When the Arab Spring gave a promise to the people and the process stumbled, the cry of many, many Arabs was: Where is the Mandela of the Arabs? It was a question full of yearning, born of agony.
Nelson Mandela was a close friend of the late professor Edward Said and also of Lakhdar Brahimi, today’s UN special envoy to Syria. They both drew from him important lessons, and Said sought to instill his values and liberation narrative into the struggle of the Palestinian people.
