(Credit to the Prime Minister's Office for the following transcript. Due to the particular formatting of their word processing program, this post will look somewhat different from my others. I was unable to make it conform.)
I could not be prouder of my unofficial mentor. This speech met all expectations (I would say "exceeded", except I have learned to expect excellence from Binyamin Netanyahu). While I will be inserting comments, much of the speech needs no elaboration:
"Thank you,
Mr. President,
"Distinguished delegates,
"I come here from Jerusalem to speak on behalf of my people, the people
of Israel. I've come here to speak about the dangers we face and about the
opportunities we see. I've come here to expose the brazen lies spoken from this
very podium against my country and against the brave soldiers who defend it.
Ladies and Gentlemen, The people of Israel pray for peace. But our hopes and the
world's hope for peace are in danger. Because everywhere we look, militant Islam
is on the march. It's not militants. It's not Islam. It's militant Islam...."
Finally, a proper description of the threat. It is not "extreme" Islam. It is not "extremists". It is not those who have "hijacked" Islam. It is not those who have "perverted" a "peaceful" religion. It is militant Islam, a term I will heretofore adopt.
"...Typically, its first victims are other Muslims, but it
spares no one. Christians, Jews, Yazidis, Kurds – no creed, no faith, no ethnic
group is beyond its sights. And it's rapidly spreading in every part of the
world. You know the famous American saying: "All politics is local"? For the
militant Islamists, "All politics is global." Because their ultimate goal is to
dominate the world. Now, that threat might seem exaggerated to some, since it
starts out small, like a cancer that attacks a particular part of the body. But
left unchecked, the cancer grows, metastasizing over wider and wider areas.
"To protect the peace and security of the world, we must
remove this cancer before it's too late. Last week, many of the countries
represented here rightly applauded President Obama for leading the effort to
confront ISIS...."
OK, Mr. Prime Minister, I understand politics. But, Point of Clarification: POTUS is hardly "leading the effort". He has been dragged in kicking and screaming.
"...And yet weeks before, some of these same countries, the same
countries that now support confronting ISIS, opposed Israel for confronting
Hamas. They evidently don’t understand that ISIS and Hamas are branches of the
same poisonous tree. ISIS and Hamas share a fanatical creed, which they both
seek to impose well beyond the territory under their control.
"Listen to ISIS’s self-declared caliph,Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. This is
what he said two months ago: A day will soon come when the Muslim will walk
everywhere as a master… The Muslims will cause the world to hear and understand
the meaning of terrorism… and destroy the idol of democracy. Now listen to
Khaled Meshaal, the leader of Hamas. He proclaims a similar vision of the
future: We say this to the West… By Allah you will be defeated. Tomorrow our
nation will sit on the throne of the world. As Hamas's charter makes clear,
Hamas’s immediate goal is to destroy Israel. But Hamas has a broader objective.
They also want a caliphate. Hamas shares the global ambitions of its fellow
militant Islamists. That’s why its supporters wildly cheered in the streets of
Gaza as thousands of Americans were murdered on 9/11. And that's why its leaders
condemned the United States for killing Osama Bin Laden, whom they praised as a
holy warrior. So when it comes to their ultimate goals, Hamas is ISIS and ISIS
is Hamas. And what they share in common, all militant Islamists share in common:
• Boko Haram in Nigeria; • Ash-Shabab in Somalia; • Hezbollah in Lebanon; •
An-Nusrah in Syria; • The Mahdi Army in Iraq; • And the Al-Qaeda branches in
Yemen, Libya, the Philippines, India and elsewhere.
"Some are radical Sunnis, some are radical Shi'ites...."
That last reference will have shocked some people. I spoke with someone a couple of months ago who swore Shi'ites were peaceful. I had to give him a history lesson to prove otherwise. We need to remember that all of these clans, regardless of label, are rooted in the same, degenerative illness: Islam.
