PM Harper speaks to Israel’s Knesset. THIS IS A GREAT SPEECH.

The following is the full transcript of remarks made by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to Israel’s Knesset on January 20th, 2014.

“Shalom.

“And thank you for inviting me to visit this remarkable country, and especially for this opportunity to address the Knesset.

“It is truly a great honour.

“And if I may, Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my wife Laureen and the entire Canadian delegation, let me begin by thanking the government and people of Israel for the warmth of your hospitality.

“You have made us feel extremely welcome.

“We have felt immediately at home.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Canada and Israel are the greatest of friends, and the most natural of allies.

“And, with your indulgence, I would like to offer a reflection upon what makes the relationship between Canada and Israel special and important because the relationship between us is very strong.

“The friendship between us is rooted in history, nourished by shared values, and it is intentionally reinforced at the highest levels of commerce and government as an outward expression of strongly held inner convictions.

“There has, for example, been a free trade agreement in place between Canada and Israel for many years an agreement that has already proved its worth.

“The elimination of tariffs on industrial products, and some foodstuffs, has led to a doubling in the value of trade between our countries.

“But this only scratches the surface of the economic potential of this relationship and I look forward to soon deepening and broadening our mutual trade and investment goals.

“As well, our military establishments share information and technology.

“This has also been to our mutual benefit.

“For example, during Canada’s mission to Afghanistan, our use of Israeli-built reconnaissance equipment saved the lives of Canadian soldiers.

“All such connections are important, and build strong bridges between us.

“However, to truly understand the special relationship between Israel and Canada, one must look beyond trade and institutions to the personal ties of friendship and kinship.

“Jews have been present in Canada for more than 250 years.

“In generation after generation, by hard work and perseverance, Jewish immigrants, often starting with nothing, have prospered greatly.

“Today, there are nearly 350,000 Canadians who share with you their heritage and their faith.

“They are proud Canadians.

“But having met literally thousands of members of this community, I can tell you this:

“They are also immensely proud of what the people of Israel have accomplished here of your courage in war, of your generosity in peace, and of the bloom that the desert has yielded, under your stewardship.

“Laureen and I share that pride, the pride and the understanding that what has been achieved here has occurred in the shadow of the horrors of the Holocaust;

“the understanding that it is right to support Israel because, after generations of persecution, the Jewish people deserve their own homeland and deserve to live safely and peacefully in that homeland.

“Let me repeat that: Canada supports Israel because it is right to do so.

“This is a very Canadian trait, to do something for no reason other than it is right even when no immediate reward for, or threat to, ourselves is evident.

“On many occasions, Canadians have even gone so far as to bleed and die to defend the freedom of others in far-off lands.

“To be clear, we have also periodically made terrible mistakes as in the refusal of our government in the 1930s to ease the plight of Jewish refugees but, as a country, at the turning points of history, Canada has consistently chosen, often to our great cost, to stand with others who oppose injustice, and to confront the dark forces of the world.

“It is, thus, a Canadian tradition to stand for what is principled and just, regardless of whether it is convenient or popular.

“But, I would argue, support today for the Jewish state of Israel is more than a moral imperative it is also of strategic importance, also a matter of our own, long-term interests.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I said a moment ago, that the special friendship between Canada and Israel is rooted in shared values.

“Indeed, Israel is the only country in the Middle East, which has long anchored itself in the ideals of freedom, democracy and the rule of law.

“These are not mere notions.

“They are the things that, over time and against all odds, have proven to be the only ground in which human rights, political stability, and economic prosperity, may flourish.

“These values are not proprietary; they do not belong to one nation or one people.

“Nor are they a finite resource; on the contrary, the wider they are spread, the stronger they grow.

“Likewise, when they are threatened anywhere, they are threatened everywhere.

“And what threatens them, or more precisely, what today threatens the societies that embrace such values and the progress they nurture?

“Those who scorn modernity, who loathe the liberty of others, and who hold the differences of peoples and cultures in contempt. Those who, often begin by hating the Jews, but, history shows us, end up hating anyone who is not them. Those forces, which have threatened the state of Israel every single day of its existence, and which, today, as 9/11 graphically showed us, threaten us all.

