Below is part of the transcript of Alan Keyes is Making Sense, from April 3rd. Alan opened with a fabulous monologue, and it's below.
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msnbc.com
Tonight, the standoff at one of Christianity‘s holiest sites in the Middle East continues. About 300 armed Palestinians are still holed up at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Israeli tanks are now in every major West Bank city except Hebron and Jericho.
And the strong Israeli action has obviously brought strong reaction from others in the world. The Vatican today released a statement by the Holy Father, who condemns terrorist acts, but who also said he rejects unjust conditions and humiliations imposed on the Palestinian people. We heard as well from the head of the European Union, who criticizes the United States for not getting more involved and says that now we need to stand aside and let other nations — read the Europeans, who are planning to send a delegation to the region I think this week — let them step in and take over.
Well, I‘ve got to tell you my reaction to the reaction of others who are criticizing Israel comes I guess from my own sense of the background of this conflict. I realize there are a lot of people who believe we need to talk about this like it‘s all taking place in some deep black hole of history where no light can get in from the past. But that‘s not true.
I, at least, can not help when I listen to all these folks talking about what should or should not be done, I can‘t help but remember the facts from which this present situation comes. When the head of the European Union stands forward and tries to pretend that they have so much weight and credibility in addressing this problem, I can‘t help but remember that many Europeans sat on their hands and did nothing while millions of Jews were slaughtered in the era that gave birth to the state of Israel. I can‘t help but remember that.
When folks talk about the role that the international community should play, as the ambassador did here on my program last night, I can‘t help but remember that back in 1967 when the Arab forces were amassing to launch a fateful death blow against Israel, Egyptian President Nasser kicked out the U.N. troops from the Sinai, demanded that they should go. And guess what? The international community didn‘t get its back up then and say, “No, you can‘t launch this war of aggression.” No, those so-called peacekeeping forces evaporated.
And the international community sat by with baited breath as they waited for those hundreds of thousands of Arab troops to deliver a deathblow that wasn‘t thwarted by international outrage. It was thwarted only by the unexpected and surprising brilliance of the Israeli military.
And as a result of that brilliant victory in the Six-Day War, Israel acquired territory, the Sinai, the West Bank, Gaza. And it wasn‘t a war of conquest. That‘s one of the things that is so often said these days where folks seem to either forget history or be lying through their teeth, giving the impression that somehow this is illegitimate, Israel just moved in and conquered these hapless people.
It‘s a lie. Those territories were acquired in the course of a desperate war for survival.
And the international community, by the way, so-called, doesn‘t react to every such control of territory as if it‘s somehow illegitimate. Consider, for instance, the situation between China and India right up to the present day. China moves in, takes a chunk of territory from India back in 1962, holds onto it right now as a result of that war. And who was out there bleating about how the Chinese are occupying this territory and so forth?
The very most you can get from them is that it‘s disputed. On many maps, it‘s not even marked that way.
And what is the assumption? Well, assumption always has been you get territory as a result of such a war, you don‘t give it up except in the context of a negotiated peace. And, unlike the Chinese, the Israelis have shown themselves willing time and time again to put that territory on the line in the hopes of achieving just such a negotiated settlement.
And not only that, they have done so. And the historic Camp David accords between Israel and Egypt in 1978 resulted in Israel‘s return of the Sinai to the Egyptians. An agreement made, an agreement kept.
We‘ve also seen agreements between Israel and Jordan, between Israel quietly and Syria even, regulating the cease-fire arrangement on the Golan Heights. In areas where the other side is willing to keep its word, history shows that Israel has also kept its word and that agreements that were hammered out through great difficulty and often with a lot of courage, where there were reciprocal understandings, when the other side was willing to meet its obligations, Israel did the same.
Why are we forgetting this now? Why are we talking about this like all this takes place in some kind of a vacuum where is no experience to guide our understanding of the way in which we should be looking at it and reacting to events right now?
The difference, it seems to me, in the track record between Israel and Yasser Arafat, Israel and negotiations with the PLO and the Palestinian Authority, is that in spite of agreement after agreement after agreement in which all kinds of declarations are made and statements are made, the Israelis have, in fact, made concessions, made agreements, signed on the dotted line, followed through on those agreements, as they did when they turned authority in the West Bank and Gaza over to Yasser Arafat as a result of such an agreement.
But in spite of agreement in 1993 in Oslo, in spite of Camp David efforts we have seen what kind of progress? Oh, yes, there‘s been lip service paid. There have been statements, “Yes, we‘ll accept existence of Israel,” coming from Yasser Arafat and others. And, meanwhile, the one thing — the one thing — that was required of their side has never been delivered. And that is to stop killing Israelis.
That‘s all. Just stop the killing. Stop the violence. Let the discussions take place in an environment where one isn‘t trying to manipulate the process through that kind of death-dealing destruction.
And now, of course, people reacting to the present situation like all that history never occurred, like Yasser Arafat never moved into those territories, never took over, like the effort at Wye River never took place where the Israelis actually laid on the line 90 percent of what he wanted. And he storms out because he doesn‘t get 100 percent, including full control of Jerusalem, and the right of return, the demand for which, by the way, belies the statement that these folks are willing to accept a Jewish state of Israel.
No, I for one can‘t forget all these things. I know everybody is inviting us to look upon this as if there is no reason to recall the history, no reason to remember the facts. But I, for one, can‘t help but remember them.
