The festival of Eid Al Adha is upon us. It should serve as a joyful and timely reminder of the beauty of peace as we visit family and friends and share in the joy of this festival.
For the past 18 months, our lives have been curtailed by the pandemic and how it is affecting us here in the UAE, beyond our borders and how our relatives, family and friends are coping elsewhere.
Eid celebrations of these past two years have been altered by this virus, just as it has altered every aspect of our lives. But there is an end in sight.
This Eid, as the UAE has succeeded in getting more Covid-19 vaccinations than any other country, there is a hope too that soon there will be a return to life as we knew it.
We hope that by the time we all gather to celebrate this holiday next year, we will look back on a time that challenged us as never before, and we will say that came through it because of public health advice, effective leadership, our collective actions, and the advances made by medical researchers.
Above all this Eid, we should remind ourselves that we are blessed with peace, prosperity, stability in the UAE while many across this region live in turmoil and conflict.
The events unfolding in Afghanistan are a cause for worry. The Taliban have taken control of large swathes of the troubled country, we can only hope that peace will prevail and that a road map forward will bring peace, stability and prosperity as a final destination.
We are reminded too of the recent violence in Palestine. This Eid, we would hope that all who share that troubled land would be enlightened in the spirit of peace. So too in Libya, where peace is fragile and violence remains a threat. In Yemen, Syria and Iraq, we hope that peace will prevail, allowing people to rebuild their lives in stability.
This holiday we should reflect on what we each have and how we are blessed with good fortune. Hopefully soon, this pandemic will be over. The world will be back to normal. And soon too, hopefully, peace will prevail across the troubled parts of our region. Eid Mubarak.