"...Some want to
restore a pre-medieval caliphate from the 7th century. Others want to trigger
the apocalyptic return of an imam from the 9th century. They operate in
different lands, they target different victims and they even kill each other in
their quest for supremacy. But they all share a fanatic ideology. They all seek
to create ever expanding enclaves of militant Islam where there is no freedom
and no tolerance – Where women are treated as chattel, Christians are decimated,
and minorities are subjugated, sometimes given the stark choice: convert or die...."
Sadly, conversion does not always save the kafir (WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC):
"...For them, anyone can be an infidel, including fellow Muslims. Ladies and
Gentlemen, Militant Islam's ambition to dominate the world seems mad. But so too
did the global ambitions of another fanatic ideology that swept to power eight
decades ago. The Nazis believed in a master race. The militant Islamists believe
in a master faith. They just disagree about who among them will be the master…
of the master faith. That’s what they truly disagree about. Therefore, the
question before us is whether militant Islam will have the power to realize its
unbridled ambitions.
"There is one place where that
could soon happen: The Islamic State of Iran. For 35 years, Iran has
relentlessly pursued the global mission which was set forth by its founding
ruler, Ayatollah Khomeini, in these words: We will export our revolution to the
entire world. Until the cry "There is no God but Allah" will echo throughout the
world over… And ever since, the regime’s brutal enforcers, Iran's Revolutionary
Guards, have done exactly that. Listen to its current commander, General
Muhammad Ali Ja'afari. And he clearly stated this goal. He said: Our Imam did
not limit the Islamic Revolution to this country… Our duty is to prepare the way
for an Islamic world government…."
Make no mistake, everyone. Iran has succeeded in its pursuit of this goal far more than most of "The West" realizes. Think back on everything that has occurred since 1979, and I mean everything. All of it can be traced back to Iran. Yes, even the Boston Bombing.
"...Iran's President Rouhani stood here last week,
and shed crocodile tears over what he called "the globalization of terrorism."
Maybe he should spare us those phony tears and have a word instead with the
commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
"He could
ask them to call off Iran's global terror campaign, which has included attacks
in two dozen countries on five continents since 2011 alone. To say that Iran
doesn't practice terrorism is like saying Derek Jeter never played shortstop for
the New York Yankees. This bemoaning of the Iranian president of the spread of
terrorism has got to be one of history’s greatest displays of doubletalk...."
I especially liked his invocation of poverty as being at the root of terrorism...while he stood there wearing shoes made by Gucci.
"...Now,
Some still argue that Iran's global terror campaign, its subversion of countries
throughout the Middle East and well beyond the Middle East, some argue that this
is the work of the extremists. They say things are changing. They point to last
year's elections in Iran. They claim that Iran’s smooth talking President and
Foreign Minister, they’ve changed not only the tone of Iran's foreign policy but
also its substance.
"They believe Rouhani and Zarif
genuinely want to reconcile with the West, that they’ve abandoned the global
mission of the Islamic Revolution. Really? So let's look at what Foreign
Minister Zarif wrote in his book just a few years ago: We have a fundamental
problem with the West, and especially with America. This is because we are heirs
to a global mission, which is tied to our raison d'etre… A global mission which
is tied to our very reason of being. And then Zarif asks a question, I think an
interesting one. He says: How come Malaysia [he’s referring to an overwhelmingly
Muslim country] – how come Malaysia doesn't have similar problems? And he
answers: Because Malaysia is not trying to change the international order.
That's your moderate.
"So
don’t be fooled by Iran’s manipulative charm offensive. It’s designed for one
purpose, and for one purpose only: To lift the sanctions and remove the
obstacles to Iran's path to the bomb. The Islamic Republic is now trying to
bamboozle its way to an agreement that will remove the sanctions it still faces,
and leave it with the capacity of thousands of centrifuges to enrich uranium.
This would effectively cement Iran's place as a threshold military nuclear
power. In the future, at a time of its choosing, Iran, the world’s most
dangerous state in the world's most dangerous region, would obtain the world’s
most dangerous weapons. Allowing that to happen would pose the gravest threat to
us all. It’s one thing to confront militant Islamists on pick-up trucks, armed
with Kalashnikov rifles. It’s another thing to confront militant Islamists armed
with weapons of mass destruction...."
