ISRAEL: THE RIGHT TO BE

foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you [Music] Israel is a small nation roughly the size of New Jersey it has a Sea Coast mountains Two Lakes the historic body of water the Galilee where the biblical prophets and disciples walked and the Dead Sea beautiful and yet forbidding [Music] Israel has one River the Jordan [Music] [Music] 60 of Israel is Desert a small portion of it has been reclaimed and is bringing forth food from the Earth [Music] research has discovered sources of water which may provide further opportunity to reclaim a larger portion of the desert Israel first came into being some 1200 Years BC when Moses led the Jews from bondage in Egypt before that time Jews had lived in the area since the biblical age of Abraham today Israel is the home for two and three-quarter million Jews including 750 000 Jewish refugees from surrounding Arab countries also living in peace in Israel are forty thousand druze 360 000 Muslims and eighty thousand Christians [Music] there are two languages in official use in Israel Hebrew and Arabic both appear on currency and stamps and both are used in courts and in the knesset the parliament all religious denominations are free to Worship in their own ways and to maintain their religious and charitable institutions the Muslims hold regular services in some 90 mosques 30 Christian denominations are represented in Israel there are about 300 churches and chapels serving the Christian Community in this ancient Mosaic are the words peace to Israel [Music] the state of Israel has a celebrated history with an international birth certificate the promise of the Bible which for a thousand years was printed only in Hebrew a holy language which was read by the pilgrims who first came to America in 1917 the Balfour Declaration acknowledged the relationship of the Jewish people to the Holy Land the League of Nations included the Balfour Declaration in its mandate the United Nations partition of 1947 was supported by a two-thirds majority including Nations that today are referred to as third world countries the British lowered their flag and farewell to the Middle East saluted the new state and for the first time the blue star and bars were raised in a reconstituted Israel [Music] 1949 Israel was voted into the U.N and it received its recommendation of sovereignty from a large majority of the nations of the world thank you [Applause] it is likely that an appropriate question would be what went on what happened between the days recorded in the Bible in 1947 when the new Israel came into being it is difficult to speak of three thousand years quickly however Abba iban wrote Israel is the only state which Bears the same name speaks the same language upholds the same Faith inhabits the same land as it did three thousand years ago for 1300 years the Jews had self-rule excluding a brief period of 50 years when the Babylonians exiled the Jews in 586 BC only to have them return 50 years later and rebuild their Homeland and then for 650 years there were independent Jewish governments bearing the very same names of Israel and Judea then the Romans conquered the area and suspended Jewish sovereignty in turn the Romans fell and the byzantines took over in 637 A.D the Arabs came and established caliphats Regional monarchies ruled by calyps these lasted for 400 years during this time it must be noted that the Arabs actually never produced a state called Palestine a name that was created by the Romans to obliterate the identity of Israel in Judea which were renamed in Roman from philistina major and philistina minor a succession of conquerors followed sir Dukes Crusaders Mongols however in 1517 the Turks took over and they as an Ottoman Empire ruled the area until the end of World War One when the defeat of the Turks by the Allies opened the way for Independence for the Arabs and Jews for two thousand years the Jews had been refugees and in every Passover service they had prayed next year in Jerusalem and each day in each year they had prayed three times a day may we live to see our return to the Holy Land once again there was a chance for Exile Jews to return to the land they had once ruled for so many years and had thrived as a nation of three million Jews and rejoined those Jews who had remained [Music] but some Jews had remained in the holy land and modern settlements had begun in the late 1860s some Arabs claim that the holy land was a fertile agricultural area before the zionists arrived however Mark Twain who visited Palestine in 1867 commented it is a desert country whose soil is Rich enough but is given over holy to weeds there was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere even the Olive in the cactus those fine friends of a worthless soil had almost deserted the country and in 1913 the report of the Palestine Royal commission includes this eyewitness account of the area leading from Gaza not in a single Village and all this area was water used for irrigation houses were all of mud no windows were anywhere to be seen the plows used were of wood schools did not exist even Lawrence of Arabia who had traveled the area in 1909 and had seen the Jewish settlements observed the sooner the Jews Farm it all the better in 1917 the British who took over the area after the Turks approved the Balfour Declaration which declared in favor of a national home in the holy land for the Jewish people at that time Emir Faizal the leader of the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire wrote to the celebrated Jew Felix Frankfurter the Arabs especially the educated among us look with deepest sympathy on the Zionist movement we will wish the Jews a hearty welcome home the Jewish movement is Nationalist and not imperialist our movement is Nationalist and not imperialist and there is room in Syria for us both under Turkish