Transcript of ZOA President Morton Klein addressing Knesset:
First of all, I want to say many things have been said about Mike Huckabee. I want to say that I’m honored to be his friend and I would argue that Mike Huckabee is the greatest friend of Israel of any of the major political figures of America and I’ll go further and say if Mike Huckabee was a member of the Knesset, he’d be the Knesset’s greatest friend in Israel.
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ZOA President Klein addressing Knesset about the importance of language in fighting Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS)
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I hear this nonsense about, “Well, I have nothing against Jews, it’s just the Jewish state that I have something against.” What I would like to say, could I ever possibly say, “I have nothing against the Italians, but I think that Italy should be destroyed.” Do you think, maybe, I have hostility toward Italians because I’m calling for Italy to be destroyed? Well, of course, I do. This is the type of rubbish that we need to endure.
I want to say a couple of quick things. First of all, words matter [inaudible 00:01:23] of delegitimization. We should be using the right words, the accurate words, that tell the truth as opposed to the words that the media and our enemies want us to use. We should not say “Arab/Israeli conflict”. There is none. The Jews would have peace with the Arabs in a minute simply [inaudible 00:01:41]. We should say the Arab war against Israel because that is what it is. And, please, stop using the word “peace process”, “negotiating process” maybe. We know this isn’t leading the peace. Don’t give it that legitimacy by using that term.
We shouldn’t say “We don’t have a partner.” That gives some legitimacy, that he’s just a partner and not a [inaudible 00:02:09]. We should say that Abbas is an enemy who doesn’t want peace. We’re dealing with an enemy, not someone who isn’t a partner. He’s a man who supported the kidnapping of Shalit. He named schools and streets and sports teams after Jew-killing terrorists. He doesn’t outlaw terrorist groups. He has parades glorifying terrorists. He’s a holocaust denier, a terrorist praiser. This is a horrible man. This is not some man in a suit who’s a decent moderate at all. We have to demonize this holocaust denying hater of Israel and Jews, Mahmoud Abbas.
And please, please for God’s sake, stop using the term “two-state solution”. Israel is already a state. By using that term, it’s as if east side is getting something. You want to say the “fraud Palestinian state solution”, at least you’re not acting as if Israel is not a state yet and we know, of course, a Palestinian state is not a solution because every time the Arabs have been offered a state requiring them to support Israel, they’ve said “No” forever. In 1937, the Peel Commission, they offered the Arabs a state on 95% the rest of Palestine, they said “No”. In 1981, they offered the Palestinians a state, essentially half or the rest of Palestine, they said “No” and invaded Israel. In 2000, Ehud Barak, and in 2008, Ehud Olmert offered them states on virtually all of the disputed territories and half of Jerusalem and they said “No”. Between ’48 to ’67, when the Arabs controlled Judea and Sumeria, they controlled Gaza and half of Jerusalem, did they establish a state? No, because their goal is not statehood. Let’s stop this myth saying that what they need is a state. That is not what they want. That’s not what their desire is. So, let’s stop using Palestinian state solution or two-state solution when, in fact, this is simply an Arab war to destroy Israel and nothing will work until they realize that it’s hopeless to try and destroy the state and that time hasn’t come yet.
Also, stop using the word “West Bank”. Menachem Begin came to America. He came to America. He begged the Jewish leaders to stop using the work “West Bank”. That was a term made up by the Arabs to de-Judeaize the area of Yehuda VeShomron and we should be using “Judea Sumeria. Never use the term “West Bank”. Never use the term “settlements”, for God’s sake. These are Jewish communities in Yehuda VeShomron. They are not settlements, which makes it look like there are a bunch of tents all on top of a hill somewhere. And let’s call it racism. When people are saying that the 350,000 Jews in Judea Sumeria should not be allowed to live there, why on earth can’t 350,000 Jews live among the million Arabs, when 1.5 million Arabs live among 6 million Jews in Israel. Anyone that says Jews can’t live there, it’s racism and anti-Semitism, and we should call it that.