There is far more to the story than the Prime Minister reveals in this speech. Here are just two examples:
http://waronjihad.org/nuclear040505.html
"...I remember that
last year, everyone here was rightly concerned about the chemical weapons in
Syria, including the possibility that they would fall into the hands of
terrorists. That didn't happen. And President Obama deserves great credit for
leading the diplomatic effort to dismantle virtually all of Syria's chemical
weapons capability...."
With all due respect to my unofficial mentor, I believe it was Vladimir Putin who "saved the day", so to speak. And, there are indications that some of those chemical weapons were transported into Lebanon and thus are now in Hezbollah's reach. I imagine the Prime Minister simply cannot say some of these things for reasons of intelligence; perhaps he is unaware that some of this information has been leaked.
"...Imagine how much more dangerous the Islamic State, ISIS,
would be if it possessed chemical weapons...."
Mr. Prime Minister, are you unaware that the Islamic State seized some leftover chemical stores belonging to Saddam Hussein in, I believe, June, as well as 80 pounds of uranium? Or is the key to your statement the word "imagine", as in you are not confirming such a thing has happened so as not to alarm people, but you are not denying it, either?
"...Now imagine how much more dangerous
the Islamic state of Iran would be if it possessed nuclear weapons...."
Mr. Prime Minister, what if Iran already has "the Bomb"?:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2014/02/iran_has_the_bomb.html
"...Ladies and
Gentlemen, Would you let ISIS enrich uranium? Would you let ISIS build a heavy
water reactor? Would you let ISIS develop intercontinental ballistic missiles?
Of course you wouldn’t. Then you mustn't let the Islamic State of Iran do those
things either. Because here’s what will happen: Once Iran produces atomic bombs,
all the charm and all the smiles will suddenly disappear. They’ll just vanish.
It's then that the ayatollahs will show their true face and unleash their
aggressive fanaticism on the entire world.
"There is
only one responsible course of action to address this threat: Iran's nuclear
military capabilities must be fully dismantled. Make no mistake – ISIS must be
defeated. But to defeat ISIS and leave Iran as a threshold nuclear power is to
win the battle and lose the war. To defeat ISIS and leave Iran as a threshold
nuclear power is to win the battle and lose the war...."
I am afraid that is precisely what is about to happen. On November 24th, America is going to sign its deal with the devil, under the guise of fighting the Islamic State. Ironic, since Iran created the IS for just this purpose. While I know the Prime Minister is forever worried about America, I am far more worried about Israel. Too often, they are left to clean up the messes we create in this country. However, this time it is not incompetence and naivete that are leading up to this disaster. It is a deliberate campaign by the Obama administration which, contrary to popular opinion, is as anti-Israel as any we have seen in the history of America. That is why, on November 25th, after the deed is done, I will begin the process of renouncing my American citizenship. There are a few steps involved, but it is relatively easy to do. I will not be a party to such blatant betrayal of the State of Israel.
"...Ladies and Gentlemen, The fight against militant Islam is indivisible.
When militant Islam succeeds anywhere, it’s emboldened everywhere. When it
suffers a blow in one place, it's set back in every place. That’s why Israel’s
fight against Hamas is not just our fight. It’s your fight. Israel is fighting a
fanaticism today that your countries may be forced to fight tomorrow.
"For 50 days this past summer, Hamas fired thousands of
rockets at Israel, many of them supplied by Iran. I want you to think about what
your countries would do if thousands of rockets were fired at your cities.
Imagine millions of your citizens having seconds at most to scramble to bomb
shelters, day after day. You wouldn't let terrorists fire rockets at your cities
with impunity. Nor would you let terrorists dig dozens of terror tunnels under
your borders to infiltrate your towns in order to murder and kidnap your
citizens. Israel justly defended itself against both rocket attacks and terror
tunnels. Yet Israel also faced another challenge. We faced a propaganda war.