rule Syria had included part of Palestine indeed continued Emir Faizal I think that neither can be a real success without the other [Music] today Jerusalem once again restored as the capital of Israel is a bustling open City where Arabs Jews and Christians live in peace the holy places of Christianity Islam and Judaism are well protected and cared for Israel is a democratic State the ethnic qualities of its population can be seen in its streets its buildings it's people its shops can be heard in its sounds can be tasted in its Foods [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] come on [Music] [Applause] crying Weitzman once said of Jerusalem the air is so clear that one can see three thousand years back [Music] it is significant that during the early 1900s there was little talk of a so-called Palestinian State most Arab and Jewish settlers attempted to live in peace [Music] but new Arabs from neighboring states flowed in and brought Terror including the fearful Hebron Massacre of Jews in 1929. [Music] there were other outbreaks of Terror and violence but the Jewish immigrants were able to endure those attacks the real trouble began with the Advent of Nazism and the outbreak of World War II some Arab soldiers went to war on behalf of Hitler brigades of Jewish soldiers fought for the allies [Music] the grand muffley the most prominent leader of Arabs in the Holy Land sat in Friendly conference with Hitler and both Nasser and Sadat who became presidents of Egypt later admitted that their sympathies had been with Hitler the grand Mufti had agreed with Hitler by saying the Germans know how to get rid of the Jews it was in the period during the war and immediately afterwards that the Arab states aware of the possibility of a Jewish state in the Holy Land began to heat up extremist activity among Palestinians it was also during this period that King Faisal of Saudi Arabia began to adopt anti-semitic literature including the dissemination of the notorious Protocols of Zion fabricated by the tsaris secret police also King Faisal began his Devotion to Jerusalem a city he had never even visited 1947 encouraged a United Nations debate on the partition of the holy land and a new era of violence began an activity that has not diminished but rather increased in its intensity the Arab states speak of the support given to Israel by the United States but not enough is said of the billions poured into the Middle East by the Soviet Union when the UN debate on partition took place one of the first Declarations of Arab intentions was by yamal hussini spokesman for the so-called High command of Palestine who said the partition line proposed shall be nothing but a line of Fire and Blood immediately following the U.N affirmation of partition the Arabs moved to prevent the implementation of the U.N partition by the end of the first week in Israel 105 Jews had been killed Holmes in Jerusalem were blown up and more than 50 persons women and children included were killed additionally 35 Hebrew University students were massacred convoys with supplies for a beleaga Jerusalem were ambushed and a convoy headed for Hadassah Hospital on Mount scopus was ambushed and 76 Jewish nurses citizens and doctors were killed these outrages brought an Israeli response the United Nations unhesitatingly blamed the Arabs for the war and the Arabs themselves never denied it Hassan Pasha on May 15 1948 declared this will be a war of extermination and a momentous Massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades now there was war on May 14 1948 Ben-Gurion announced the independence of the state of Israel the arrival of Israeli sovereignty was greeted by six Arab states which invaded Israel coming at her from all sides Jordan Saudi Arabia Syria Egypt Iraq and Lebanon moved their forces in for the projected destruction of their neighbor Israel the fighting was bitter thank you however the Israeli defense was a surprise not only to the Arab forces but to the world Israel repelled the Invaders when the Egyptians withdrew they annexed Gaza which was to have been part of an Arab State as indicated by the U.N partition in the East Jordan took over the West Bank which had also been mandated as an Arab state in addition Jordan took over the old city of Jerusalem again in violation of the partition from that point on the Arabs have consistently refused to recognize Israel to make peace with Israel or to negotiate with it they have imposed an economic boycott they have blocked International waterways they have tried to prevent Israel's use of the Waters of the Jordan River and have consistently opposed the U.N partition resolution in 1948 Israel in its effort to search for peace withdrew their forces from captured Lebanese and Egyptian territory since that time the Middle East is studded with acts of violence against Israel in 1956 Egypt began a series of terrorist border raids deep into Israel these violations were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Israelis and hundreds of additional casualties in view of the United Nations inability to curb Egyptian aggression and intransigence when Egypt blocked The Straits of Tehran for Israeli navigation and when Soviet Armament poured in as obvious aggressive intentions Israel was forced to move against Egypt and she did so successfully when she captured Gaza and Sinai thank you again believing that a withdrawal would bring peace Israel returned Gaza and Sinai to the Egyptians and the U.N truce team was sent to keep the peace along the border between Gaza and Israel Israel had opted for peace but was only able to achieve a ceasefire the Arabs maintained this state of War still existed Israel was willing to compromise but compromise can only be achieved once there is understanding pressure or abject appeasement brings War or Surrender from 1956 to 1967 the