President Bush made this point at the White House last week, when he said, “…the Middle East needs leaders of vision and courage and a determination to serve the interests of their people.”
These leaders must not only renounce terrorism, but eradicate it. They must acknowledge Israel’s right to exist, secure in its borders, for all time. And they must work to ensure their neighbors in the Arab community do the same.
Nations around the world and around the Middle East who have helped achieve these goals should be commended.
The work they are doing requires courage, and this is a time for courageous men. If we do not do this difficult work, the status quo will remain. Innocent people will die, and The Lie will live on.
But if we do… If we do, the citizens of Israel will have what they’ve never had before. And so will the Palestinian people.
If they rise up from terror and embrace the universal hopes of freedom and democracy, the United States and the rest of the world will be there to help them.
We will help them develop the infrastructure necessary to accommodate a free society. We will help them establish the civic institutions necessary to foster a vibrant democracy: Roads, hospitals, bridges, schools, accountable government, the rule of law, economic opportunity.
These are things their terrorist leaders have long promised, but never delivered.
On the other hand, the United States has, for a century, helped newly liberated peoples grow into great and prosperous democracies.
We did it in Western Europe and Japan after World War II, and Eastern Europe after the Cold War.
We are doing it now in Afghanistan and Iraq.
And I want to assure the Palestinian people: there is nothing we would like more than to do it again. If you provide the hope, we will provide the help.
But if the Palestinian people continue to allow violent men – the murderous minions of The Lie – to speak for them, they will remain terrorized under the boot-heel of evil.
So I say again, to all Israelis and Palestinians who seek peace: Be not afraid.
Your liberation from The Lie is at hand. More blood may be spilled and more tears shed, but a future of freedom is certain.
One day, Israel – with the United States by her side – will live in freedom, security, and peace. And terrorism will perish from the earth.
But until that day dawns, free men the world over – whether of the cross, the crescent, or the star of David – will stand with Israel in defiance of evil.
Free men will never succumb to the ease or expedience of the Lie because we will never forget that when fighting evil, determination is destiny.
May the G-d of Abraham continue to bless the United States, Israel, and each and every one of you.”
And in His name: Al tirah [Be not afraid]!
