MK Gila Gamliel, Minister for Social Equality, spoke at the EIPA (Europe Israel Public Affairs) Conference in the EU Parliament entitled "Israel: Include. Invest. Involve. 3 I's to counter B, D and S". The conference took place in cooperation with EJA and the Israeli mission to the EU.
Text of the minister's speech:
Dear Friends,
Shalom and good afternoon.
I am delighted to be with you as Israel’s first ever Minister for Social Equality, a ministry established to enhance Israel’s effort to combat social inequality. I strongly believe that helping create a more equal society in Israel will make a stronger, better country for us all.
Since its founding, Israel has been committed to a vision of a society of equal opportunity. Our Declaration of Independence guarantees equal rights for all citizens – regardless of gender, ethnicity or religion.
In a region of instability and violence, I am so proud to stand here as a woman, as a mother of two young daughters, as the daughter myself of immigrants [to Israel] from Libya and Yemen, representing the State of Israel!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Over the last decade, we have been witnessing a notorious global campaign against the State of Israel, known as BDS. It is but the newest weapon in a decades-old effort to eliminate Israel, and deny the Jewish people their right to self-determination.
For years, those who wanted to destroy Israel first tried wars, and failed.They tried terrorism, and failed. And now they are trying another method which was also used in the past: anti-Israel boycotts. The Nazis used boycotts of Jewish goods in the 1930s. For decades, starting in the 1950s, Arab countries boycotted Israel. Any company that sold products to Israel could not sell products to Arab states.So this is not new. We thought these demons of the past were gone.
Let me be clear: the aim of this movement is not the two-state solution or any peaceful solution.
It seeks the return of Palestinian refugees -- not to a future Palestinian State -- but to Israel: to Haifa, to Jaffa, to Jerusalem. In this way, it seeks to undermine Israel’s right to exist as the homeland of the Jewish people. That’s what this conflict has been about since Israel was created in 1948. And that is what it remains about today.
The method has changed: instead of only fighting the Israeli army on the battlefield or killing civilians through acts of terror, the BDS movement seeks to destroy Israel’s image in the eyes of the world. If you say a lie enough times people will believe it. Yet, as hundreds of thousands of people are being killed in Syria, including some by chemical attack, as Yemen is being ripped apart by outside forces – these self-styled advocates of human rights are silent. We don’t see movements to boycott parties to these conflicts.
But Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, is singled out for boycotting! The leaders of the BDS movement do not care that their boycott actually hurts Palestinians. This is simply of no interest to them and their supporters. For the head of the BDS, attacking Israel supersedes everything, even
their own people.
The voices of BDS are the voices of hatred and bigotry. These are the voices of demonization.
They echo the voices of demons of the past. This discriminatory campaign may have a new name but is the same old poison of the past.
Make no mistake: Every country has its faults. It is legitimate to disagree with some of Israel’s policies. But to single out Israel and to hold it to a different standard than any other nation in the world – is anti-Semitic. It is anti-human rights and anti-peace.
So let us be honest and call out the BDS movement for what it is: the latest evolution of the effort to wipe Israel off the map.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Just as the conflict will not be resolved by the decades-old tactic of boycotting Israel, lasting peace will only be achieved through education. Everything begins with education towards peace.
Shalom -- or peace – is the first word our children learn in school. Tragically, all too often, Palestinian children are incited to hatred, to violence, and to murder.
It is well known that Hamas incites to kill. But this incitement all too often is coming not just from Hamas but from the Palestinian Authority. Most Europeans are unaware – or intentionally blind themselves to --the extent of Palestinian incitement to violence, and where it is coming from.
It is not on the news in Europe. It is not in newspapers here. It doesn’t receive coverage on TV.
It simply isn’t PC –politically correct -- to say that the PA – yes the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas -- names streets, names squares after the worst Palestinian killers of Jewish men women and children. They give money to the families of suicide bombers.
This is incitement to kill; pure and simple. Just as we will not achieve a resolution to the conflict through an immoral boycott, we will never get to peace without education towards peace.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We are living in difficult times. The threat of radical Islamic terrorism should unite – must unite --
the Western World. The same terrorism that brought death to the streets of Israel for year is now targeting the streets of Europe. Just like there should be no double standard in singling out one
country for boycotting and taking no action in the face of genocide taking place in neighboring countries, there must be no double standard when it comes to terrorism.
The killing of civilians is terrorism. Period. There can be no excuses. Period. As I told the UN Security Council, the world all too often loses its voice when it comes to terrorism against Israel! We must say in a loud clear voice: we condemn and will fight against terrorism everywhere, anywhere. There is no difference between the targeting of innocents, whether here in Brussels, Paris, Istanbul or Jerusalem.
In conclusion, as Minister for Social Equality, I believe that women are powerful agents of moderation, particularly in the face of extremism. As leaders and decision makers we can be a stabilizing force. Especially in this region of the world, women are an untapped potential for more peaceful societies. It is an honor to be part of a society where we champion the empowerment of women and gender equality: where we have a woman, Golda Meir, who served as Prime Minister; where a woman is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for the second time now; where women serve in top business roles, and where an Arab parliamentarian is the Chairperson of the Committee for the Advancement of Status of Women in the Knesset.
This is my Israel.
Thank you very much