And stop saying that Jerusalem is holy to Muslims. That is a propaganda lie. The word Jerusalem doesn’t appear in the Koran ever. It appears 700 times in our Jewish holy books. No Arab leader visited eastern Jerusalem when they controlled it from ’48 to ’67. They allowed it to remain a slum. It’s not in the [inaudible 00:05:18] Charter. Let’s stop acting as if they have some right to Jerusalem. They have no religious, historic, or political right to Jerusalem and stop acting like we have to make a deal about Jerusalem. I’m sick and tired of their lies about Jerusalem.
You know, when I gave a speech about this at a major synagogue in LA, the Rabbi became very angry and said “The Arabs will decide what’s holy for them, not you, Mort Klein.” And I said, “Well, suppose, tomorrow,” to this Rabbi, “they decide LA is holy to them. We have to give them half of LA?” If there’s no basis, if there’s no basis for their arguments, they have no right to make their arguments.
And, please, let’s stop helping BBS by using the word occupation. For God sakes, there is no occupation. Israel has given away almost half of Judea Sumeria. That’s where 99% of the Arabs live. They are running their own lives there, except for security. If they weren’t constantly developing terror cells to murder Jews, Israelis wouldn’t even half to be in Judea Sumeria and the areas that Israel has given away. And let’s make it clear to the world that only of all the Jewish communities in Judea Sumeria, they comprise only 3% of Judea Sumeria, 3%. The images, they are all over the place. I wish it were true, but it’s not true and we should make that clear. There hasn’t been a single new Jewish community built since Oslo began in 1993. Not a single one. There has been Jewish homes built within the boundaries of the legal, existing communities and Israel captured this land in a defensive war in 1967. Jordan, illegally, occupied this from ’48 to ’67. The UN never recognized it and King Hussein, himself, in 1988, probably relinquished all claims to Judea Sumeria. This is unallocated, international land. Of course, there is no occupation. The Jews have a greater legal, political, historic and religious claim to this than any Arab or Muslim ever did. And, by the way, polls, recent polls, show that Americans, not Jews, Americans support the right of Jews to live in Judea Sumeria by 3 to 1. So, we have the support of the American people on this issue.
What I’m saying are all facts. This is not editorializing. Let me just end by saying we should condemn, with all of our hearts and souls, this new alliance by Hamas and Fatah, which is an alliance with a Nazi group, whose Charter in Article 7 calls for the murder of every single Jew and what America, the European Union and the world has done is nothing short of diplomatic Kristallnacht. It is a diplomatic Kristallnacht. Not only have they not criticized it, they have embraced this alliance. They said they will negotiate with this alliance and they said they will fund this alliance. So, let’s use the right term for this. It is nothing less than diplomatic Kistallnacht. I’ve had Democrats calling me and Obama supporters screaming at me for using this term, but it’s the right term. It not Kristallnacht in that that Jews are being killed directly, but it’s a diplomatic Kristallnacht.
And let me, finally, end and say, and I will end, we should make it clear that this is called the Promised Land and we should ask everyone, “Who promised this land and to whom did he promise it?” God promised this land to the Jews and God does not break his promises.
Thank you very, very much.
yamit82 Said:
Are they not still useful ???????? Israel has so few friend ,why reject the ones they have ???
Dweller, to the extent you are addressing Klein’s problems as a speaker, it is impossible to disagree with you. Klein’s problem is distracting and the message gets lost. But his oratorical defects go well beyond his neurological issue. He is terribly long-winded. Even in this video he exceeded his time limit and then refused to yield the microphone. He promised that his overtime remarks would be limited to facts, not editorializing, but the substance of his comments was purely editorializing. It does not matter whether one agrees with his editorial positions–his dishonesty in characterizing his overtime comments damages the credibility of both Klein personally and the Zionist cause. Those of us who are familiar with Klein know he always speaks too long, is redundant and also hysterical. His opponent in the election was obviously a far more effective speaker, and Klein was afraid to debate him. Then again, that does not set the bar very high. It would be easy to find a better speaker than Klein and almost impossible to find one who would be worse. The majority of MKs in Israel openly snicker when Klein attempts to lecture them. That includes the ones on the right who agree with him but who are embarrassed to be associated with him. So the bottom line is that I agree with your opinion but for many reasons, his neurological disorder being just one of them.
