| SPEAKERS
Sister
rose thering
GOV.
GEORGE PATAKI
Elie
Wiesel
BILL
BENNETT
Benjamin
Netanyahu
MORTIMER
ZUCKERMAN and
REP. DICK GEPHARDT
Natan
Sharansky
Deputy
Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz
MARK
SOKOLOW and
other victims of terrorism
JANET
PARSHALL, Robert Goldberg and
Sen. Harry Reid
RABBI
MICHAEL MELCHIOR
REP.
DICK ARMEY
Rudolf
Giuliani
SEN.
ARLEN SPECTER
Senator
Barbara Mikulski
|
NATHAN
SHARANSKY
MR. STEVEN HOFFMAN: Some 15
years ago, many of us gathered in this Mall to express our abiding
commitment, in the face of Premier Mikhail Gorbachev’s visit, to
freedom for Soviet Jewry. Among the most electrifying moments of that
gathering was when Natan Sharansky, the long-imprisoned symbol of the
Jewish struggle for freedom and human rights, addressed the gathering.
Since arriving in Israel, Mr.
Sharansky has played an increasingly influential role in Israeli
politics, serving several governments as a minister in the cabinet, and
today as deputy prime minister.
Join me in welcoming one of the
true heroes of the Jewish people, a hero of the human spirit, Natan
Sharansky. (Applause.)
Natan Sharansky: Dear friends, I am sure many of you remember that sunny
day in December of 1987 when we were here in the largest then rally in
the history of Washington. That was the rally of solidarity with Soviet
Jewry, for their right to emigrate, for their right to be free people,
for their right to be Jews, proud Jews. (Applause.)
That demonstration 15 years ago contributed a lot toward – (inaudible)
– more than 1 million Jews to Israel, but also to bringing down the
Iron Curtain and collapse of evil empire. (Applause.)
The purpose that brings us here today is no less critical for Jewish
survival. We are here because Jewish people are once again in the
struggle with evil. And once again that evil, if not defeated, will
threaten the continued existence of free people throughout the world.
The United States, under the leadership of President Bush, is waging a
global battle against Islamic terrorism. We in Israel salute President
Bush's determination. (Applause.) Israel today, facing savage
Palestinian terror on its buses, in the streets, in cafes, restaurants
and hotels, is on the front lines of that very same battle.
Every compromise with Palestinian terror will encourage potential
terrorists everywhere to try and achieve political goals through terror,
whether by detonating explosive belts in shopping malls or by crashing
hijacked airplanes into populated centers.
Dear friends, let me tell you what life is like not after an isolated
terror attack but under prolonged assault of terror. Terror today in
Israel means that when the couples say goodbye to each other in the
morning, they tell each other, "Know that I love you, just in case
I don't come home in the evening."
Terror today means that when you go to celebrate bar mitzvah or the
Passover Seder, you go with the knowledge that it can turn into a
massacre. Terror today means that children cannot grow up normally. They
are not allowed to play basketball or soccer outdoors. Terror means that
housewives are afraid to shop, that places of entertainment are empty,
that smiles and
laughter are a rare commodity, and that fear is the constant companion.
But peace of mind and normalcy are unfortunately not the only victims of
Palestinian terror. The human victims directly hit by Palestinian terror
against Israel are not faceless. They are real men, women and children
who have lost their lives, their limbs, their health and their families
to the scourge of terror financed and directed by Arafat and his
accomplices.
Make no mistake about it: Arafat is at the root of the terror.
(Applause.) This is not just an Israeli contention or claim open to
dispute. There is hard, undeniable evidence, documents signed by Arafat
himself, that place Arafat at the center of the axis of terror that
Israel is confronting.
A few weeks ago, President Bush spoke about the axis of evil threatening
the free world. He mentioned the countries in Iran, Iraq, Syria. Israel
also faces the axis of evil: Hamas, Hizbollah, Jihad, Tanzim, Fatah. And
who is backing them? The same countries: Iran, Iraq, Syria. And at the
heart of that evil, overseeing all and directing it all, is Yasser
Arafat and his accomplices. (Applause.)
Just two weeks ago, I was at the funeral of my colleague and friend Avi
Aaron (ph) and his two murdered children, blown up by a terrorist bomb
in Haifa. The widow, the mother, was silent during all the ceremony. But
when the three coffins of her husband and her children lowered into the
graves, she screamed in pain and disbelief. (Speaks phrase in Hebrew)
– "It cannot
be so. It cannot happen." But it is happening.
And my friends, it is the duty of the government of Israel, of our
defense force, it is the duty of all of us here today, to make sure that
it stops happening. (Applause.) Never again – never again will Jews be
murdered without our response, swift, strong and effective, that targets
the murderers and puts an end to bloodshed.
On the eve of the 54th anniversary of the state of Israel, let this
rally declare in no uncertain terms – (speaks phrase in Hebrew) –
the people of Israel live, the state of Israel lives, and we will not
compromise on our right to live in the secure and free Jewish state.
There are those who ask, "But what about Jenin? And there are also
Arab civilians who have been killed in the course of the war against
terror. And isn't there the so-called violence that both sides are
responsible for?"
Dear friends, let me tell you the true story about Jenin. When our army
came to Jenin, it was the real autonomy of terror. Dozens of terrorists
went from there in the last month to kill hundreds and thousands of
civilians. And when we came to the camp, where for 10 years no soldier
dared to enter, we found out that every house is a fortress and that
every door and every car and even dead bodies are booby-trapped and the
snipers are shooting from every window.
And then we had the choice to use the artillery, the tanks, the
airplanes, or to go from house to house, risking the lives of our
soldiers but not risking the lives of civilians. And we decided to go
from house to house, and 23 of our soldiers, 23 of our young soldiers
who just started to live, and veterans who came from (resolve ?) leaving
their families, they fell in order to destroy tons and tons of
ammunition, to arrest dozens of terrorists, but also to save the lives
of hundreds and hundreds of
Palestinians.
That is the difference between those who launch the terror and those who
fight the terror. That is the difference. (Applause.) That is why we
cannot accept moral equivalence between those who see the human lives,
human bodies, as shield for the terrorists, and those for whom human
rights are the highest value.
Equating good and evil is an evil itself. Trying to find a middle ground
between good and evil was a policy that we who have gathered here
rejected successfully 15 years ago. Then we knew that in the struggle
for release of Soviet Jews, there should be no compromise. As with the
evil of the communist dictatorship, the evil of terror must be defeated.
Only then, peace can be achieved. (Applause.)
Real peace, dear friends, real peace depends on us. If the Jewish people
in Israel and the diaspora are united, if we let the leaders of the free
world know that we insist on a peace that is not compromised with evil
and terror, we will succeed. We are united and we will succeed. (Speaks
phrase in Hebrew.) (Applause.) |
Move
back to NCLCI home page.