“And so, either we stand up for our values and our interests, here, in Israel, stand up for the existence of a free, democratic and distinctively Jewish state or the retreat of our values and our interests in the world will begin.

“Ladies and gentlemen, just as we refuse to retreat from our values, so we must also uphold the duty to advance them.

“And our commitment as Canadians to what is right, fair and just is a universal one.

“It applies no less to the Palestinian people, than it does to the people of Israel.

“Just as we unequivocally support Israel’s right of self-defence, so too Canada has long-supported a just and secure future for the Palestinian people.

“And, I believe, we share with Israel a sincere hope that the Palestinian people and their leaders… will choose a viable, democratic, Palestinian state, committed to living peacefully alongside the Jewish state of Israel.

“As you, Prime Minister [Netanyahu], have said, when Palestinians make peace with Israel, Israel will not be the last country to welcome a Palestinian state as a new member of the United Nations — it will be the first.

“Sadly, we have yet to reach that point.

“But, when that day comes, and come it must, I can tell you that Israel may be the first to welcome a sovereign Palestinian state, but Canada will be right behind you.

“Ladies and gentlemen, support – even firm support – doesn’t mean that allies and friends will agree on all issues all of the time.

“No state is beyond legitimate questioning or criticism.

“But our support does mean at least three things.

“First, Canada finds it deplorable that some in the international community still question the legitimacy of the existence of the state of Israel.

“Our view on Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state is absolute and non-negotiable.

“Second, Canada believes that Israel should be able to exercise its full rights as a UN member-state and to enjoy the full measure of its sovereignty.

“For this reason, Canada has spoken on numerous occasions in support of Israel’s engagement and equal treatment in multilateral fora.

“And, in this regard, I should mention that we welcome Israel’s induction this month into the western, democratic group of states at the United Nations.

“Third, we refuse to single out Israel for criticism on the international stage.

“Now I understand, in the world of diplomacy, with one, solitary, Jewish state and scores of others, it is all too easy “to go along to get along” and single out Israel.

“But such “going along to get along,” is not a “balanced” approach, nor a “sophisticated” one; it is, quite simply, weak and wrong.

“Unfortunately, ladies and gentlemen, we live in a world where that kind of moral relativism runs rampant.

“And in the garden of such moral relativism, the seeds of much more sinister notions can be easily planted.

“And so we have witnessed, in recent years, the mutation of the old disease of anti-Semitism and the emergence of a new strain.

“We all know about the old anti-Semitism.

“It was crude and ignorant, and it led to the horrors of the death camps.

“Of course, in many dark corners, it is still with us.

“But, in much of the western world, the old hatred has been translated into more sophisticated language for use in polite society.

“People who would never say they hate and blame the Jews for their own failings or the problems of the world, instead declare their hatred of Israel and blame the only Jewish state for the problems of the Middle East.

“As once Jewish businesses were boycotted, some civil-society leaders today call for a boycott of Israel.

“On some campuses, intellectualized arguments against Israeli policies thinly mask the underlying realities, such as the shunning of Israeli academics and the harassment of Jewish students.

“Most disgracefully of all, some openly call Israel an apartheid state.

“Think about that.

“Think about the twisted logic and outright malice behind that: a state, based on freedom, democracy and the rule of law, that was founded so Jews can flourish, as Jews, and seek shelter from the shadow of the worst racist experiment in history, that is condemned, and that condemnation is masked in the language of anti-racism.

“It is nothing short of sickening.

“But this is the face of the new anti-Semitism.

“It targets the Jewish people by targeting Israel and attempts to make the old bigotry acceptable for a new generation.

“Of course, criticism of Israeli government policy is not in and of itself necessarily anti-semitic.

“But what else can we call criticism that selectively condemns only the Jewish state and effectively denies its right to defend itself while systematically ignoring – or excusing – the violence and oppression all around it?

“What else can we call it when, Israel is routinely targeted at the United Nations, and when Israel remains the only country to be the subject of a permanent agenda item at the regular sessions of its human rights council?

“Ladies and gentlemen, any assessment – any judgment – of Israel’s actions must start with this understanding:

“In the sixty-five years that modern Israel has been a nation, Israelis have endured attacks and slanders beyond counting and have never known a day of true peace.

