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US President George W. Bush
| | THE PRESIDENT:
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton:
"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you,
Lonny.
Welcome to Washington for this extraordinary AIPAC
conference. I'm told that the attendance far surpasses any other
conference, and it's always been one of the biggest gatherings that
Washington hosts every year. So I congratulate you for being here in these
numbers with this energy and enthusiasm.
I also thank my friend Bernice, who has served so well on behalf of
AIPAC, and congratulate Howard Friedman, the incoming president. I thank
Howard Kohr, your executive director; Amy Friedkin; and everyone who works
so hard for AIPAC not just when there is a great gathering, like this
conference, but every single day, working with us in the Congress working
here in Washington.
I want to take just a few minutes to discuss some of the significant
challenges facing the United States, Israel and our world today. As you
know better than most, events in the Middle East are absolutely critical
to our hope for a safer, more secure world, a world in which every nation
is free from the threat of global terrorism. And a strong, lasting
relationship between the United States and Israel is essential to our
efforts to build that world of peace and security.
As all of us know, our future here in this country is intertwined with
the future of Israel and the Middle East. Now there is a lot that we could
talk about, and obviously much has been discussed. But in the short period
that I have been given the honor of addressing you, I want to start by
focusing on our deep and lasting bond between the United States and
Israel.
Now, these are bonds that are more than shared interests. These are
bonds forged in a common struggle for human rights, for democracy, for
freedom. These are bonds that predate the creation of the state of Israel,
that really predate the creation of the United States because they are
rooted in fundamental beliefs and values about the dignity and rights of
men and women to live in freedom, free from fear, free from oppression.
And there is no doubt that these incredibly strong bonds and values will
remain as the lodestar of our relationship with our democratic friend and
ally, Israel.
Now, Israel is not only, however, a friend and ally for us, it is a
beacon of what democracy can and should mean. It is, after all, a
pluralistic democracy. It is, as many of us know from personal
experiences, a very dynamic democracy with many points of view, and those
are expressed with great frequency and vigor. So if people in the Middle
East are not sure what democracy means, let them look to Israel, which has
been and remains a true, faithful democracy.
But we know that the goal, the important, essential goal of a
democratizing Middle East is complex, and it is not without risks. A few
months ago, I went for the second time to Iraq and Kuwait and Afghanistan
and Pakistan, and I returned home with hopefulness about what I had seen
and learned, but also with a sense of caution about how we should proceed.
In Iraq I saw firsthand the daily challenges confronting the Iraqi people.
I met with a number of our troops, the brave young men and women who are
on freedom's frontlines in Iraq. I met with our civilian representatives
in the embassy and other agencies who are also risking their lives to help
the Iraqi people.
And I met with representatives of the former interim Iraqi government
and the newly elected Iraqi government, as well as private Iraqi citizens.
Now I came away with several overwhelming impressions. First, no matter
what one thinks about events that have unfolded in Iraq, there is no doubt
that the American military has performed admirably, with professionalism,
and that every young man and woman who wears the uniform of our country
deserves our support, whether they be active duty, guard, or reserve
troop.
You know, it is on trips like that -- despite the often dangerous
circumstances, I wish I could bring every one of my constituents -- all 19
million of them and any others who could come -- to see firsthand. I flew
from Baghdad to Fallujah in a Blackhawk helicopter; met with the Marines
who had liberated Fallujah from the insurgents and terrorists.
I met with many others of our Marines and soldiers who are committed to
their mission to try to bring freedom to the people of Iraq. They, as well
as the troops I saw in Kuwait and in Afghanistan, are committed to this
fundamental belief that people deserve the right to be free, deserve the
right to select their own government, deserve the right to plot and plan
for a better future for themselves and their children.
I hope that each of you, as you travel through your states and
communities, will make it a point to thank these young people, because
they're paying a very high price: 1,600-plus lost their lives; thousands
and thousands have returned home grievously injured. Because of the
advances in battlefield medicine and the new body armor that our troops
wear, many are surviving injuries that would have left previous
generations of young men and women dead.
So there is no doubt that America has started down a path, with blood
and treasure, to try to create the condition for democracy and freedom in
the Middle East -- which has consequences for the entire region, for our
security, and certainly for Israel's.
At this critical time in this complicated situation we find ourselves
in, I think it's important to recognize the extraordinary stand that Prime
Minister Sharon and the democratically elected government of Israel have
taken as they face the risks and challenges of disengagement and as they
try to deal with the newly elected Palestinian leadership.
The prime minister -- whom I am pleased to note will follow me to this
stage -- and the state of Israel that he has devoted his entire life to
serving are taking a tremendous risk.
I believe it is our obligation as friends and supporters and allies of
Israel to support Israel's efforts for peace, stability and security. Now,
this means doing more than providing Israel with economic aid so that it
can remain strong in the face of ongoing threats. We must also demand that
President Abbas dismantle the structures of terror that the Palestinian
leadership has employed for so long.
You know, in a democracy, even a fledgling democracy, leaders must be
held accountable. And President Abbas must be held accountable for the
actions taking place under his leadership. I know that you are asking your
senators and representatives to sign on to a letter to President Bush
about this, and I'm proud to support these efforts because there can be no
doubt that as Israel and its democratic government take these steps and we
support them, there has to be reciprocity on the other side as well.