Because, in an attempt to win the world’s sympathy, Hamas cynically used
Palestinian civilians as human shields. It used schools, not just schools - UN
schools, private homes, mosques, even hospitals to store and fire rockets at
Israel. As Israel surgically struck at the rocket launchers and at the tunnels,
Palestinian civilians were tragically but unintentionally killed. There are
heartrending images that resulted, and these fueled libelous charges that Israel
was deliberately targeting civilians...."
Some of those "libelous charges" would be hilarious if they had not been so revolting. Here is just a sample of some of the "heartrending images" that were circulated on Twitter:
Children who were "massacred" in Gaza...and in Syria, three years prior.
A family of four who were "massacred" in Gaza...and in Syria, three years prior.
A teenage girl splattered all over the sidewalk in Gaza, missing everything from the torso up...who also died when the tire from an airplane fell off and landed on her in the movie, "Final Destination:4".
And, the most shameless:
A married couple found buried in the rubble in Gaza, with their arms around each other as they apparently suffocated to death...who actually died in a tragic factory collapse in Indonesia a year earlier.
"We were not.
We deeply regret every single civilian casualty. And the truth is this: Israel
was doing everything to minimize Palestinian civilian casualties. Hamas was
doing everything to maximize Israeli civilian casualties and Palestinian
civilian casualties. Israel dropped flyers, made phone calls, sent text
messages, broadcast warnings in Arabic on Palestinian television, always to
enable Palestinian civilians to evacuate targeted areas. No other country and no
other army in history have gone to greater lengths to avoid casualties among the
civilian population of their enemies. This concern for Palestinian life was all
the more remarkable, given that Israeli civilians were being bombarded by
rockets day after day, night after night. As their families were being rocketed
by Hamas, Israel's citizen army – the brave soldiers of the IDF, our young boys
and girls – they upheld the highest moral values of any army in the world.
Israel's soldiers deserve not condemnation, but admiration. Admiration from
decent people everywhere. Now here’s what Hamas did: Hamas embedded its missile
batteries in residential areas and told Palestinians to ignore Israel’s warnings
to leave. And just in case people didn’t get the message, they executed
Palestinian civilians in Gaza who dared to protest. No less reprehensible, Hamas
deliberately placed its rockets where Palestinian children live and play. Let me
show you a photograph. It was taken by a France 24 crew during the recent
conflict. It shows two Hamas rocket launchers, which were used to attack us. You
see three children playing next to them.
"Hamas
deliberately put its rockets in hundreds of residential areas like this.
Hundreds of them. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a war crime. And I say to
President Abbas, these are the war crimes committed by your Hamas partners in
the national unity government which you head and you are responsible for. And
these are the real war crimes you should have investigated, or spoken out
against from this podium last week. Ladies and Gentlemen, As Israeli children
huddled in bomb shelters and Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system knocked
Hamas rockets out of the sky, the profound moral difference between Israel and
Hamas couldn’t have been clearer: Israel was using its missiles to protect its
children. Hamas was using its children to protect its missiles. By investigating
Israel rather than Hamas for war crimes, the UN Human Rights Council has
betrayed its noble mission to protect the innocent. In fact, what it’s doing is
to turn the laws of war upside-down. Israel, which took unprecedented steps to
minimize civilian casualties, Israel is condemned.
"Hamas, which both targeted and hid behind civilians – that a double
war crime - Hamas is given a pass. The Human Rights Council is thus sending a
clear message to terrorists everywhere: Use civilians as human shields. Use them
again and again and again. You know why? Because sadly, it works. By granting
international legitimacy to the use of human shields, the UN’s Human Rights
Council has thus become a Terrorist Rights Council, and it will have
repercussions...."
Great line. A "Terrorist Rights Council". Great.
"...It probably already has, about the use of civilians as human
shields. It’s not just our interest. It’s not just our values that are under
attack. It’s your interests and your values.