“And we understand that Israelis live with this, impossible calculus:

“If you act to defend yourselves, you will suffer widespread condemnation, over and over again.

“But, should you fail to act, you alone will suffer the consequence of your inaction, and that consequence will be final, your destruction.

“The truth, that Canada understands, is that many of the hostile forces Israel faces, are faced by all western nations.

“And Israel faces them for many of the same reasons we face them.

“You just happen to be a lot closer to them.

“Of course, no nation is perfect.

“But neither Israel’s existence nor its policies are responsible for the instability in the Middle East today.

“One must look beyond Israel’s borders to find the causes of the relentless oppression, poverty and violence in much of the region, of the heartbreaking suffering of syrian refugees, of sectarian violence and the fears of religious minorities, especially christians, and of the current domestic turmoil in so many states.

“So what are we to do?

“Most importantly, we must deal with the world as we find it.

“The threats in this region are real, deeply rooted, and deadly and the forces of progress, often anaemically weak.

“For too many nations, it is still easier to scapegoat Israel than to emulate your success.

“It is easier to foster resentment and hatred of Israel’s democracy than it is to provide the same rights and freedoms to their own people.

“I believe that a Palestinian state will come, and one thing that will make it come is when the regimes that bankroll terrorism realise that the path to peace is accommodation, not violence.

“Which brings me to the government of iran.

“Late last year, the world announced a new approach to diplomacy with the government in tehran.

“Canada has long held the view that every diplomatic measure should be taken to ensure that regime never obtains a nuclear weapon.

“We therefore appreciate the earnest efforts of the five permanent members of the security council and germany.

“Canada will evaluate the success of this approach not on the merits of its words, but on the implementation and verification of its promised actions.

“We truly hope that it is possible to walk the iranian government back from taking the irreversible step of manufacturing nuclear weapons.

“But, for now, Canada’s own sanctions will remain fully in place.

“And should our hopes not be realized, should the present agreement prove ephemeral Canada will be a strong voice for renewed sanctions.

“Ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude with this thought.

“Je crois que l’histoire d’israël est UN très bel exemple pour le monde entier.

“I believe the story of Israel is a great example to the world.

“It is a story, essentially, of a people whose response to suffering has been to move beyond resentment and build a most extraordinary society a vibrant democracy a freedom-loving country… with an independent and rights-affirming judiciary, an innovative, world-leading “start-up” nation.

“You have taken the collective memory of death and persecution to build an optimistic, forward-looking land one that so values life, you will sometimes release a thousand criminals and terrorists, to save one of your own.

“In the democratic family of nations, Israel represents values which our government takes as articles of faith, and principles to drive our national life.

“And therefore, through fire and water, Canada will stand with you.

“My friends, you have been generous with your time and attention.

“Once more, LKaureen and I and our entire delegation thank you for your generous hospitality, and look forward to continuing our visit to your country.

“Merci beaucoup.

“Thank you for having us, and may peace be upon Israel.”

January 20, 2014 | 60 Comments »

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50 Comments / 60 Comments

  1. Bill Narvey Said:

    Yamit, by your demanding criteria a nation must meet to constitute a friend of Israel, no nation can meet your criteria. My definition is less stringent and I believe more realistic.

    That’s your problem Narvey you bow to conventional realism. Based on your conventional realism and flexible outlook where the founders of the modern Jewish state to have accepted your World view and elevated pragmatism the State of Israel would never have come into existence. We would never have won the war of Independence, the 6 day war or the Yom Kippur war. Entebbe would never have been attempted and a thousand other counter-intuitive acts by Israel since well before the establishment of the State.

    Your world outlook practiced by Jews in the last 2000 years have only led to tragedy and gas chambers and that world outlook is no less a contributing factor to jewish tragedies than those who actually were the primary anti-JEWISH VILLAINS throughout our history. A classic example in your time would be FDR, how the Jews loved him when he lived and still love his memory even when his perfidy has been well publicized. Another is Churchill in the same vane.

    Whether money contributed to the PA/PLO is controlled or not it frees up other funds that will be used to attack Israel and kill Jews. So your argument is specious.