@ Christian Zionist:
We tossed around the qualifications of the ZOA presidential candidates on this blogsite while the campaign was underway. I hadn’t intended to revisit the election or the campaign on THIS thread. I did mention the election, just briefly (above), and only to acknowledge that Mort Klein had, in fact, succeeded in winning another term of office — but to note that my remarks here were concerned ONLY with a particular weakness germane specifically to his vocal presence in a public venue.
One may argue all day & all night as to the ‘openness’ & ‘honesty’ of the campaign, as well as note any number of other subjective reflections on it. However, he WAS “duly” elected insofar as the rules in place at the time allowed him advantages of an incumbent unavailable to a challenger, and he pursued those advantages. If you can find explicit instances of his having flatly violated any then-existing campaign rules, there may be a time & place to discuss THAT — but not here, and not now, IMABHO.
— Here, it would constitute nothing but a distraction.
The same goes for Mort’s record as ZOA president — his triumphs, glories & accomplishments — his sins, shortcomings & blunders; we’ve been OVER that on other threads on this board, and we needn’t rehash it all here & now.
I’m concerned solely, at this time and on this particular thread, with the strictly practical, PR consideration of Morton Klein’s qualifications not as ZOA President generally, but more narrowly, as the in-person SPOKESMAN for the oldest, largest, and arguably most effective, genuinely pro-Israel, American Jewish organization.
And in that regard, I mention the precise matter here of Mort’s vocal neuropsychiatric condition because the 10-minute clip that accompanied the above speech transcript makes abundantly clear that in the context of Mort’s role as SPOKESMAN, that condition simply may not be ignored.
It is certainly apparent from watching & listening to the clip that the Israeli MK’s, while unfailingly courteous toward Mort, were not able to ignore it either. And in all fairness, one cannot blame them.
But if our friends cannot ignore it, what will our ENEMIES make of it, and do with it?
— to say nothing of those who are, as yet, neither friend nor foe, who will be encountering the organization for the first time when they hear the ZOA spokesman do what a spokesman does? — speak.
@ Christian Zionist:
From what I have read I tend to accept your criticisms which are not new. They go way back many years. American Jewish communal institutions were never representative or democratic. They do in fact reflect American Jewry or what’s left of it according to the recent Pew Survey.
Mike Huckabee: Respect and Suspect
This is why Mort Klein should be replaced not because of his speaking condition but for lack of good judgement.
From: JI Staff [mailto:info@jewishisrael.com]
Sent:
Tuesday, February 15, 2011 7:00 AM
To: Mike Huckabee
Subject: Request for response and clarification from Mr. Huckabee, from JewishIsrael.com
Dear Mr. Huckabee,
I’m writing to you on behalf of JewishIsrael.com, a website which monitors evangelical missionary campaigns which target Jews for conversion. Like many of my Israeli friends and colleagues, I was both impressed and touched by your actions and outspoken support of the Jewish right to the land of Israel, which you expressed so beautifully while you were visiting here last week. However, you were recently the keynote speaker at the ninth annual banquet of the Messianic Jewish Bible Institute (MJBI). MJBI’s stated vision and purpose is to “bring Jewish people into a personal relationship of faith with Yeshua the Messiah” and to equip “leaders who will establish Messianic Jewish congregations and ministries in Jewish communities worldwide.”