pressure and coercion from the Arab states continued the border of Jordan in 1956 was only 10 miles from the western edge of Israel an extremely thin security line on May 27 1967 Gamel Nasser said our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel the Arab people want to fight people in Cairo rejoiced in NASA's Proclamation and swarming through the streets urged in loud and strident voices Slaughter the Jews the Arab states mobilized ordered the removal of the UN truce team and masked their tanks and planes for war Egypt's intentions were obviously aggressive Egypt was prepared to wage war Israel's defenses were ready and when Egypt closed the Straits of Tehran the First Act of War [Music] Israel got the message [Music] Israel beat Egypt to the punch a Six-Day War was born [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] occupied Sinai the Golden Heights the Gaza Strip and the West Bank of Jordan this included the old city of Jerusalem which after a brief period of partition restored Jerusalem as a United City and the capital of Israel Jews after being denied for 19 years again had the opportunity to gather at the Western Wall to murmur their prayers of devotion the victory in the Golan freed Israeli settlers in the Pula Valley from the bombing and Terror they had endured since the founding of Israel The Taking of the Sinai and the Gaza Strip provided the opportunity for negotiating a true peace with Egypt in addition to relieving the blockade in The Straits of Tehran the occupation of the West Bank freed Jerusalem and restored the unified residence of the Old and New Testament to the Muslims Jerusalem is after Mecca and Medina the third holy city and its sites of worship and artifacts are respected and protected by the Israelis to Jews and Christians Jerusalem has always been the prime Holy City from 1967 to 1973 there was inconclusive talk of negotiation but in October 1973 war came once again when the Arab states joined in a massive attack on the most holy day in the Jewish calendar Yom Kippur the early days of the war were bloody and frightening Arab missiles were effective and hamstrung the unprepared Israelis but within a few days Israel recovered from the early blows to its security and struck back recapturing the Golan Heights thrust deeply into Syria occupying territory which in the later peace negotiations they returned to Syria [Music] foreign [Music] the Egyptian third Army was entrapped but the Israelis abandoned that entrapment and returned some of the Sinai to the Egyptians in the disengagement settlement that followed since that time there have been words of Peace laced with threats of War Israel has been accused of intransigence an odd charge considering that Israel had accepted the original partition but the Arab states had not Israel has asked for secure borders for an end to belligerence for recognition and for peace demands that hardly come under the definition of intransigence in turn the Arabs to date have insisted on a return to everything as it was or was supposed to have been in 1948 with no guarantee that they would not again attempt to destroy the Integrity of Israel such an attitude seems to be a clearer demonstration of intransigence [Music] the Palestine question is a worrisome item Israel is being asked to negotiate with Yasir Arafat who identifies himself as a moderate but nevertheless claims credit for the murderous attacks at Munich Mona Beijing ma a lot and Tel Aviv in addition to other bombings and killings these are strange demonstrations of moderation [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] away [Music] [Music] all right foreign has taken responsibility for this action does this tell you anything with regard to the reported moderation that they claim to have well I have no Illusions and Israel has no Illusions whatsoever when it comes to the so-called PLO that they have carried tonight and other murders atrocity we chose exactly what are they and what they are trying to achieve Israel is determined with the murders organizations will never negotiate the only place where we can meet with them is on the battlefield on the other hand they'll not interfere with the normal way of life of Israel will continue all way of life will continue to work for our defense we'll continue to try our best to find a ways how to move towards peace if it will be possible and we are determined to go on regardless what happened last night again critics of Israel have forgotten that Jordan took over the West Bank which was supposed to have been a Palestinian State and the Egyptians took over the Gaza Strip which was supposed to have been part of the Palestinian state this is Rafia an Arab refugee camp in Gaza during the Arab occupation of Gaza the Arab refugees were never permitted to enter Egypt either to visit or study or work the Arab states continued to speak of their affection for the Arab refugees but it must be pointed out that the United States gives Arab refugees 100 for every one dollar given by the huge resources of the Arabs Israel alone gives more than Saudi Arabia [Music] here in Russia Israelis are building a new city with modern hospitals schools new homes new modern markets which will provide an environment the refugees have never known since the administration of Gaza by the Israelis the economy of the Arabs has improved the work opportunities are greater the Arab police force is independent and Arabs are free to go into Israel and thousands have asked for citizenship in Israel finally there has been no terrorism in Gaza since 1970. on the West Bank there are many new homes and here a Jordanian said a few things that are worth hearing we hear about Arafat we hear what they write in the newspaper we hear that he have the authority to be the the ruler of the Palestinian we hear about him but what he is we don't know is