    When America conditions sales to Israel of military weaponry it is always balanced with mega sales to our enemies and that means Israel has to spend an extra 40% just to maintain some semblance of parity. America gets the benefit from both sides and is the biggest purveyor of Arms race in the ME if not the world. If peace were the primary aim of America they would seek a total arms embargo in the whole ME including Israel.

    The American congress passed years ago the Embassy act requiring by law the transfer of the American Embassy to Jerusalem form Tel Aviv. But they included a presidential waiver never recinded which makes the laugh mute. It cost the congress Zip to pass the law and stupid Jews at the time praised congress for being pro Israel. Congress is not pro Israel they are as they should be pro American and as politicians they made a public show of support for some Jewish votes and Jewish money and with slight of political hand ensured that the act would never be implemented. Stupid Jews praise the Israel friendly congress. “With such friends…”.

    Knowing who our enemies are and acting accordingly is more important than calling some friends when in fact they are anything but. I hate the use of the world friend and peace without defining meanings when used so liberally. Misleads and creates a false reality something Jews should never allow

    For Israel living daily in a life and death environment we have a right to demand of those who declare themselves friends of Israel to not only talk the talk but walk the walk. While they don’t owe us a damn thing we don’t have to buy into their ersatz pretensions of friendship either. Actually if I have any criticism it’s not with the likes of Harper, who seems like a nice guy and for a politician sincere in his vocal support for Israel and some overt actions in demonstrating it but make no mistake if it ever comes to real crunch time he will not be with us. Real politic as you are so proud to expound and identify with, will win the day.

    Here was a real friend of Israel and one who got it right both for Israel and America.

  2. yamit82 Said:

    because cowboys don’t eat veggies.

    Pinto Beans and cornbread,good idea for supper. As the results of the supper,you can add it along with “no flussing” to the long list of male sins.

  3. Yamit, by your demanding criteria a nation must meet to constitute a friend of Israel, no nation can meet your criteria. My definition is less stringent and I believe more realistic.

    As for your reference to Canada pledging $60 million to Palestinians, note that unlike most other, if not all other nations that heap largesse on Palestinians, Canada has offered such support for specific projects. I know money is fungible, but if Canada controls the purse strings like a general contractor which I think she does, at least the money pledged will go for the purposes intended.

    Yes, I am not only aware, but puzzled by Harper’s various statements of support for Israel that seem at odds with the official Canadian State department’s position of J & S and settlements. Critical however, is that irrespective of what Canada’s State Dept. says on the subject, it is Harper who is by his words and deeds setting Canadian policy vis a vis Israel.

    Harper by his support for a TSS however, has also made many statements that recognize the reality that the TSS is still a distant goal and he does not hesitate to put much if not most of the blame on the Palestinians and their intractable rejection of Israel’s existence.

    By Harper speaking as bluntly as he does to realities, sets him apart and head and shoulders above every other nation and that includes the U.S.

    Yamit, be thankful there is at least one national leader, being Canada’s Prime Minister Harper who speaks to realities and who has in past in a number of ways, successfully matched his sincere words of friendship and support for Israel and Jews, with his actions.

    Yes, I like a great many Jews and Israelis, am for very good reasons, high on my PM Harper. Sure we can all wish PM Harper could do even more to support Israel, but we are grateful that he does as much as he does which is in many respects far more than any other national leader.

    I just wish you would be more positive about my PM Harper, who I am proud of and who makes me feel proud to be a Canadian.

  4. yamit82 Said:

    Best I can come up with is sometimes friendly and when cooperative it’s not altruistic but out of self interest

    Why can’t the cowboy and farmer just be friends

  5. @ yamit82:

    “The expression, ‘nattering nabob[s] of negativism,’ is not obscure, and in some circles is used quite frequently”

    “What circles might they be?”

    Stateside circles, for one example, esp among those who recall the Nixon era.

    “In my brief life span I have never encountered anyone using that phrase in any circle I have encountered. Is it due to my restricted youth, restricted circles of personal contacts?”

    Probably the latter, I would suspect.

