they continue to give. They continue to inspire all of us to action. Dear brothers and sisters, do remember one thing: Malala Day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights.

There are hundreds of human rights activists and social workers who are not only speaking for their rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goal of peace, education and equality. Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured. I am just one of them. So here I stand, one girl among many. I speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights. Their right to live in peace. Their right to be treated with dignity. Their right to equality of opportunity. Their right to be educated.

Dear friends, on 9 October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends, too. They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed. And out of that silence came thousands of voices. The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions. But nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born. I am the same Malala. My ambitions are the same. My hopes are the same. And my dreams are the same. Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone. Neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorist group. I am here to speak for the right of education for every child. I want education for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists. I do not even hate the Talib who shot me.

Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him. This is the compassion I have learned from Mohamed, the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. This the legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

This is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have learned from my father and from my mother. This is what my soul is telling me: be peaceful and love everyone.

Dear sisters and brothers, we realise the importance of light when we see darkness. We realise the importance of our voice when we are silenced. In the same way, when we were in Swat, the north of Pakistan, we realised the importance of pens and books when we saw the guns. The wise saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” It is true. The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of women frightens them. This is why they killed 14 innocent students in the recent attack in Quetta. And that is why they kill female teachers. That is why they are blasting schools every day because they were and they are afraid of change and equality that we will bring to our society. And I remember that there was a boy in our school who was asked by a journalist: “Why are the Taliban against education?”He answered very simply by pointing to his book, he said: “A Talib doesn’t know what is written inside this book.”

They think that God is a tiny, little conservative being who would point guns at people’s heads just for going to school. These terrorists are misusing the name of Islam for their own personal benefit. Pakistan is a peace-loving, democratic country. Pashtuns want education for their daughters and sons. Islam is a religion of peace, humanity and brotherhood. It is the duty and responsibility to get education for each child, that is what it says. Peace is a necessity for education. In many parts of the world, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan, terrorism, war and conflicts stop children from going to schools. We are really tired of these wars. Women and children are suffering in many ways in many parts of the world.

In India, innocent and poor children are victims of child labour. Many schools have been destroyed in Nigeria. People in Afghanistan have been affected by extremism. Young girls have to do domestic child labour and are forced to get married at an early age. Poverty, ignorance, injustice, racism and the deprivation of basic rights are the main problems, faced by both men and women.

Today, I am focusing on women’s rights and girls’ education because they are suffering the most. There was a time when women activists asked men to stand up for their rights. But this time we will do it by ourselves. I am not telling men to step away from speaking for women’s rights, but I am focusing on women to be independent and fight for themselves. So dear sisters and brothers, now it’s time to speak up. So today, we call upon the world leaders to change their strategic policies in favour of peace and prosperity. We call upon the world leaders that all of these deals must protect women and children’s rights. A deal that goes against the rights of women is unacceptable.

We call upon all governments to ensure free, compulsory education all over the world for every child. We call upon all the governments to fight against terrorism and violence. To protect children from brutality and harm. We call upon the developed nations to support the expansion of education opportunities for girls in the developing world. We call upon all communities to be tolerant, to reject prejudice based on caste, creed, sect, colour, religion or agenda to ensure freedom and equality for women so they can flourish. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back. We call upon our sisters around the world to be brave, to embrace the strength within themselves and realise their full potential.

Dear brothers and sisters, we want schools and education for every child’s bright future. We will continue our journey to our destination of peace and education. No one can stop us. We will speak up for our rights and we will bring change to our voice. We believe in the power and the strength of our words. Our words can change the whole world because we are all together, united for the cause of education. And if we want to achieve our goal, then let us empower ourselves with the weapon of knowledge and let us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness.

Dear brothers and sisters, we must not forget that millions of people are suffering from poverty and injustice and ignorance. We must not forget that millions of children are out of their schools. We must not forget that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright, peaceful future.

So let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism, let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first. Thank you.

"If a 14-year-old girl living in Pakistan can be so bold as to stand up to a fanatical group of men that seems to hate women and despise freedom, then Americans can just as easily express their beliefs in a democracy where we have that freedom." -- from blogger Jailynn Zenger, 18 October 2012 at I~COMM STUDENT MEDIA

ding::dong::bin::laden::is::dead

photo from the national commission on terrorist
attacks upon the united states

u.s. embassy bombing 1998, kenya

uss cole bombing, yemen, 2000

shock of shockers, he was in pakistan.  well, blow me over.  i'm stunned.  who'd a thunk-it, that we'd eventually tag him in pakistan, of all places.  harrumph.

i liked very much what president obama said -- bin laden was not a leader of islam, not a leader of muslims.

from the tip of my toes to the point of my pointy head, i am dedicated to the abolition of the death penalty.   i am also, however, a profound advocate of extrajudicial execution and once kept a list of people in desperate need of killing -- people both "domestic" and "abroad." jesse helms, augusto pinochet.  like that.

the list is gratifyingly shorter as i head off to bed, blessing the bones and mettle of the special op forces that have done our dirty work.

***  ***  ***  ***  ***  ***  ***  ***

after qaddafi's youngest son and three of his grandchildren were killed yesterday, a spokesman accused NATO of attempting to assassinate a world leader.

