1
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What is the parents' dream?

2
00:00:20,727 --> 00:00:26,107
If I asked you to choose two words
describing the parents' dream,

3
00:00:27,003 --> 00:00:30,833
I believe most of you would say,
"A healthy child."

4
00:00:31,499 --> 00:00:37,319
When we, on our cell phone,
show pictures of a successful child,

5
00:00:38,044 --> 00:00:39,312
as a matter of fact,

6
00:00:39,312 --> 00:00:41,504
we speak about ourselves,

7
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because who made him?

8
00:00:43,434 --> 00:00:44,776
(Laughter)

9
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It's the extension of our own ego.

10
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Our second child was born in 1984.

11
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We gave him the name of my brother
that was killed in the war,

12
00:00:57,768 --> 00:01:03,128
and expected him to be better than us;
more successful, more talented.

13
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A source of pride.

14
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At the age of eight months,

15
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he was diagnosed -

16
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Didi, my wife and me
were told by the psychologist,

17
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"Your son has a combination
of autism and retardation.

18
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Probably he will never speak.

19
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Probably he will mentally,
stay as a child forever."

20
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That was a shock.

21
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The sky fell on our head.

22
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The parents' dream
became broken parents' dream.

23
00:01:44,228 --> 00:01:50,248
How do we continue managing our life
if our son has no future at all?

24
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This son, all his life,
has never said one word.

25
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Never said, (Hebrew) "Abba," Dad;
never said, (Hebrew) "Eema," Mum;

26
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never made eye contact.

27
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He was the greatest professor of my life.

28
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He told me...

29
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(Applause)

30
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He told me more than any other human being

31
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about myself, about our society,
about children like him.

32
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These children, unable to eat
by themselves,

33
00:02:33,324 --> 00:02:35,596
unable to dress by themselves,

34
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even unable to say,
"Please replace my diaper."

35
00:02:40,376 --> 00:02:45,647
These children are punished
for two life sentence.

36
00:02:45,647 --> 00:02:50,057
One: a broken body for all their life.

37
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Second, one day, being taken
and put in an institution,

38
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which is a life-long jail.

39
00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:03,811
When he was born,

40
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at that time,

41
00:03:07,813 --> 00:03:13,903
I was special force unit commander,
33 years old, Lieutenant Colonel,

42
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leading operations in Sudan

43
00:03:17,207 --> 00:03:24,057
to bring Jews who were in life danger
from Ethiopia to the State of Israel,

44
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the only Jewish state in the world.

45
00:03:27,083 --> 00:03:30,328
Behind me were hundreds of battles:

46
00:03:30,328 --> 00:03:36,298
all over the Middle East in Lebanon,
Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and more.

47
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Behind me

48
00:03:39,021 --> 00:03:41,854
was the very famous rescue operation


49
00:03:41,854 --> 00:03:45,114
in Entebbe, 1976,

50
00:03:45,114 --> 00:03:51,024
rescuing 105 Israeli hostages
who were kept for one week,

51
00:03:51,393 --> 00:03:54,553
one week of their life hostage.

52
00:03:54,553 --> 00:03:56,513
I was the first on the ground

53
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(Applause)

54
00:04:02,408 --> 00:04:07,338
I was the first on the ground and the last
to leave the Entebbe airfield.

55
00:04:07,338 --> 00:04:13,846
Behind me were the memories
of the Yom Kippur War, 1973.

56
00:04:15,201 --> 00:04:19,381
In this war, I lost many of my friends.

57
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In many moments, I thought
I won't see the next morning.

58
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But above all, the memories
of the telephone conversation

59
00:04:31,930 --> 00:04:35,508
with my mother at the end of that war.

60
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My brother fought in the Golan Heights.

61
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I fought in the south,
and I was afraid to ask,

62
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then, I got the courage and she said,

63
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"We lost Eran, we have no Eran anymore."

64
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My brother was killed.

65
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I came home,

66
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continued to the Golan Heights
to investigate his last battle.

67
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I found his burnt tank.

68
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And shockingly, I learned to know
that he was shot by a Syrian tank,

69
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thrown outside, bleeding, bleeding,
shouting for assistance for seven days.

70
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He has evacuated, dead already.

71
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I was rageous, frustrated, angry,

72
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and I swore...

73
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I swore to never ever leave
a wounded soldier behind .

74
00:05:31,325 --> 00:05:33,905
(Applause)

75
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11 years later,

76
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Didi, my wife, and me are raising a child,

77
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who is like the extension
of my bleeding brother.

