[Mayapapaya]

> Speech of Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister of the State of Israel,
published in
> Maariv on Monday, July 31, 2006.
>
> Ladies and gentlemen, leaders of the world, I, the Prime Minister of
Israel,
> am speaking to you from Jerusalem in the face of the terrible
pictures from
> Kfar Kana. Any human heart, wherever it is, must sicken and recoil
at the
> sight of such pictures. There are no words of comfort that can
mitigate the
> enormity of this tragedy. Still, I am looking you straight in the
eye and
> telling you that the State of Israel will continue its military
campaign in
> Lebanon.
>
> The Israel Defense Forces will continue to attack targets from which
> missiles and Katyusha rockets are fired at hospitals, old age homes
and
> kindergartens in Israel. I have instructed the security forces and
the IDF
> to continue to hunt for the Katyusha stockpiles and launch sites from
which
> these savages are bombarding the State of Israel. We will not
hesitate, we
> will not apologize and we will not back off. If they continue to
launch
> missiles into Israel from Kfar Kana, we will continue to bomb Kfar
Kana.
> Today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Here, there and
everywhere.
>
> The children of Kfar Kana could now be sleeping peacefully in their
homes,
> unmolested, had the agents of the devil not taken over their land and
turned
> the lives of our children into hell. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time
you
> understood: the Jewish state will no longer be trampled upon. We
will no
> longer allow anyone to exploit population centers in order to bomb
our
> citizens. No one will be able to hide anymore behind women and
children in
> order to kill our women and children. This anarchy is over.
>
> You can condemn us, you can boycott us, you can stop visiting us and,
if
> necessary, we will stop visiting you.
>
> Today I am serving as the voice of six million bombarded Israeli
citizens
> who serve as the voice of six million murdered Jews who were melted
down to
> dust and ashes by savages in Europe. In both cases, those
responsible for
> these evil acts were, and are, barbarians devoid of all humanity, who
set
> themselves one simple goal: to wipe the Jewish people off the face of
the
> earth, as Adolph Hitler said, or to wipe the State of Israel off the
map, as
> Mahmoud Ahmedinjad proclaims. And you - just as you did not take
those
> words seriously then, you are ignoring them again now. And that,
ladies and
> gentlemen, leaders of the world, will not happen again. Never again
will we
> wait for bombs that never came to hit the gas chambers. Never again
will we
> wait for salvation that never arrives. Now we have our own air
force. The
> Jewish people are now capable of standing up to those who seek their
> destruction - those people will no longer be able to hide behind
women and
> children. They will no longer be able to evade their responsibility.
Every
> place from which a Katyusha is fired into the State of Israel will be
a
> legitimate target for us to attack. This must be stated clearly and
> publicly, once and for all.
>
> You are welcome to judge us, to ostracize us, to boycott us and to
vilify
> us. But to kill us? Absolutely not.
>
> Four months ago I was elected by hundreds of thousands of citizens to
the
> office of Prime Minister of the government of Israel, on the basis of
my
> plan for unilaterally withdrawing from 90 percent of the areas of
Judea and
> Samaria, the birth place and cradle of the Jewish people; to end most
of the
> occupation and to enable the Palestinian people to turn over a new
leaf and
> to calm things down until conditions are ripe for attaining a
permanent
> settlement between us. The Prime Minister who preceded me, Ariel
Sharon,
> made a full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip back to the international
border,
> and gave the Palestinians there a chance to build a new reality for
> themselves. The Prime Minister who preceded him, Ehud Barak, ended
the
> lengthy Israeli presence in Lebanon and pulled the IDF back to the
> international border, leaving the land of the cedars to flourish,
develop
> and establish its democracy and its economy.
>
> What did the State of Israel get in exchange for all of this? Did we
win
> even one minute of quiet? Was our hand, outstretched in peace, met
with a
> handshake of encouragement? Ehud Barak's peace initiative at Camp
David let
> loose on us a wave of suicide bombers who smashed and blew to pieces
over
> 1,000 citizens, men, women and children. I don't remember you being
so
> enraged then. Maybe that happened because we did not allow TV
close-ups of
> the dismembered body parts of the Israeli youngsters at the
Dolphinarium?
>
> Or of the shattered lives of the people butchered while celebrating
the
> Passover seder at the Park Hotel in Netanya?
>
> What can you do - that's the way we are. We don't wave body parts at
the
> camera. We grieve quietly. We do not dance on the roofs at the
sight of
> the bodies of our enemy's children - we express genuine sorrow and
regret.
> That is the monstrous behavior of our enemies. Now they have risen
up
> against us. Tomorrow they will rise up against you. You are already
> familiar with the murderous taste of this terror. And you will taste
more.
>
> And Ariel Sharon's withdrawal from Gaza -- what did it get us? A
barrage of
> Kassem missiles fired at peaceful settlements and the kidnapping of
> soldiers. Then too, I don't recall you reacting with such alarm.
And for
> six years, the withdrawal from Lebanon has drawn the vituperation and
crimes
> of a dangerous, extremist Iranian agent, who took over an entire
country in
> the name of religious fanaticism, and is trying to take Israel
hostage on
> his way to Jerusalem - and from there to Paris and London. An
enormous
> terrorist infrastructure has been established by Iran on our border,
> threatening our citizens, growing stronger before our very eyes,
awaiting
> the moment when the land of the Ayatollahs becomes a nuclear power in
order
> to bring us to our knees.
>
> And make no mistake - we won't go down alone.
>
> You, the leaders of the free and enlightened world, will go down
along with
> us.
>
> So today, here and now, I am putting an end to this parade of
hypocrisy.
> I don't recall such a wave of reaction in the face of the 100
citizens
> killed every single day in Iraq. Sunnis kill Shiites who kill
Sunnis, and
> all of them kill Americans - and the world remains silent. And I am
hard
> pressed to recall a similar reaction when the Russians destroyed
entire
> villages and burned down large cities in order to repress the revolt
in
> Chechnya. And when NATO bombed Kosovo for almost three months and
crushed
> the civilian population - then you also kept silent.
>
> What is it about us, the Jews, the minority, the persecuted, that
arouses
> this cosmic sense of justice in you? What do we have that all the
others
> don't? In a loud clear voice, looking you straight in the eye, I
stand
> before you openly and I will not apologize. I will not capitulate.
I will
> not whine. This is a battle for our freedom. For our humanity. For
the
> right to lead normal lives within our recognized, legitimate borders.
It is
> also your battle.
>
> I pray and I believe that now you will understand that. Because if
you
> don't, you may regret it later, when it's too late.