And making progress toward peace and security also requires the end of
the barrage of hate and incitement that is still officially sanctioned by
the Palestinian Authority. Now, I was relieved to learn this week that the
Palestinian Authority removed the Protocols of the Elders of Zion from its
website. Reportedly, it had been included on the website under the heading
"history of Zionism," but what was it doing there in the first place even
though we are relieved that it is no longer there?
We must continue to be vigilant about monitoring hate and incitement
and anti-Semitism, not only by the Palestinian Authority but throughout
the Arab world. Saudi textbooks characterize Jews as wicked. Iranian news
reports, obviously representing the opinion of their government, have lent
credence to Holocaust deniers. This is an issue that all of us need to be
concerned about.
And five years ago, I stood with my friend, Elie Wiesel, to denounce
this incitement, this violence, this anti-Semitism in Palestinian
textbooks. And I've been working on this issue because to me it is one of
those basic issues that -- how do we expect to have a democratically
elected Palestinian government if their textbooks are still preaching such
hatred, and if we allow this if we allow this dehumanizing rhetoric to go
unchallenged. Because what is happening is young minds are being infected
with this anti-Semitism, and that is going to run counter to what we hope
can happen over the next years as we do work for peace and stability.
So we must continue to shine a bright spotlight on these messages of
hatred and these enticements for martyrdom in these textbooks and on the
media that take young minds and twist and pervert them and create a new
generation of terrorists and insurgents.
About a year and a half ago, I held a hearing with Senator Specter on
the Palestinian media, and I confronted the Palestinian Authority
representative about this issue, whom we had invited to come and address
the Senate committee. I urged him to acknowledge that when it comes to
children, whoever those children are, shielding them from hate and
violence should be the number one priority of their families and their
governments and the entire global community to prevent this hatred from
festering.
Using children as pawns in a political process is tantamount to child
abuse, and we must say it has to end now!
And, of course, that infection is contagious, and it can spread beyond
the Palestinian territories. It can spread into other parts of the Arab
world, and it can impact what goes on there.
And of course, one of the areas I am deeply concerned about is Iran,
and its pursuit of nuclear weapons, because a nuclear-armed Iran would
shake the foundation of global security to its very core. Israel would be
most immediately and profoundly threatened by this development, but Israel
would not be alone. Knowing of Iran's historic and present ties to
terrorist networks, how would we feel, here in America, if the Iranians
could start producing nuclear weapons at will? How would the Europeans
feel if Iran could start nuclear weapons at will?
So let us be unequivocally clear. A nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable,
but it is not just unacceptable to Israel and to the United States. It
must be unacceptable to the entire world, starting with the European
governments and people.
I know that during your conference and in the lobbying that you will be
doing on Capitol Hill, you're trying to draw attention to the threat that
is posed by a nuclear Iran. And I commend you for these efforts; this is
one of our most serious security and foreign policy priorities. And we
need to make working with our allies to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapon
a top priority.
Now one of the terrorist groups that Iran supports is Hezbollah. And we
know that Hezbollah poses a direct and dire risk to the stability of the
Middle East. Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon -- which is very good news
for the Lebanese people -- also creates an opportunity for Hezbollah to
wreak havoc.
So we need to remain vigilant about the terrorist threat and work to
stop the flow of support to Hezbollah from Syria and Iran. And we need to
convince our European allies of Hezbollah's threat to order in the region
and to the civilized world, and convince them to designate Hezbollah as a
terrorist organization.
And the Europeans must do more to cut off the funding and the
fund-raising that goes on in Europe for Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic
Jihad as soon as possible.
Now, there are many other important and pressing issues that must be on
our agenda, but I know that as you travel to the Hill to meet with your
representatives and senators, you will be presenting a very thoughtful and
compelling analysis of these and other challenges we face. I thank you for
not only being willing to stand up for our values and our relationship
with Israel, but also to take your responsibilities as citizens seriously,
to lobby and to advocate, to persuade and to dissuade, to discuss these
critical issues with all who will listen.
We are living at an extraordinary moment in history. There are some
days when I am very optimistic, and there are other days, I have to
confess, when I'm pessimistic. I guess that just goes with the territory.
But what I am absolutely convinced of is that our common values, values
shared and exemplified by our country and by Israel, are the right values,
the values that everyone should have an opportunity to be exposed to and
to understand and, hopefully, to emulate.
There is no other option in the world that, as Tom Friedman said, has
been flattened. We can communicate with each other, we can be transported
over long distances quickly, we can follow events in other places far
away. And therefore, we need to recognize that our struggle, our ongoing
struggle for freedom and democracy is the only way that we can ensure that
in this shrinking, flattened world, our children will have a chance for
peace and security.
We cannot shrink from the duty that this time has imposed upon us. We
can have great -- and we should -- great debates and discussions about
what are the best ways to proceed and to pursue these common objectives.
We need that. We need that debate and discussion because we are in
uncharted territory. No one has all the answers, and we need the combined
intelligence and good ideas of as many people as possible.
So what you are doing today is not only on behalf of AIPAC, not only on
behalf of Israel, not only on behalf of the strong and enduring
relationship between the United States and Israel; it is truly on behalf
of the kind of world we want for our children and, for those lucky enough,
grandchildren.
And we cannot grow weary. This is a long, arduous path. Israel,
Israelis, the American Jewish community and the broader diaspora know
about this struggle and this path better than most.
So if we resolve not to grow weary, but to pursue these values
together, I am ultimately not only optimistic, but confident that the
world will see a better and brighter day, and our children will thank us
for making it possible.
Thank you all very much. God bless
you."
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