What he did ceased to be a public gesture, but became instead intensely private.
To date, he has been unwilling to make any public gestures to the Israeli people that would send a message of reconciliation.
Warlords build schools, repair a road or two and make the occasional grand public gesture.
Israel has long suggested that Syria make some public gesture to indicate acceptance of its presence.
They're hesitant to make a public gesture like signing a letter.
"I can't figure out any other explanation for it, except that he wanted to make a grand public gesture," said one lawyer close to Microsoft.
Poincare, who begged to continue her hospital work in Paris as a public gesture, was not allowed to remain.
Barenboim said he hoped it would serve as a public gesture of peace.
It seems to have been Africa's fate to become a theater of empty talk and public gestures.
These are significant public gestures in a society that rigorously forbids the state's spending money to support religious education.