Anna Frank remembered and Gandhi and Talking Heads quoted at UN General Assembly — PBS NewsHour
At the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York, United States, presidents, prime ministers and other state representatives referred in their speeches to ancient texts, folk proverbs, writers and musicians. As PBS NewsHour reports, the figures mentioned included King Hammurabi, Mahatma Gandhi, Anne Frank, writer Chinua Achebe and David Byrne of Talking Heads.
From Hammurabi to Talking Heads
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi cited an ancient Babylonian King Hammurabi saying that laws are made so that the strong do not oppress the weak. Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine explained a proverb from her country about a coral reef where different species of fish gather to feed and seek shelter.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis quoted a David Byrne line from Talking Heads about a road to nowhere. Finnish President Alexander Stubb referred to a Mahatma Gandhi saying: the breaking of one rule inevitably leads to the breaking of others.
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Poetry and proverbs
Abdullah Abdulqader al-Alimi-Bawazir, vice president of Yemen's internationally recognized governing council, quoted a Yemeni poet. In the translation by UN interpreters, the text spoke of the land, its guardians and residents, to whom the present, past, future, history and time belong.
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley cited the words of the country's poet laureate, Esther Phillips, about the role of the UN General Assembly in lighting the fires of conscience, compassion, unity and justice. Comoros President Azali Assoumani quoted Chinua Achebe on the importance of gathering relatives in the village, while Palau President Surangel Whipps conveyed a Palauan proverb comparing knowledge to ocean waves.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines President Godwin Friday referred to words by calypso performer David Rudder about the suffering of Port-au-Prince and Haiti. Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten mentioned Anne Frank and also quoted Gandhi, Nuremberg trial prosecutor Robert H. Jackson, and an inscription at a cemetery for U.S. servicemen from World War II in the Netherlands.