"Ladies
and Gentlemen, We live in a world steeped in tyranny and terror, where gays are
hanged from cranes in Tehran, political prisoners are executed in Gaza, young
girls are abducted en masse in Nigeria and hundreds of thousands are butchered
in Syria, Libya and Iraq. Yet nearly half, nearly half of the UN Human Rights
Council's resolutions focusing on a single country have been directed against
Israel, the one true democracy in the Middle East – Israel. where issues are
openly debated in a boisterous parliament, where human rights are protected by
independent courts and where women, gays and minorities live in a genuinely free
society. The Human Rights… (that’s an oxymoron, the UN Human Rights Council, but
I’ll use it just the same), the Council’s biased treatment of Israel is only one
manifestation of the return of the world’s oldest prejudices...."
Whoa! Bold! Brazen! In-Your-Face! I love it! "...that's an oxymoron, the UN Human Rights Council, but I'll use it just the same...". I cannot believe you said it, but I love it!
"...We hear mobs today in Europe call for the gassing of Jews. We hear
some national leaders compare Israel to the Nazis. This is not a function of
Israel’s policies. It's a function of diseased minds. And that disease has a
name. It’s called anti-Semitism. It is now spreading in polite society, where it
masquerades as legitimate criticism of Israel. For centuries the Jewish people
have been demonized with blood libels and charges of deicide. Today, the Jewish
state is demonized with the apartheid libel and charges of genocide. Genocide?
In what moral universe does genocide include warning the enemy's civilian
population to get out of harm's way? Or ensuring that they receive tons, tons of
humanitarian aid each day, even as thousands of rockets are being fired at us?
Or setting up a field hospital to aid for their wounded? Well, I suppose it's
the same moral universe where a man who wrote a dissertation of lies about the
Holocaust, and who insists on a Palestine free of Jews, Judenrein, can stand at
this podium and shamelessly accuse Israel of genocide and ethnic cleansing.
"In the past, outrageous lies against the Jews were the
precursors to the wholesale slaughter of our people. But no more. Today we, the
Jewish people, have the power to defend ourselves. We will defend ourselves
against our enemies on the battlefield. We will expose their lies against us in
the court of public opinion. Israel will continue to stand proud and unbowed.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Despite the enormous challenges facing Israel, I believe
we have an historic opportunity. After decades of seeing Israel as their enemy,
leading states in the Arab world increasingly recognize that together we and
they face many of the same dangers: principally this means a nuclear-armed Iran
and militant Islamist movements gaining ground in the Sunni world. Our challenge
is to transform these common interests to create a productive partnership. One
that would build a more secure, peaceful and prosperous Middle East. Together we
can strengthen regional security. We can advance projects in water, agriculture,
in transportation, in health, in energy, in so many fields. I believe the
partnership between us can also help facilitate peace between Israel and the
Palestinians. Many have long assumed that an Israeli-Palestinian peace can help
facilitate a broader rapprochement between Israel and the Arab World.
"But these days I think it may work the other way around:
Namely that a broader rapprochement between Israel and the Arab world may help
facilitate an Israeli-Palestinian peace. And therefore, to achieve that peace,
we must look not only to Jerusalem and Ramallah, but also to Cairo, to Amman,
Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and elsewhere. I believe peace can be realized with the active
involvement of Arab countries, those that are willing to provide political,
material and other indispensable support. I’m ready to make a historic
compromise, not because Israel is occupying a foreign land.
"The
people of Israel are not occupiers in the Land of Israel.
"History,
archeology and common sense all make clear that we have had a singular
attachment to this land for over 3,000 years. I want peace because I want to
create a better future for my people. But it must be a genuine peace, one that
is anchored in mutual recognition and enduring security arrangements, rock solid
security arrangements on the ground.
"Because you
see, Israel's withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza created two militant Islamic
enclaves on our borders from which tens of thousands of rockets have been fired
at Israel. These sobering experiences heighten Israel's security concerns
regarding potential territorial concessions in the future. Those security
concerns are even greater today. Just look around you. The Middle East is in
chaos. States are disintegrating. Militant Islamists are filling the void.
Israel cannot have territories from which it withdraws taken over by Islamic
militants yet again, as happened in Gaza and Lebanon. That would place the likes
of ISIS within mortar range – a few miles – of 80% of our population. Think
about that. The distance between the 1967 lines and the suburbs of Tel Aviv is
like the distance between the UN building here and Times Square. Israel’s a tiny
country...."
