Salam Fayyad in the New York Times on "Our Compass: Nelson Mandela"

Former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was solicited to contribute to the New York Times "Turning Points/The Big Debate" edition on the question, "Who are the moral leaders for these times?" Dr. Fayyad contributed this commentary on the power of justice, peace, Palestinian rights and the inspiration of Nelson Mandela.

Salam Fayyad — The former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority

As Nelson Mandela fades from view, his legacy shines brighter than ever. The man who devoted his life to the universal cause of justice remains a beacon of hope for all those who long for freedom.

Along with the rest of the world, Palestinians watched Mandela become a universal symbol of the struggle for self-determination and human equality. His persistent defiance exemplified the immense power of nonviolence in resisting the entrapment of victimhood and overcoming the burdens of injustice.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Oslo Accords. As a Palestinian who has always felt empowered by Mandela’s indelible mark on the story of human progress, I feel that his legacy is especially pertinent at this juncture — 20 years after an act of great political courage that sadly failed to deliver on its promise of a just and lasting peace.

We venerate Mandela for the transformative message he carried with boundless magnanimity — a message of unity and brotherhood in the face of division and bigotry; of peaceful transformation and justice in the presence of senseless violence and oppression. His message awakened the world to the fundamental principle espoused by Martin Luther King Jr. — that “true peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.”

The presence of justice requires that the fundamental asymmetry in the balance of power between occupier and occupied be redressed. Twenty years after it gained full Palestinian recognition of its right to exist in peace and security, Israel should reciprocate by recognizing our right to a fully sovereign state. It should be prepared to accept an internationally mandated date for ending its occupation, and a mutually agreed-upon path for getting there. In the interim, justice also requires cessation of all practices that undermine our right to live with dignity on our land, or impede our quest for freedom and justice, as we persevere in our effort to build our state and deepen our readiness for statehood.

A lifetime of indignities taught Mandela that “there is no passion to be found playing small — in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” If his story teaches us anything, it is that a people denied the right of full human equality will never accept a life that offers anything less.