    Also the fact that, notwithstanding all the time you spend online, you’re lazy. The above link took just two (2) clicks of a mouse & 10 seconds to read (20, if you read slowly, like me).

    Perhaps you had already made aliyah when the Agnew speech was delivered (GOP Convention, late summer 1970). Milhemet haHatashah, the War of Attrition, would’ve still been underway; maybe your attention was diverted.

    In any case, the expression is not uncommon these days.

  6. @ Bill Narvey:

    You conflate the personal interrelationship definition of friend with that of the definition of friend in international relations. The two are similar on a surface level, but given international relations is about balancing interests, one judges a nation to be a friend where their supportive words and deeds for a described friend outweighs their negative words and deeds, either directed at the friend or the words and deeds they offer in support of the so called friend’s enemies.

    No Narvey my injection of the definitions of friend was meant to show that when attributing the word friend in the context of international relations between two nations and between politicians representing different nations one must define the term friend, because most people tend to relate to the word friend as per my posted definitions. The term friend when applied to nations is one whom help might be expected when you are in need which is little different than expectations on a personal level.

    I would never consider America or Canada a friend of Israel. Best I can come up with is sometimes friendly and when cooperative it’s not altruistic but out of self interest. When your Harper supports a 2 State solution that at worst would be suicide for Israel and supports terrorists with millions in cash payments who would use that money or in part, to kill Jews there is no way I could use the word Harper/Canada and friend in the same breath. He just appointed a New Ambassador who is on record of being against a 2 SS, yet his government is on record as supporting one. So what if he makes speeches Jews like to hear and sounds supportive. He also supports the Arabs who want to destroy us. That alone eliminates any possibility of calling him a friend.

    Best I can do is to call him friendlier than most other national leaders. And I believe the way some Jews are fawning over him is obnoxious, demeaning and promoting a false image and persona of a friendly national leader who supports our enemies and killers of Jews as well.

    A case a actions (deeds) speaking louder than words (speeches)

  7. yamit82 Said:

    nattering nabob[s] of negativism

    Yawl are wrong Darlin, that very phase started a bar fight between a cowboy and two roughtnecks in Pecos,Texas last year. Ending in gunfire that caused a whole row of good burbon to be demolished!!! Its not the thing to lightly said in West Texas. We take our nebobs seriously!Sugar [note the drawl,yawl]

  8. dweller Said:

    The expression, “nattering nabob[s] of negativism,” is not obscure, and in some circles is used quite frequently; doesn’t need attribution

    What circles might they be????

    In my brief life span I have never encountered anyone using that phrase in any circle I have encountered.

    Is it due to my restricted youth, restricted circles of personal contacts?

    or

    You are again full of shit.

  9. @ honeybee:

    “you are a party pooper aka a nattering nabob of negativism.”

    “Illituration is the lowest form of insult! Do you think you are composing sagas, or Beowulf?”

    “You’d have to take up that question with the late Bill Safire — who included the phrase in a speech he wrote for the (also late) then-VP, Spiro Agnew.”

    “You did not attribute that statement to Safire or place the statement in quotes.”

    Of course I didn’t. It wasn’t I who used it [above]. Check the posting record.

    “You lack of literary honesty is appalling!”

    Nobody‘s “literary honesty” is at issue here (not even Bill Narvey’s, and it was he who used it above). But your sense of perspective apparently IS.

    The expression, “nattering nabob[s] of negativism,” is not obscure, and in some circles is used quite frequently; doesn’t need attribution. Get a life, HB.

  10. dweller Said:

    You’d have to take up that question with the late Bill Safire

    You did not attribute that statement to Safire or place the statement in quotes. so I assumed it was your statement. You lack of literary honesty is appalling!!!!

  11. Yamit, the direct answer you request. You defined friend at the close of your comment and began with the statement: “You cannot be a true friend of Israel and the Jewish people when your friendship is always balanced with similar support for our enemies.”

    You conflate the personal interrelationship definition of friend with that of the definition of friend in international relations. The two are similar on a surface level, but given international relations is about balancing interests, one judges a nation to be a friend where their supportive words and deeds for a described friend outweighs their negative words and deeds, either directed at the friend or the words and deeds they offer in support of the so called friend’s enemies.