78
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And this child-like saying,

79
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"My dear father, you know a lot
about special forces.

80
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You know a lot 
about highly motivated soldiers.

81
00:06:03,064 --> 00:06:07,704
But my dear father,
you know zero about children like me.

82
00:06:08,433 --> 00:06:11,302
About the shame,
the stigma, the stereotype.

83
00:06:11,302 --> 00:06:14,316
Come over, my dear father,
give me your hand.

84
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Let's go, let's move and see places
where children like me are hauled."

85
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We moved from institute to institute.

86
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We saw dirty, stinky, dark places.

87
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Children like him
were ignored, abused, harassed.

88
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We came home crying.

89
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Then we started learning
about the shame.

90
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For instance, Golda Meir,

91
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our commander-in-chief
during the Yom Kippur in the 70s,

92
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the one who sent me and my friends
to hunt down the terrorists

93
00:06:56,882 --> 00:07:02,542
behind the Munich massacre
of 11 Israeli sportsmen, 1972.

94
00:07:02,542 --> 00:07:07,624
Golda Meir was also
a grandmother to Meira,

95
00:07:08,134 --> 00:07:11,037
a Down syndrome granddaughter.

96
00:07:11,504 --> 00:07:16,334
And Meira told the Israeli public
after Golda passing,

97
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"Golda never visited me;
Golda didn't love me;

98
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Golda was fully ashamed in my presence."

99
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Golda told my mum to never mention

100
00:07:27,535 --> 00:07:32,475
the Prime Minister of Israel
having a retarded granddaughter.

101
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Then, we heard more stories
of distinguished and ordinary people

102
00:07:39,657 --> 00:07:45,727
hiding their children overseas
and in some institute in Israel.

103
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Inside me, I continued hearing
the sound of my child,

104
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"My dear father, wake up!

105
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I'm the hostage in our society,
unable to do anything by my power.

106
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Will you fight for me?

107
00:08:05,612 --> 00:08:08,095
Will you change our society?

108
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Will you give me hope?"

109
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We decided to fight for him.

110
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We decided to love him,
never to be ashamed.

111
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For him, and [others] like him,
we built a village.

112
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A wonderful place, a paradise.

113
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No longer isolated in an institution,


114
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surrounded by walls of silence.

115
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but rather social community center.

116
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(Applause)

117
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A paradise, Utopian society;

118
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Christian, Muslims, and Jews,
working in full harmony

119
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to serve children like our loved son,

120
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(Applause)

121
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to love them.

122
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In this village,

123
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we give them the best housing,
the best education, the best health care,

124
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the best food, the best clothes,
the best social life,

125
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culture, music, gardens, any need.

126
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And in this village,

127
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we created a new model of acceptance,
a new model of integration.

128
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How come? By four elements.

129
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Number one: rehabilitation.

130
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Number two: education.

131
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Number three: visits.

132
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Number four: volunteers.

133
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The rehabilitation model
is based on every day,

134
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about 200 outpatients
from the outside community,

135
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arriving to be treated together
with the most severely disabled children,

136
00:09:53,420 --> 00:09:58,660
like our loved son,
metaphorically and physically.

137
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It says that at the same swimming pool
you may find a soldier wounded in battle,

138
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head of regional
municipality after stroke,

139
00:10:08,218 --> 00:10:12,578
parliament member after a road accident,

140
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Down syndrome, Bedouin girl,
and someone like our loved child.

141
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We give them various kinds
of therapeutic treatment

142
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like hydrotherapy, physiotherapy,
music therapy, horse riding,

143
00:10:26,535 --> 00:10:31,785
animal therapy, vocational therapy,
anything, any therapy ever invented.

144
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We have there.

145
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The second element: education.

146
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At the center
of the rehabilitation center,

147
00:10:41,578 --> 00:10:47,958
we placed ordinary kindergarten
for ordinary kids from age one.

148
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We teach children from age one
to accept those who are unable,

149
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those who unprivileged,
the severely disabled.

150
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We teach them
what is social responsibility

151
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from age one.

152
00:11:03,855 --> 00:11:06,405
(Applause)

153
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The third element: visits.

154
00:11:16,642 --> 00:11:23,357
Every day, about hundred people
are arriving to visit to see the wonder.

155
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They are moved, they are excited.

156
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People from the United States and Europe;

157
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tourists, high-tech workers,
soldiers, veteran, parents.

158
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People are arriving and saying,

159
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"We got a propulsion.
We'll assist you to change our society.

