Graduation 2015

Rula Ghani, First Lady of Afghanistan, Commencement speech, June 8 2015

There are several advantages for having grown in Lebanon and believe me they are huge. You have grown in a society open to the world. You have grown in a society where several cultures and traditions coexist. You have grown in a society addicted to knowledge and where the sharing of knowledge is fluid and matter-of fact. You have grown in a society that has mastered the art of triumphant survival in the face of fatal blows and challenges. Lebanon is still a country where different communities coexist and interact daily. Your own experience tells you that multiple identities can rally together around a shared goal. You have seen that it is possible to enjoy diversity. You know how enriching it can be to experience different traditions and different cultures.

Look at myself: French educated, yet a graduate of AUB, a Maronite with a Greek orthodox mother, schooled by Roman Catholic nuns, originally from a village where a good number of families are protestant, married for forty years to a Sunni husband, and holding three different nationalities. Follow my example. Celebrate your different identities, embrace them all, and refuse to be pigeonholed into one or the other. Because choosing one identity against all the others is tantamount to declaring war against all the others. It is choosing violence against peace.