NATO said, wide-eyed, voice a-crackin',  "nuh-uh, we don't do that."

Undifferentiated Mush

I haven't slept in 44 hours. Oddly enough, I find myself fighting the urge to sleep. This tends to happen when I'm stressed -- but really, if this is stress, then I am one lucky person. The surgery on Monday, and the tedium of being in the hospital, probably in isolation again, is exacting its toll -- in advance.

How do I know I will be stuck on the other side of people floating in yellow paper gowns with shockingly bright blue latex-free gloves? Because I have assurances it won't happen from my internist and his Supernurse Sidekick, from the admitting orthopedic surgeon, his PA, *and* his nurse, from the Infectious Disease doctor and *two* of his PAs, as well as from the Director of the Infusion Center.

Each person is quite sincere and well-meaning -- and all of them make reference to "common sense." And yet, not one of them is willing to do the leg work of ordering cultures, then checking on the results, and writing orders implementing or discontinuing the innumerable ickitudes of isolation. I know this because of the previous four admissions during which we danced this same dance.

La Bonne et Belle Bianca Castafiore refuses the paper and plastic garb. She either sneaks in without them to begin with, or dons them with great fanfare out in the hall, only to rip them off like a cheap costume once inside the room. Ah, ah, ah! Je ris! Oui, je ris! Simplement de me voir, si si si, si belle dans ce sacré miroir, ah-ah-ahhhh! I know, I know! Out of the bonny blue she has begun to produce operatic riffs...

Anyway, I have plugged my nares with antibiotics, washed every inch of my body with Hibiclens, lanced the multitude of dark, oozing, stinking boils... just kidding about that last part. "Multitude" is kind of an overstatement, used for shock value.

So this afternoon, as the preregistration nurse is doing her thing an d swabbing the nares and the axillary hot spots, I will be smiling my secret smile, secure in the knowledge that Science is going to fail me, once again.

I bet you a dollar. The results will be negative, no growth -- but because hospital protocol requires two successive negative results, that is where the ball will get dropped. I can orchestrate the production before surgery -- but after? That's a different ball of sealing wax.

It is within the realm of the possible that you've no idea what I am babbling about. Don't worry, for you are not alone in falling short of perfection. I have a clusterfuck of medical issues -- lupus, avascular necrosis (which engendered three joint replacements and several pinnings, plates, and screws of fractured bones), adrenal (and renal!) insufficiency, and the everlovin' CRPS/RSD. Oh yeah, and a fair amount of aortic regurgitation.

Also an aortic aneurism.
And a partridge in a pear tree.

The short version of the pertinent? Somewhere along the line, pathogens moved into both of shoulder prostheses -- and then developed into a more classic osteomyelitis. Last August/September, my awesome orthopedic surgeon removed my right shoulder prosthesis due to massive infection and "replaced" it with a silly little antibiotic-impregnated spacer. This surgery did not go very well, and resulted in schtuff like ventilators, pressors, ICU, and an extra visit to the surgical theatre. Despite having lots of evidence for the lab to work with, nothing grew in the cultures. In December, he had to remove the left shoulder prosthesis, and gifted me with another spacer. The infection spread into the entire shaft of the humerus, which -- in ShoulderMan's words -- "pretty much exploded." Mid-February, he went back in on the right side, and put in another total shoulder prosthesis. We are hoping to repeat that achievement this coming Monday on the left side.

I know that my navel is not the center of the universe. Trust me, I am as disgusted as you by this constant worrying and teasing of details over which I have no control -- and about which you have little interest.



How did I miss that the Taliban are within spitting distance of Islamabad? Was it because of that navel thing, or maybe fever, pain? No. I was, quite simply, derelict in my duty as a Planetary Citizen.*

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pushing deeper into Pakistan, Taliban
militants have established effective control of a strategically important district just 70 miles from the capital, Islamabad, officials and residents said Wednesday.

The Taliban pushed into Pakistan from the Swat Valley. We are assured that Islamabad is not in imminent danger, and yet:

Buner, home to about one million people, is a gateway to a major Pakistani city, Mardan, the second largest in North-West Frontier Province, after
Peshawar.

“They take over Buner, then they roll into Mardan and that’s the end of
the game,” a senior law enforcement official in North-West Frontier Province
said. He asked that his name be withheld because was not authorized to speak to
the news media.

My God. I think it is time to focus on what matters.

*"The beliefs I have to defend are so soft and complicated, actually, and, when vivisected, turn into bowls of undifferentiated mush. I am a pacifist, I am an anarchist, I am a planetary citizen, and so on." Kurt Vonnegut

Pakistan-India: Beyond Kashmir

You know, the day that Bush somehow decided that Pakistan was {*poof*} a partner in the "War on Terror," I blew generic diet cola out my nose.

Pakistan has long been mother's milk to terrorism, and the skirt behind which terrorists hide.

Of course there is a Pakistani connection to the Mumbai attacks!

(Since I am in a snit, the photo posted serves as a separate vent -- I will spare you the "thousand words" of socialist commentary. Just pair the image of the Dharavi Slum in Mumbai with all the photos of the burning Taj.)