Mr. Prime Minister, may I make a suggestion? May we dispense with discussions about "pre-1967 borders"? I have found by calling it what it is--the 1949 Armistice Line--the conversation becomes less muddled. For some reason, the State of Israel is required to give back any gains it may have after winning a given war. Israel is the only country in history to have such an "obligation". But, given the fact that it was those very borders that led to the Six-Day War, perhaps the proper language will help to clarify the issue in the minds of those who do not understand the necessity of strategic depth.
"...That’s why in any peace agreement, which
will obviously necessitate a territorial compromise, I will always insist that
Israel be able to defend itself by itself against any threat...."
For those who claim that Prime Minister Netanyahu is my "idol", watch this: Sir, I have a problem with that last statement. Israel has given "piece for peace" many times, but she has never gotten peace in return. You know as well as I do--better than I do--that the "Palestinians" will never stop until Israel is no more. They are chopping away at Israel, little-by-little. The last time has been your worst nightmare, Mr. Prime Minister, because Gaza should never have been given up and, as I recall, you were opposed to it when Ariel Sharon handed it over. What was the result? As you just said, the influx of militant Islamists. By giving up another square inch of Israel, you will only give another square inch to those militant Islamists. My personal opinion is that Gaza needs to be retaken, completely and utterly possessed by Israel. That is the only way to achieve the goal of "demilitarization", because too many people are supplying Hamas, et. al., including the American administration. How on earth can Israel keep weapons out when having to fight all of the "humanitarians" who are doing nothing but feeding the terrorists the weapons they need to achieve their goal of Israel's destruction? No. Under no circumstances should you give anything else to the "Palestinians". Nothing. Shum davar.
"...Yet despite all
that has happened, some still don't take Israel’s security concerns seriously.
But I do, and I always will. Because, as Prime Minister of Israel, I am
entrusted with the awesome responsibility of ensuring the future of the Jewish
people and the future of the Jewish state. And no matter what pressure is
brought to bear, I will never waver in fulfilling that responsibility. I believe
that with a fresh approach from our neighbors, we can advance peace despite the
difficulties we face.
"In Israel, we have a record of
making the impossible possible. We’ve made a desolate land flourish. And with
very few natural resources, we have used the fertile minds of our people to turn
Israel into a global center of technology and innovation. Peace, of course,
would enable Israel to realize its full potential and to bring a promising
future not only for our people, not only for the Palestinian people, but for
many, many others in our region. But the old template for peace must be updated.
It must take into account new realities and new roles and responsibilities for
our Arab neighbors. Ladies and Gentlemen, There is a new Middle East. It
presents new dangers, but also new opportunities.
"Israel is prepared to work with Arab partners and the international
community to confront those dangers and to seize those opportunities. Together
we must recognize the global threat of militant Islam, the primacy of
dismantling Iran’s nuclear weapons capability and the indispensable role of Arab
states in advancing peace with the Palestinians. All this may fly in the face of
conventional wisdom, but it’s the truth.
"And the truth must always
be spoken, especially here, in the United Nations. Isaiah, our great prophet of
peace, taught us nearly 3,000 years ago in Jerusalem to speak truth to power.
" לְמַעַן צִיּוֹן לֹא אֶחֱשֶׁה וּלְמַעַן יְרוּשָׁלִַם לֹא
אֶשְׁקוֹט עַד-יֵצֵא כַּנֹּגַהּ צִדְקָהּ וִישׁוּעָתָהּ כְּלַפִּיד יִבְעָר. For the
sake of Zion, I will not be silent. For the sake of Jerusalem, I will not be
still. Until her justice shines bright, And her salvation glows like a flaming
torch.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Let's light a torch of
truth and justice to safeguard our common future.
"Thank you."
Shalu Shalom Yerushalaim.
NOTE: There are a handful of inaccuracies in this transcript. Nothing terribly important, but for the Prime Minister's exact words, here is the video of his speech:
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