Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-07-11-Speech-3-314"
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"en.20070711.28.3-314"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we, in the world’s village, Europe, are expressing dismay today because, in the square, close to our borders, human beings are slitting their throats. Instead of taking action, we are crying and shouting like old women. That is called failure to assist a person in danger, a crime that is punishable by law. A great wise man once said that saints and prophets are worth more than artists, men of letters, statesmen, soldiers and tradesmen. But where are the wise men and the prophets today?
We need a new Saint Francis of Assisi. He also lived during an era of crusades, but he was interested in others, in those against whom the crusaders were fighting. He did everything he could to go and see them. Finally, during the fifth crusade – during the siege of Damietta in Egypt – saddened as he was by the behaviour of the crusaders, he said ‘I have seen evil and sin’. Deeply distressed as he was by the sight of the dead on the battle fields, Saint Francis crossed the frontlines. He was captured, chained up and taken to Sultan Saladin, who was born in Tikrit. The meeting must have been very special because, after a conversation that continued long into the night, the Sultan let Saint Francis return the next morning, safe and sound, to the crusaders’ camp.
I hope that each one explained his reasons to the other, that Saint Francis spoke of Christ, that the Sultan read some passages from the Koran and that, in the end, they came to an agreement on the message that poor Saint Francis of Assisi used to repeat everywhere: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’.
Tony Blair was one of the crusaders in Iraq. Can he become the Saint Francis that Europe needs in the Middle East?"@en1
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