he all right or we have not a good knowledge about him we know I see we want peace peace that end Wars and hate not so important the important is it is we hear Muslims and decisions and Jewish our friends we are living in the same house friendly if you remember president Nasser said if Israel want war will come and The War Began and sin found himself replies to piano and we have our AIMS in life to be see if and to have a good relation with others not to destroy him we want to live in peace again a question during the 27 years of war what has this diamond of a Nation been able to do other than defend itself against aggression a great deal has happened the development of modern machinery which matches those of any industrial nation the canning of fruit the making and packaging of medicines action of ammunition I've been for many Industries the creation of a building industry which is imaginative and disciplined the manufacture of beautiful fabrics and clothes and an economy that could be self-sustaining if it were not for the heavy drain of war and defense foreign there is also time for relaxation time to greet the tourists who flock to Israel to visit the shops hotels and entertainment in yaffa and Tel Aviv [Music] to be erected in Tel Aviv is a resort area the model of which presents a vivid representation of what will be an unusual recreational Paradise the Dead Sea the lowest spot on earth which is a resort then there is the southern tip of Israel and their Sheba Tiberius Haifa akker nahariya caesarea and a flock of kibuzin with swimming pools restaurants and recreational facilities [Music] foreign [Music] yes Israel is a state that lives in the present thinks of its future but also remembers friends of its past and those Heroes who created Israel this is the John F Kennedy Memorial and the Truman Library in honor of the American president who was first to recognize the sovereignty of Israel here lies Heim weitzmann the first president of Israel scientist an inventor a diplomat a Statesman who rests with his wife in this Garden Of The Institute that bears his name [Music] is the grave of Ben Gurion the first prime minister of Israel who dreamed Big Dreams fought big battles an intellectual Man of Action Who provided Israel with heart and muscle in Jerusalem are the stone pillowed Graves of those who fought and died among them is Hana senesh who led a famous World War II parachute group of Israelis which dropped behind Nazi lines to rescue Jews Anna senisch was tortured and killed rather than revealed secrets she carried to her grave she lies with the young and old men and women who fought bravely in Israel's Wars also here is the monument above the grave of Theodore herzl the playwright and journalist who created the impetus of the return to the Holy Land in 1897 herzl prophesized that though the world may not believe his dream of a restored state of Israel within 50 years there would be such a state herzl did not live to see his prophecy come true memories of the past flood the mind as we visit the Dome of the book in which I harbored the Dead Sea Scrolls rescued from obscurity and now part of the testimony of Israel's ancient past also in Jerusalem is Yad vashem the memorial to the victims of the Holocaust an eternal light burns casting shadowy and shameful identification of the camps where Millions died among them six million Jews the figure of the death of 6 million by sound and imprint begins to lose its impact defies our imagination perhaps lost horror returns when we record that two people were killed each minute 24 hours a day seven days a week 52 weeks a year year after year for six years in the Warsaw Ghetto Museum these Young Americans are looking at a pristine model of the Warsaw Ghetto as it was before its destruction with lights marking the locations of the synagogues Jewish theaters meeting Halls Etc these young people had something to say about what they saw and heard I'm reacting as a Jew because I if I was acting as reacting as an American I don't think I'd feel it as much but here I'm acting I'm reacting as a Jew I feel that it happened to my people and it happened in my history okay well the way I feel about the whole thing guess I'm proud of the Jews for the resistance that they put up if I could say that I'm a little bit humiliated to the way I treat my parents now because you know they always tell me how it was they lived in the Warsaw Ghetto and they tell me how it is this that and the other thing and tell them sometimes shut up I heard enough of this but now I see what they went through and it's really horrible they went through so much and I went through so little it's just crazy my feelings in the Holocaust can be categorized into three categories number one a feeling of sadness that it happened to my people to the Jewish people and that they were singled out among the people that Hitler you know wanted to get rid of number two a feeling of Pride that there was a resistance and that they weren't just LED like sheep to slaughter that they did try to do what they could and they did you know in fact foil the Germans as long as they could it didn't take 24 hours for the Germans to come into the ghetto it took 42 days and that you know made me feel Pride the last feeling I have is sort of like a feeling of embarrassment that I belong on a planet where people the human people are capable of doing what they did and organizing themselves to accomplish what Hitler did however living in Israel is high [Music] life [Music] and life teams through the country in The Villages and towns on the heavily trafficked roads [Music] in the knesset where the Democratic process flourishes life in Israel includes its culture its art museums and artists and temporary Reflections and religious painting [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the theater modern