Schumer: "to our shame"

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) Speech @ AIPAC 2010

………..Now, ladies and gentlemen, you're at a -- you're at a crucial time here in Israel's history, and, you know, we say that every year, but every year it's true. Such is the nature of Israel's constant struggle for survival. It shouldn't have to be after all these years, but it is. In just the past two weeks Israel has seen an alarming violence arise over tensions in East Jerusalem, rockets from Gaza continuing to shower Sderot, another declaration of Iran's aggressive nuclear ambitions, internal political disagreements, criticism from the international community. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is just two weeks in the life of Israel, the only nation in the world whose every action, every statement, every policy is magnified, is sliced, is diced, and held to a rarified standard of perfection.

Israel, we all know, is not perfect, but as any elected official will tell you, in this modern world when you strive to do the right thing, you open yourself up to much more criticism than if you don't even consider doing the right thing in the first place. Too many, far too many in the media would rather criticize Israel for the five percent that it does wrong than turn its focus to the failings of the Palestinian community and governments because expectations there are so low. (Applause) It's unfair. It's wrong, but as we know, that's the world Israel lives in and we live in. We have to live with it.

Sure, like every other country, Israel has its imperfections, but we all too often take for granted the fact that Israel is in so many ways a remarkable and resilient country, a realization of the vision of Isaiah, a light unto the nations. It is the light of democracy that has maintained its core principles in the face of 62 years of war, conflict, and daily, daily aggression from its neighbors. Like America, freedom of speech, assembly, and press are embedded in the very fabric of Israel's society, and these are just a few of the values that hold our two countries so close.

………Let me tell you a brief story. It's another one involving the prime minister. Last September Prime Minister Netanyahu came to Capitol Hill and met with the joint leadership, democrat and republican senate and house to talk about Iran. He described the existential threat posed by a nuclear Iran to Israel. He told us that the Iranian government provides the training, the weapons, the funds that sustain Hezbollah and Hamas. He showed us they wanted nothing less than to dominate the Middle East. He told us that Israel had a mortal fear of a nuclear-armed Iran and that everything, everything must be done to prevent that from happening.

A lot of people around the table understood the prime minister's concerns but questioned his sense of urgency. "Well, what's the rush," they said. "Let's be careful here. Iran, they're just saber rattling. Don't worry. Nothing bad will happen. Let's just continue these diplomatic talks." As this chorus grew louder, I watched the look on the prime minister's face as he grew more and more uneasy. His face tightened, and so I spoke up. I said to my colleagues -- of course the vast majority of whom were not Jewish -- why those of us who want to avoid a nuclear Iran are so passionate about acting now.

I told them that there were many Jews in America in the '30s, many of whom were in positions of influence, some of whom were in Congress. Hitler was a rising danger. His hatred of the Jewish people was well known. He had even detailed in print his plan to annihilate the Jewish people, but too many people in the American establishment said, "Be careful. Hitler is just saber rattling. Mein Kampf, just rhetoric. Don't worry. Nothing bad will happen." Unfortunately, to our shame, the American-Jewish community largely sat back in the '30s. The establishment's argument, "Don't worry. Nothing bad will happen," won out. Even Saul Bloom, a leading Jewish congressman, a senior member of the House foreign affairs committee helped tamp down the fears, and of course we paid the worse price any people can pay. Six million of our brethren, one million of our children murdered in cold blood, and ever since then the Jewish people have vowed never, never again. (Applause)

The current president of Iran, his analogies, the analogies to the '30s are stunning. He too denies the very existence of the Holocaust. He denies the murder of six million of our brethren. He wants nothing more than to see the homeland of the Jewish people, eretz yisrael wiped off the planet. This is not just isolated crazy talk from some two-bit terrorist or anti-Semitic extremist. This is venomous hate speech from a head of state who seeks to transform Iran into the dominant military force in the whole Middle East. When there are fears and plausible scenarios that the Jewish people could be in mortal danger, we must never repeat the complacency of the '30s. (Applause) We must never, never again.


……….Can we really call this saber rattling we're on the -- when they're on the edge of developing the most awesome and deadly weapons mankind has ever known? Diplomatic efforts have failed. We are too close to simply continue those efforts. (Applause) I believe that when it comes to Iran, we should never take the military option off the table, but I have long argued (Applause) that economic sanctions can right now be the best way to choke Iran's nuclear ambitions.


………..The Iranian people crave economic advancement more than anything else. They are not a poor country, but a middle-class country. Average income in Iraq, $2600; average income in Iran, $8,000. If the Iranian people are prevented from seeing economic progress, they're far more likely to take to the streets in an attempt to throw off the yoke of this oppressive brutal governing regime.

Now, some sanctions should be imposed multilaterally. We have a better chance to do that. President Sarkozy who, as you know, is part Jewish, Chancellor Merkel are much more focused on the Iranian threat than their predecessors Chirac and Schroeder, who did nothing. But Russia and China, both UN Security Council members with veto power, constantly drag their feet. China, one of the biggest investors in Iran's energy section -- sector, $80 billion, has a particularly strong interest in delaying sanctions. That is why once and for all the U.S. must hit Iran first on our own with unilateral sanctions no matter what the other nations of the world do -- (applause) -- and we cannot wait. We must push those sanctions now. There is no time to wait. (Applause) Iran is on the verge of becoming nuclear and we cannot and must not afford that. (Applause)

…….Now, I know that Iran is Israel's number one focus, but of course there are many other issues before us. Like you, I am deeply concerned about the security of eretz yisrael. Let me be clear. A majority of Israelis want peace and a two-state solution. Prime Minister Netanyahu wants peace and a two-state solution. AIPAC wants peace and a two-state solution. I want peace and a two-state solution.

Now, there are a lot of people of good will in Europe and here in the United States that have the attitude, "Oh, gee whiz, if only we could get the Israelis and Palestinians to the table. If only we could get them to sit down and discuss the matters rationally and calmly, of course there'd be peace." That, unfortunately, is wishful thinking. That, unfortunately, is not the case. The gee whiz people ignore sad but singular truth that we must constantly remind our friends to this day too many Arabs and too many Palestinians do not believe there should be a Jewish state in the Middle East. Let me repeat that. Too many Arabs and too many Palestinians do not believe there should be any Jewish state in the Middle East.

Their view goes as follows. They say western Europeans treated the Jews badly for centuries. All Europeans treated the Jews badly for centuries. Anti-Semitism was a very real problem they might say culminating in the horror of the Holocaust, but it was Europe's problem, not ours. And yet as recompense the Palestinians, many of the Arabs say, the western Europeans gave the Jews our land. Of course, this view ignores the Jewish people's long and continuing ties to the land of Israel, but that's their view and we have to remember it. They deny Israel's legitimacy, but they know that as long as the bond between the U.S. and Israel is unbreakable, there will always be a strong secure Jewish state in the Middle East. And so they work diligently and very, very cleverly at weakening that bond. They seek to drive a wedge between the U.S. and Israel because doing so will delay the day when they have to sit down and talk seriously about peace.

It is very important that we make clear -- we as a nation make clear to Israel and indeed the entire world that despite our differences, such as those displayed all too publicly last week, that nothing will ever divide Israel and America. (Applause) The bond, the bond between the U.S. and Israel will be maintained regardless of the ups and downs of the peace process, regardless of the internal Israeli politics. The bond we must remind particularly the Arab world between the U.S. and Israel is immutable and unbreakable through good times and the bad……….