We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
Transcript: “Tear Down this Wall”.
The situation is the same now in the Middle East.
“Hamas gunmen had slaughtered 11 fellow Palestinians loyal to Fatah, then denied more than 100 wounded (at least 12 of them children) access to hospital. A handful of survivors of the massacre made it to Israel, where they were treated for their wounds. One said: ‘Most Gazans hope Israel will invade Gaza after what they’ve been through. We’d love to see the Israelis take out these [Hamas] people.’ However, the Palestinian Authority refuses to allow these Gazans into the West Bank. A spokesman for the Palestinian Authority said: ‘Everyone knows that if we allow people to leave the Gaza Strip, almost all the residents living there would try to cross the border into Israel.’”
Standpoint Magazine, September 2008
If a government needs to ban emigration to stop people from leaving, it is clear that that government does not represent the people.
Not too long ago two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a businessman who had escaped from Castro, and in the midst of his story one of my friends turned to the other and said, “We don’t know how lucky we are.” And the Cuban stopped and said, “How lucky you are! I had someplace to escape to.” In that sentence he told us the entire story. If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth. And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except to sovereign people, is still the newest and most unique idea in all the long history of man’s relation to man.
From Reagan’s 1964 speech, “Rendezvous with Destiny“.