well-equipped and staffed by experts serving an appreciative audience for a range of plays from Arby's who was Afraid of Virginia Woolf historical pageantry to a fellow and to Children's Theater and there are ballet companies and up-to-date rock groups concert halls for remarkable orchestras its archaeological digs and discoveries [Music] more important than anything else are the books Israel is a forest of books universities dot the country in Jerusalem Ramat gam beshiva Tel avivath and Haifa [Music] and then there are the people of Israel original settlers sabras native born both young and old the faces some countries all over the world from Belgium South Africa China America Russia Germany Italy Mexico Argentina Yemen Syria Iraq they are seen in the busy Bedouin markets biesen Golf Street in Tel Aviv [Music] the kibbutzin Reserve soldiers going or coming from their refresher courses the voices of these people are heard I was just now released from the Army one month ago well I think that here in Israel everybody wants a kiss and when we say we want it it's not only a phrase it's something we really want and we want it deep I was born in Milan yeah my parents actually are from Greece it's only in two or three generations the arms will be able to recognize Israel as a country and the Israeli people as people I don't think it's a question of Arab against you at all they watch communism it's communist domination of the world they want to penetrate they want to dominate the Middle Eastern sector so that they can afterwards get the whole of Europe I think that if the Philippine the Palestinians The jordanians Who live now in Jordan who live in Lebanon who live in Egypt had a place of their own head somewhere to live and to live peacefully they'd be glad to do it without any rules their their use of the refugee most of the Israeli Arabs who are living in Israel are not sympathetic with the PLO I think if they have any basis of judging who has been able to improve their whole situation a bit economical or academically they've certainly been able to accomplish a great deal more the countries surrounding us have a different concept of Peace than we do if their concept of Peace means that Israel is not going to exist they're not ready to make that concession and if it means that the mig-23s that are coming from Russia are going to be within four minutes of Tel Aviv I'm not ready to make that concession and if it means that Jerusalem is not going to be United I'm not ready to make that concession and if it means that that missiles are going to come back down onto it would seem like and give and back in back into the whole upper Galilee I'm not ready to make that concession as a Canadian I say we shouldn't give in uh I'm originally from Kansas City I've been in mabahama for five and a half months we're zionists of course and uh it's a it's a good place to raise a child I came from what I think is a very nice part of the states and I wasn't you know I wasn't interested in Escape it was going from one good thing to a better thing it's easier to to lead a life that's kind of unconsciously Jewish you can be Jewish without making an effort you can raise your son with a an identity that's not forced and artificial and there's satisfaction in living like that I believe I think because of where we are situated and the pressures that I feel as a mother of two young children uh I've grown very very weary of this terrorism you don't have to be a strategist or anything to look down and see what what you don't want the enemy to be looking down on I do think we need this place but keep going back when you say we can do a lot we thought or should we stay you keep saying well is it morally right to keep it if it's a matter of lives yes it is morally right during the war most of the American rallies were televised and it's hard to tell the number but sitting in a shelter during the war and seeing this was something that helped me very very much to see Americans be their number what it may be there with some kind of support all this is Israel its population is outnumbered forty to one its land is one percent of the size of those who wish to destroy it rallies are asked why they are wary of the Arabs they answer they have not given us a reason not to fear them we are now on that part of the Golan Heights which once was part of Syria it looks down on settlers in the hula Valley with an easy range of Syrian arms from this point to the settlement below is roughly one mile one mile about the distance from the Palisades to the crowded streets of Manhattan [Music] yet it must be said again that the people of Israel are willing to compromise but not to surrender they want to be assured that the Palestinian motive is to reach self-determination without destroying Israel it wants to be sure that the Palestinians will no longer be used as pawns by the other Arab states as a means of wiping out Israel they want to be aware of the Arab State's willingness to give Aid to their Brethren other than guns Rockets bombs and Hate [Music] we see an overview of Masada where 800 zealots died by their own hands rather than surrender to the Romans Israel has no Masada complex it will not die by its own hand also it will not surrender it aches to live in peace and it appeals to its neighbors to agree to live in peace with them [Music] no Jew anywhere in the world is willing to wear a yellow Badge of Shame for identification the Israelis have put the six-pointed star on a national flag and there it shall stay Han weitzmann said you imagine that the Mandate is our Bible it is the Bible that is our mandate and in the books of Genesis Hosea Amos Isaiah Jeremiah and Ezekiel it is so written and it is also written in the history of modern Israel Israel the people of Israel live [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Applause]