The following are excerpts of remarks delivered by advertising executive Brigitte Gabriel at the Duke University Counter-Terrorism Speak-Out October 14, 2004. The gathering was meant to be a counterweight to the conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement held on the Duke campus the same week.
"I'm proud and honored to stand here today as a Lebanese speaking for Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East. As someone who was raised in an Arabic country, I want to give you a glimpse into the heart of the Arabic world.
"I was raised in Lebanon, where I was taught that the Jews were evil, Israel was the devil, and the only time we will have peace in the Middle East is when we kill all the Jews or drive them into the sea.
"When the Muslims and Palestinians declared Jihad on the Christians in 1975, they started massacring the Christians, city after city. I ended up living in a bomb shelter...
"It was Israel who came to help the Christians in Lebanon. My mother was wounded by a Muslim's shell and was taken into an Israeli hospital for treatment. ...They treated my mother before they treated the Israeli soldier lying next to her. They didn't see religion, they didn't see political affiliation; they saw people in need and they helped.
"For the first time in my life, I experienced a human quality that I know my culture would not have shown to their enemy. ...I spent 22 days at that hospital. Those days changed my life...."
The full speech can be read at http://www.israelnn.com/article.php3?id=4314.
"I'm proud and honored to stand here today as a Lebanese speaking for Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East. As someone who was raised in an Arabic country, I want to give you a glimpse into the heart of the Arabic world.
"I was raised in Lebanon, where I was taught that the Jews were evil, Israel was the devil, and the only time we will have peace in the Middle East is when we kill all the Jews or drive them into the sea.
"When the Muslims and Palestinians declared Jihad on the Christians in 1975, they started massacring the Christians, city after city. I ended up living in a bomb shelter...
"It was Israel who came to help the Christians in Lebanon. My mother was wounded by a Muslim's shell and was taken into an Israeli hospital for treatment. ...They treated my mother before they treated the Israeli soldier lying next to her. They didn't see religion, they didn't see political affiliation; they saw people in need and they helped.
"For the first time in my life, I experienced a human quality that I know my culture would not have shown to their enemy. ...I spent 22 days at that hospital. Those days changed my life...."
The full speech can be read at http://www.israelnn.com/article.php3?id=4314.