160
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We are your messengers."

161
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Number four: volunteers.

162
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We have more than 400 volunteers.

163
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Some of them arriving from Germany,

164
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and this young Christian from Berlin

165
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saying, " We come for atonement
on the murder of the six million Jews

166
00:12:08,663 --> 00:12:10,773
in the Second World War;

167
00:12:10,773 --> 00:12:15,251
we come for atonement
on Hitler's decision to kill the disabled

168
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when Second World War started.

169
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They are saying,

170
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"No more discrimination. No more racism.


171
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Human-being is human-being.

172
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We all equal by our rights,
not equal by our power."

173
00:12:31,267 --> 00:12:36,867
They are very well integrated
with about 100 Muslims workers,

174
00:12:36,867 --> 00:12:41,599
Bedouin from the south,
with about 600 Jews,

175
00:12:42,579 --> 00:12:47,230
to serve the severely disabled children.

176
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They are saying,
"We are more given than giving.

177
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We'll assist you to change the world.

178
00:12:56,014 --> 00:13:00,054
We'll assist you
by being your ambassadors."

179
00:13:03,165 --> 00:13:07,655
Tonight, exactly tonight, February 6.

180
00:13:08,747 --> 00:13:15,247
We count ten years
for the passing of our loved child.

181
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He's not anymore with us.

182
00:13:19,144 --> 00:13:22,868
He was living for one
wonderful year in the village

183
00:13:22,868 --> 00:13:26,362
that we built especially for him.

184
00:13:26,362 --> 00:13:31,079
His spirit spread
to every corner of the village.

185
00:13:31,079 --> 00:13:34,875
His spirit is here at my heart.

186
00:13:34,875 --> 00:13:37,395
His spirit is the goodness in our world.

187
00:13:37,395 --> 00:13:40,875
(Applause)

188
00:13:49,066 --> 00:13:51,427
14 years ago,

189
00:13:51,427 --> 00:13:56,127
I left the military as Major General
to build this village,

190
00:13:57,237 --> 00:14:01,185
to be his mouthpiece;
to change our society;

191
00:14:01,185 --> 00:14:07,205
for continued fighting for him,
and like him until my last day.

192
00:14:07,886 --> 00:14:11,526
(Applause)

193
00:14:14,291 --> 00:14:16,452
A year ago,

194
00:14:16,452 --> 00:14:19,716
I was decorated by the highest award

195
00:14:19,716 --> 00:14:23,246
the State of Israel can give to a citizen;

196
00:14:23,246 --> 00:14:25,884
the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement

197
00:14:26,604 --> 00:14:27,794
This prize...

198
00:14:27,794 --> 00:14:30,714
(Applause)

199
00:14:30,900 --> 00:14:34,702
This price should be given
to him, not to me.

200
00:14:34,702 --> 00:14:36,880
I am only the messenger.

201
00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:39,983
He changed me.

202
00:14:39,983 --> 00:14:46,113
He made me a better human being;
more humble, less selfish, less arrogant.

203
00:14:46,113 --> 00:14:50,054
If the number of children like him


204
00:14:50,054 --> 00:14:54,274
is only one per cent
of the worlds population,

205
00:14:54,274 --> 00:14:58,054
this one per cent
can change the 99 per cent.

206
00:14:58,547 --> 00:15:05,487
This one per cent can be the teacher
and educator the same as he was for me.

207
00:15:06,271 --> 00:15:10,942
This one per cent can make the 99 per cent

208
00:15:10,942 --> 00:15:14,992
more humble, less selfish, less arrogant.

209
00:15:16,102 --> 00:15:19,872
(Applause)

210
00:15:23,457 --> 00:15:29,637
The social chain is always
measured by its weakest link.

211
00:15:29,637 --> 00:15:36,207
The more we do to strengthen this link,
the better and stronger society we are.

212
00:15:37,771 --> 00:15:39,402
In the military,

213
00:15:39,402 --> 00:15:44,212
we decorate people and soldiers
for bravery and courage.

214
00:15:44,693 --> 00:15:46,083
In our social life,

215
00:15:46,083 --> 00:15:49,656
it seems to me the highest decoration


216
00:15:49,656 --> 00:15:52,865
a person can be given by the disabled,

217
00:15:52,865 --> 00:15:58,166
by the one per cent children like him
is the title: 'human being.'

218
00:15:58,166 --> 00:15:59,616
Thank you.

219
00:15:59,616 --> 00:16:03,396
(Applause)