    I doubt that I am telling you something you do not know, which raises the question in my mind as to what purpose you have in mind to have me tell you something you already know.

    For instance consider David Aiken’s report Harper to reporters: Ask some different questions about the Middle East where Aikens reported inter alia on the following Harper statement to journalists, trying to get him to criticize Israel:

    “Yesterday in the Palestinian Authority, no one asked me there to single out the Palestinian Authority for any criticism in terms of governance or human rights or anything else,” Harper said, speaking about the press conference he’d held Monday in Ramallah side-by-side with P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas. “When I’m in Israel, I’m asked to single out Israel. When I’m in Palestinian Authority I’m asked to single out Israel and in half the other places around the world you ask me to single out Israel.”

    Only a true international friend of Israel would say this.

    As for my previous comments that you are a nattering nabob of negativism, consumed by, but blind to your own hubris for your own words and ideas, I stand by them.

    Incidentally, accusing me of dissing you is rich and disingenuous. You are the one who takes great delight and never tire in attacking me for just about anything I say.

    I wasn’t however, dissing you. Rather I was trying to open your eyes to see that you are blind to the fact that you are madly in love with only your own words and ideas and simply mad at anyone who disagrees or challenges you.

    If I was wrong in what I earlier said, it was only that I should have known, opening your eyes to the truth of your own nature that I set before you, is likely a more futile effort than I imagined.

  12. @ honeybee:

    “you are a party pooper aka a nattering nabob of negativism.”

    “Illituration is the lowest form of insult! Do you think you are composing sagas, or Beowulf?”

    You’d have to take up that question with the late Bill Safire

    — who included the phrase in a speech he wrote for the (also late) then-VP, Spiro Agnew.

  13. Feiglin: When I am PM, Tibi Will be in Jail
    MK Feiglin confronts MK Tibi over his outburst during the Canadian Prime Minister’s speech.

    Feiglin is much too liberal for me. Jailing Tibi? He should be hanged for his crimes against the Jewish people and the state of Israel…!!!!

    Jail? “rachamanut shel tipshim” – the mercy of fools.

  14. Bill Narvey Said:

    Yamit, you asked: “What exactly do you disagree with in what I said?” and then with the ego boost Honeybee gave you by dissing me, you said, “Words are cheap and I have never been impressed by words. Unfortunately most Jews and Israelis are.”
    Not impressed by words Yamit? No contributor on Israpundit is more impressed with words than you are impressed by your own.
    By devoting yourself day in and day out pontificating on Israpundit and putting anyone down anyone who disagrees with you in the slightest, you make the case that you are one disagreeable fellow who has no life outside of Israpundit.
    You of course would not see that as you have a huge blind spot for your own inadequacies.

    Cut the crap Narvey I asked you a simple question “What exactly do you disagree with in what I said”
    Whenever you have asked me a direct question I tried to answer it directly without the misdirection and personal attacks; but if I did add a personal attack I still answered your question without your well used technique of misdirection and obfuscation in-place of a direct reply to my question.

    Shall we try again?

  15. Yamit, you asked: “What exactly do you disagree with in what I said?” and then with the ego boost Honeybee gave you by dissing me, you said, “Words are cheap and I have never been impressed by words. Unfortunately most Jews and Israelis are.”

    Not impressed by words Yamit? No contributor on Israpundit is more impressed with words than you are impressed by your own.

    By devoting yourself day in and day out pontificating on Israpundit and putting anyone down anyone who disagrees with you in the slightest, you make the case that you are one disagreeable fellow who has no life outside of Israpundit.

    You of course would not see that as you have a huge blind spot for your own inadequacies.

  16. And it is meaningless as long as Canada remains steadfast in its opposition to control of the “settlement”areas.

  17. “And our commitment as Canadians to what is right, fair and just is a universal one.

    “It applies no less to the Palestinian people, than it does to the people of Israel.

    “Just as we unequivocally support Israel’s right of self-defence, so too Canada has long-supported a just and secure future for the Palestinian people.

    “And, I believe, we share with Israel a sincere hope that the Palestinian people and their leaders… will choose a viable, democratic, Palestinian state, committed to living peacefully alongside the Jewish state of Israel.