 

[mama ganoush]

i ain't touching the substance of this.

but i will say: snopes snopes snopes

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/olmert.asp

 

[kroonkles]

Wow,
I don't care who said it, it needs to be said.

 

[mama ganoush]

yes, what the world most needs now is more tough talk and rationalization for blowing up women and children. that has gotten us all so very far.

 

[lisalou]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mama ganoush yes, what the world most needs now is more tough talk and rationalization for blowing up women and children. that has gotten us all so very far.

After I get my keyboard waterproofed, I'll start following you around.

 

[Kajira]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mama ganoush yes, what the world most needs now is more tough talk and rationalization for blowing up women and children. that has gotten us all so very far.

 

[Mayapapaya]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mama ganoush yes, what the world most needs now is more tough talk and rationalization for blowing up women and children. that has gotten us all so very far.

Thanks for attributing the piece to its rightful owner.

But here is my question, being a peace-loving person myself: how can Israel deal with neighbors who are committed to its destruction, and who become more armed and attack (both from Gaza and Lebanon so far) as soon as Israel withdraws from buffer zones or territories? With every step towards so -called peace, it just seems the unfortunate scenario is that no matter what Israel does, its enemies are waiting to destroy it. The land for peace idea seems to translate into trading land for destruction if at all possible.

And it doesn't help matters that those who are attacking Israel hide in highly populated areas that are full of civilians. Obviously, civilian deaths are an even greater tragedy than military ones, by far. But what to do if those who attack you use civilians as shields?

It just seems like whether Israel takes a peaceful approach or an aggressive appoach, those who seek to destroy Israel are ruthless, even to the point of effectively creating human shields of their own civilians, whether men, women or children, and sentencing them to death.

 

[mama ganoush]

sadly, i've got no good answers. i am pretty sure though that referring to the other side as "ruthless savages" doesn't go a long way towards brokering a lasting peace. especially not right on the heels of when you have slaughtered 40 children in their sleep.

coexist

 

[Mayapapaya]

To an extent, I agree. But I don't think that name-caling is even close to the major problem here, not by a long shot.

In fact, the situation you referred to is the whole problem. The Israeli army does not want to bomb a building that isn't a target, nor do they want to kill innocents. This is why, for example, they drop leaflets before they bomb any given area. This is obviously not foolproof, but the goal is to spare the lives of innocents, even at the expense of warning their enemies that they are going to be attacked. Buildings are targets because they have been associated with rocket launchers or other suspicious activity. And ultimately, it seems quite possible here that Hezbollah is knowingly launching or storing weapons in buildings that house women and children.

This is where the idea of "ruthless savages" come from. I don't believe that it is directed at the Arab community at large, but rather at a group whose ethics allow them to essentially sacrifice the lives of children by using civilian buildings to wage war.