From my perspective as a Torah observant Jew and active and concerned member of the Jewish community, I can say with confidence that MJBI is a deceptive, aggressive and active Christian missionary organization which exists for the sole purpose of converting Jews. Under the circumstances, I was hoping you could offer some clarification to our Jewish readership in Israel and the Diaspora by taking some time to reply to the following questions:
•
Do you see any contradiction between your supporting Jewish territorial claims to
the land of Israel while simultaneously endorsing missionary efforts which erode the spiritual foundations of Judaism?
•
If you were US president and Israel initiated measures to adopt counter-missionary legislation, in order to safeguard the spiritual integrity of the Jewish people, would you respect those moves or would you make use of international freedoms of religion legislation to challenge and pressure the Jewish state?
We also wanted to bring to your attention that, while in Israel, you performed with the Waller family. While the Wallers are a devout and truly nice family, who voluntarily assist with grape harvesting in Israel, they have participated in an anti-Semitic film production and are supportive of messianic missionaries who actively proselytize and target Jews for conversion in Israel. Supporting Israel while simultaneously sanctioning missionary activity, directed at Jews, is seen as an irreconcilable and conflicting agenda by many in the Jewish community, who would otherwise enthusiastically endorse your political aspirations.
We look forward to your clarification and reply.
Respectfully but with concern,
Ellen Horowitz
Content and Research Director
JewishIsrael.com
Jewish Israel received no reply!!!!!!!
@ Joseph Rapaport:
You disagree with the conclusion, but you seem to have ignored the remarks leading up to it. (I’m almost inclined to wonder if you read it before proceeding with your ‘reply.’)
The briefest review of my post will show that I acknowledged his passion early in my comments.
Again, I noted that. (What part of “to which he was duly re-elected” did you not understand?)
So it is — as I noted in my very first few words. Unfortunately, however, that message is seriously COMPROMISED by his problematic delivery.
Those of us who are accustomed to it may be able to set aside our inclination to judge him and ZOA — as well as Israel & the Zionist movement — as one might be tempted to judge a similarly afflicted, skid-row derelict.
But the world is not so understanding — let alone, kind. I made earlier an altogether rational observation, and I stand by it — I believe it will bear repeating:
“Mort’s condition is not one which serves an individual well who must represent to the public — in person or on-air — an organization like ZOA & its membership.”
I agree with Mr. Klein’s comments about Gov. Huckabee.
In response to the above comment by Dweller I heartily
disagree with his conclusion. Mort Klein is the embodiment
of ZOA the oldest American Jewish advocacy organization.
He is afflicted with Tourette Syndrome however he is still
far and away the most passionate spokesman for the organization. There recently was an attempt from within ZOA
to unseat Mort and it was defeated resoundingly. His message
is LOUD and Clear and is a refreshing breath of truth and a
beacon of light among many anti-Israel and anti-Semitic voices coming from the the US and Europe not to mention the
Arab world.
His ideas are sound, and well organized. His passion is contagious and heartening.
But his delivery — if you listen to the clip — is, at best . . . mixed.
Mort Klein is the long-time victim of a neurological condition, which prompts in him a vocal & respiratory “tic” that can be very distracting, and even disconcerting, to a listener. It made itself known many times during the course of Mort’s remarks, as it does whenever he speaks to a group or on-camera or on-mic.
I made no mention of it during the recent ZOA election — however:
Now that the Knesset Address clip is out there on this blogsite for all readers to witness — and it is evident that the knesset members could not help but notice the problem as well — there is simply no value in remaining any longer silent about it. There is more at stake here than the possibility of a few (or even a lot of) persons’ hurt feelings.
Mort’s condition is not one which serves an individual well who must represent to the public — in person or on-air — an organization like ZOA & its membership.
I suggest, with all due respect, that Mort continue to maintain the organizational & fund-raising leadership of ZOA — to which he was duly re-elected — and that he keep on writing his superb articles as President of the organization
— but that he assign the presentation of press conferences & briefings — as well as public debates, Congressional testimony, and the delivery of speeches, etc — to other qualified & talented individuals who share his ideas generally but who, by God’s grace, have been spared his affliction.