Rep. DeLay to Knesset
Members: Israel´s Fight is Our Fight
12:39 Jul. 31, '03 / 2 Av 5763
U.S. Representative and House Majority Leader Tom
DeLay spoke yesterday to a group of some 35 Knesset Members, representing all the parties except the Arab ones. The speech, which was
interrupted by much applause, took place in a reception room at the Knesset. Excerpts (roughly 1/5 of the entire speech):
"It has
been an amazing six days here… I sat with former refuseniks heroes who spoke truth to power and helped bring an evil empire to its knees. I
visited the Kotel, the ancient Western Wall of the Temple that still stands as a symbol of G-d's infinite strength and love to billions of
believers of many faiths all around the world. I shook the hand of the owner of the Moment Cafe which was bombed last year…
And I
listened to another woman who told me her story. Just a few years ago, she was, like me, a grandparent , and excited with the news her daughter
was expecting again. Her daughter and son-in-law were on their way back from the doctor's office where they had seen, in the sonogram image,
the tiny form of their third baby. On the bus ride back home from the doctor, their joyful path met the profound cruelty of a homicide
bomber's. The terrorist detonated his weapon, and this family and their baby were gone.
She told me this story this week in a park,
surrounded by the play of children directly affected by Palestinian terror. She called two of them over, and introduced me to her two
grandchildren who were orphaned that day. Despite the story I heard, these children played, and laughed, and seemed as hopeful about the future
as any child could be. And despite my heartache, I smiled too, because hope was with us in that park.
Even now, I am filled with a
gratitude and humility I cannot express. I stand before you today, in solidarity, as an Israeli of the heart.
…
I come to you - in
the midst of a great global conflict against evil with a simple message: Be Not Afraid. I do not say this as a foreigner, cavalier in my
estimation of the dangers that surround you. Instead I say it as an ally… My country is not ignorant, nor are we indifferent to your
struggle. We know our victory in the war on terror depends on Israel's survival. And we know Israel's survival depends on the willingness of
free nations - especially our own - to stand by all endangered democracies in their time of need. We hear your voice cry out in the desert, and
we will never leave your side.
Because freedom and terrorism cannot co-exist.
…
Those who call this world-view
"simplistic" are more than welcome to share their "sophisticated" theories at any number of international debating clubs. But while they do,
free nations of courage will fight and win this war. Israel's liberation from Palestinian terror is an essential component of that victory.
And it's a *liberation* we are determined to secure - not merely a paper-thin ceasefire.
False security is no security, and murderers who
take 90-day vacations are still murderers. [Here, Arutz-7's Haggai Seri noted that the applause was limited only to right-wing
MKs.]
…
In short, it is the position of the people of the United States, as expressed by their representatives in Congress, that
Israel's fight *is our fight.* And so shall it be until the last terrorist on earth is in a cell or a cemetery.
… By their nature,
democracies neither enable terror nor instigate war. Citizens in democracies are too busy engaging in Tikkun Olam - "repairing the world."
Raising their children. Supporting their families. Strengthening their communities. … Standing up for good against evil is hard work. It
costs money and it costs blood, but after September 11, 2001, it's a price we are determined to pay…
The American people stand
with you, and so does our President. …
The [Palestinian people's] plight is real: they have been oppressed and abused by a
pernicious enemy. But their enemy is not Israel, nor its people, nor its democratic government. Their enemy is Yasser Arafat. Their enemy is
Hamas, Hizbullah, and the vast network of violent men who threaten this region like so many desert scorpions…
Israel is not the
problem; Israel is the solution!
