A crowd estimated at between 150,000 and 200,000 from all over the United States and Canada turned out for yesterday’s Israel solidarity rally in Washington. The crowd arrived in 1,200 buses, as well as planes and trains, for the largest pro-Israel rally in the history of North American Jewry. Among the notables who addressed the record-breaking crowd were former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Housing Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky, US senators and congressman, and clergymen of different faiths. The themes of the rally, reflected in the messages of the speakers and on the home-made signs held by participants, were solidarity with Israel, the battle against terrorism, and the similarities between the U.S. war against Bin Laden and Israel\'s against Arafat.
Notable quotes from the demonstration:
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani: “Let’s be clear: There is no moral equivalence between the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority! Israel and the Palestinian Authority are different. Israel is a nation based on law and democracy, while the Palestinian Authority harbors terrorism… Peace must be based on realism, not romance; on security, and not terrorism… The desire for peace must not overwhelm our common sense, otherwise we will fail to achieve peace.”
Former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu [paraphrased]: \"They tell us that Palestinian terrorism is rooted in their deprivation of national rights. In that case, why didn\'t Mahatma Gandhi resort to terrorism? Or Martin Luther King? Or others?\" Netanyahu said that \"the root cause of terrorism [is] a totalitarianism mindset, a tyranny that systematically brainwashes the minds of its subjects to suspend all moral constraints for the sake of a twisted cause. And this is why, from its inception, totalitarianism has always been wedded to terrorism - from Lenin to Stalin to Hitler, to the Ayatollahs, to Saddam Hussein, to Osama Bin-Laden and Yasser Arafat!\"
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Rabbi Michael Melchior: “The war we are fighting is one for our homes and our families. It is a war for our freedom, but more than that it is a war for our civilization. Today we face an enemy that has declared civilization as its enemy. If terrorism is not defeated in Israel, it will threaten countries all over the world.”
Hugh Price, President of The Urban League: “We support Israel’s right to exist and defend itself against terrorism. Governments such as Israel who encounter terror must be allowed to root out terror.”
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told the crowd that President Bush was deeply moved by the large number of demonstrators and by their support of his fight against terrorism.
New York Governor George Pataki: “It is the Israelis who are protecting the religious freedoms of all the great world religions in Jerusalem. Jerusalem must remain the eternal, undivided capital of Israel and the Jewish people.”
Also addressing the large crowd were parents of Israeli terror victims, as well as survivors of Arab terror attacks. Organizers stressed that the planning for the event got underway about ten days ago, and that the unprecedented turnout was a definitive statement that American Jewry stands behind the State of Israel.
Notable quotes from the demonstration:
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani: “Let’s be clear: There is no moral equivalence between the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority! Israel and the Palestinian Authority are different. Israel is a nation based on law and democracy, while the Palestinian Authority harbors terrorism… Peace must be based on realism, not romance; on security, and not terrorism… The desire for peace must not overwhelm our common sense, otherwise we will fail to achieve peace.”
Former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu [paraphrased]: \"They tell us that Palestinian terrorism is rooted in their deprivation of national rights. In that case, why didn\'t Mahatma Gandhi resort to terrorism? Or Martin Luther King? Or others?\" Netanyahu said that \"the root cause of terrorism [is] a totalitarianism mindset, a tyranny that systematically brainwashes the minds of its subjects to suspend all moral constraints for the sake of a twisted cause. And this is why, from its inception, totalitarianism has always been wedded to terrorism - from Lenin to Stalin to Hitler, to the Ayatollahs, to Saddam Hussein, to Osama Bin-Laden and Yasser Arafat!\"
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Rabbi Michael Melchior: “The war we are fighting is one for our homes and our families. It is a war for our freedom, but more than that it is a war for our civilization. Today we face an enemy that has declared civilization as its enemy. If terrorism is not defeated in Israel, it will threaten countries all over the world.”
Hugh Price, President of The Urban League: “We support Israel’s right to exist and defend itself against terrorism. Governments such as Israel who encounter terror must be allowed to root out terror.”
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told the crowd that President Bush was deeply moved by the large number of demonstrators and by their support of his fight against terrorism.
New York Governor George Pataki: “It is the Israelis who are protecting the religious freedoms of all the great world religions in Jerusalem. Jerusalem must remain the eternal, undivided capital of Israel and the Jewish people.”
Also addressing the large crowd were parents of Israeli terror victims, as well as survivors of Arab terror attacks. Organizers stressed that the planning for the event got underway about ten days ago, and that the unprecedented turnout was a definitive statement that American Jewry stands behind the State of Israel.