And I, for one, also can‘t help but look at the reality of the situation that Israel faces, even as we do right now. In their statement, for instance, out of the Vatican they were talking about Israel‘s actions as if they consisted of reprisals and vengeance. I‘ve even seen reporters talking about Israeli anger and so forth and so on. I don‘t think their policy comes from anger anymore than our policies right now in response to the terrible terrorist attacks on us come from a thirst for revenge. I haven‘t seen it.
No, but it does come from necessary ability to think through the implications of the death-dealing blows that have come against you. That‘s one of the problems with suicide bombings and suicide terrorism such as we ourselves have suffered from. And that problem is simple, and that problem is clear. The perpetrator just blew himself up, just imposed on himself the death penalty.
No feckless talk about going after the perpetrators is going to be enough in this case. No defensive action will actually forestall the death-dealing blow unless you go up against those who have incited and encouraged and equipped and financed those who are determined to kill you.
We understood in that the policy we have pursued. Why is it that so many folks are unwilling to see the same imperative in the policies that the Israelis are now pursuing?
It seems to me that to react to these events as if history never happened and as if reality doesn‘t have to be dealt with doesn‘t make a contribution to peace, because peace can‘t be built on a foundation of manipulation and deception and lies. No lasting peace is going to come as a result of that kind of false foundation. And those who think so are not only fooling themselves, they are deluding all those folks who are, in fact, suffering in the Middle East.
I know. Some people will conclude, “Oh, Alan, you‘re just pro-Israeli. You hate the Palestinians.” Nothing of the kind. I was among the first, long before this administration did it, to understand and declare the need to recognize and accept the legitimate demand for Palestinian self-government. I still deeply believe in it.
But the first prerequisite of self-government is that when governing one‘s own passions, one‘s own resentment and anger and violence, that‘s the first prerequisite of self-government. I learned that from Martin Luther King, because I don‘t think any progress would have been made in this country except he stood up and understood that even when one sees oneself as the victim of terrible oppression, you still have to take responsibility to make sure you don‘t make a contribution to the very cycle of violence that destroys and oppresses you.
That is the kind of leadership that the Palestinian people right now need. It‘s the kind of leadership they deserve. It‘s not the kind of leadership they‘re getting. Instead, they‘re getting leadership that pushes them into desperate acts of self-destruction.
I think that self-destruction symbolizes all that they have to offer. Stand up, throw yourself into the pit, give yourself to the void of despair. What will it accomplish except that you will be an immolation sacrificed on the altar of prideful leaders who apparently don‘t have the ability to think through the positive approach that can actually diffuse and undermine the cycle of violence and open the path to real peace and progress.
There have been leaders like that. Martin Luther King, Gandhi, others, they understood that you could not quell violence by yourself becoming an instrument of mindless violence, including the evil violence against the innocent.
I find it hard to believe that folks on our side, including president of the himself, are deluding themselves into thinking that we‘ll make progress if we can just get Yasser Arafat to tell us one more lie about how he‘ll renounce violence while he goes on encouraging it, declaring that he wants, like others, to be a martyr to the cause.
Well, I think that it would be wiser in his case if instead of trying to be a martyr to violence — you know what the word martyr means? It means witness. Well, I think that the Palestinian people don‘t need more witnesses to violence, more witnesses to the incitement and reprisal and revenge and further outrage. I think what they need are some witnesses to hope, some folks who will actually understand they should look at the record with Egypt, with Jordan, with others.
Israel has, in fact, been willing to keep a deal made if the other side lives up to its side of the bargain. That is an offer of hope. And the way to put people on the spot when they show that kind of a willingness is to back away from the cycle of violence even if you see it come against you, as certainly people who are my ancestors in this country did see it come against them. But those who led our way to progress against a system of oppression understood that if you the victim surrender to that violence, you feed it, you fuel it, until it burns up not only the ones that you may hate but you yourself.
I think the people in the Middle East deserve a better fate than that kind of self-immolation. But I don‘t think they‘re going to get it until they are able to understand that when leaders are pushing you over the desperate precipice of revenge and self-destruction you shouldn‘t reject life, you should reject that leadership.
I think we‘ll offer some hope and progress to folks in that part of the world when we ourselves have the courage to stand up, look them in the eye, and make it clear that we‘re not going to be throwing our weight into the scales until we see a willingness on all sides to take responsibility for an end to the cycle of violence just as I have outlined it.
And that means all sides, including the Palestinians, including the Arabs, including all of those who have pleaded victimization to excuse their surrender to evil. That‘s not going to serve the purposes of justice and peace. The past suggests, and we can‘t forget it, that that only fuels further destruction.
I think that our leadership in this country, and elsewhere in the world — all these people think we want to have compassion, we want to spare these people suffering. You‘re not going to spare them suffering by coddling that leadership which is seeking quite consciously to insight them to this self-destruction. Shut the door in their face. Make it clear that the world will have no trek with them any more. And then with that toughness, you will open the door to hope. You will force the people who are involved to lift up from their myths to leaders who will offer them something he better than those who are now offering only this pointless destruction of the innocent.
I think that that is the real key. And I think that we need to have as Americans, as others who are hoping and praying that this situation will somehow or another be opened to a path of peace, we need to have the guts to show that toughness because the phony compassion that coddles the violence is only going to do exactly what the suicide bombers do, destroy themselves and everything else along with it.
And I don‘t think that‘s good enough. I don‘t think that shows concern for the Palestinians, for the Israelis, for the region, for the world or anyone else. And if we don‘t show that kind of courage, if we give in to the feckless demands of the Europeans or anybody else that we should somehow surrender now a position of integrity which demands an end to this suicidal violence, then instead of offering hope we will have joined in with those forces of despair. |