    What exactly is a just and secure future for the “Palestinian people” when the whole idea of Palestinian ethnicity is an antisemitic fraud?

    Harper is to be respected for his sentimental view of Israel, but in the world of the blind, the one eyed man is king. Does he really sincerely believe that Palestinian nationalism exists for any other purpose than the eradication of Jews from their historic homeland?

    It is about time that friends of Israel quit evoking the Holocaust as the locus of justice for a Jewish restoration of the state of Israel. The restoration of Israel would be as just if it had occurred a thousand years ago instead of simply at the end of WWI. The righteousness of Israel would be whole if it had never fallen at all and the Jews had never suffered persecution in another diaspora.

    Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor

  18. mrzee Said:

    I think he was quoting

    True that!!! He’s not clever enough to compose! Yawl ,are talking about Bill arn’t yawl, not Shy Guy or Yamit82?

  19. Bill Narvey Said:

    Yamit you are a party pooper aka a nattering nabob of negativism.

    Israelis been pooped on so much, they got the right to poop back.
    I do agree Harper is a pooper for the rich above all things but I do take a moment to admire the little kernel of gold in the poop.

    mar55 Said:

    @ yamit82:
    I do not care what he says. Let’s wait and see what he does.

    I think that was it. That’s all you get.

  20. drjb Said:

    Great speech. It was nice to see Tibi and the other Arab party MK leave the hall in disgust!
    I hope Harper had made an even stronger Jewish link to the land, but overall very happy with him.
    I hope Obama was listening!

    Love it!

    It was especially delightful to see the anti-Semitic CBC news choke on this as they desperately tried to spin it anti-Israel. They made sure to give significant air time to the Arab MK leaders.
    Y’all really got to deport those A-rabs rotters back to Iran.

  21. @ yamit82:
    Pretentious, maybe. But most of the rest of us write as if we imagine ourselves to be portentious.

    Soldier on, Yamit. You too, Narvey. Everyone’s opinion counts for something. That’s why haShem invented blogsites and commenters.

    (Isn’t classical Latin wonderful?)

    Arnold Harris
    Mount Horeb WI

  22. honeybee Said:

    Illituration is the lowest form of insult!!!!!!!! Do you think you are composing sagas, or Beowulf?????

    Narvey is pretentious.

    He is a believer in the power of written word.

    He is in the Guinness Book of records for the most letters written by a single individual.

    Problem is either nobody read them or they were incomprehensible to the readers.

  23. Bill Narvey Said:

    party pooper aka a nattering nabob of negativism.

    Illituration is the lowest form of insult!!!!!!!! Do you think you are composing sagas, or Beowulf?????

  24. You cannot be a true friend of Israel and the Jewish people when your friendship is always balanced with similar support for our enemies.

    Words are cheap and I have never been impressed by words. Unfortunately most Jews and Israelis are.

    I prefer, strange as it might sound to some, enemies that are clearly definable rather than friends who are not.

    I am not interested in friends because in reality we don’t need them even if they existed which I doubt.

    Definitions of the noun Friend:

    Proverbs 27:5-6
    Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.
    Proverbs 13:20
    He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
    Proverbs 27:17
    As iron sharpens iron…

    1. A person whom one knows, likes trusts with affection, and loyalty;.
    2. an associate who provides cooperation or assistance; “he’s a good ally in fight”
    3. A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade.
    4. One who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, or movement:

  25. Great speech. It was nice to see Tibi and the other Arab party MK leave the hall in disgust!
    I hope Harper had made an even stronger Jewish link to the land, but overall very happy with him.
    I hope Obama was listening!

  26. It would be my hope, but unfortunately not my expectation, that when Jewish cities, villages, farms, industrial parks, shopping malls, and historical and nature preserves fill up the ancient Jewish provinces, that a prime minister of Canada or a president of the United States, would come to Israel, stand in the Knesset, and delivery forth a speech telling Israel and the Jewish nation that they and we have done a worthy thing, in fulfilling the oldest and strongest commandments of haShem put in place forever.

    Arnold Harris
    Mount Horeb WI