A Jewish Response to President Obama by Moshe Feiglin (9:47)
Lag Ba'omer 5771 / May 22, '11
This film is in Hebrew with English subtitles.
English transcript of film below
This film is in Hebrew with English subtitles.
English transcript of film below
A Jewish Answer to President Obama
President Obama,
In your speech to the people of the Middle East, you referred time and again to the principle of liberty. It is on this principle that you aim to base US policy in our region; a region that you rightly defined as the cradle of human culture.
Your words reflected your understanding that it is not only humanity's past that is bound up with this area, but its future, as well. The instability in the Middle East generates great danger for humanity, perhaps the greatest danger since World War II. The fate of humanity is inextricably linked to the expanse upon which Abraham, our forefather, started out on his trek to human liberty. As such, America's attempt to stabilize our region on the foundation of these values is commendable.
Yes, the Nation of Israel and the American nation share very deep values. But as you mentioned, these shared values must not prevent us from telling the truth. And the truth, as every Christian and Moslem well knows, is that the entire Land of Israel belongs exclusively to the Nation of Israel. The Creator promised it time and again to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – to them and their descendants.
The simple truth is that there is not a "Palestinian nation" and there never has been. Under every stone that you turn over in the Promised Land, you will find remnants of the history of the Nation chosen by the Creator to proclaim His message of liberty. In no place in the Holy Land will you find "Palestinian" history, simply because it does not and never did exist.
If liberty is truly what you want for the nations in our region, you must understand that genuine liberty cannot be founded on falsehood. There is truth, with which most Americans identify and which they sense; and there is falsehood, which they abhor. There is good to which the unique American nation wishes to cling, and there is evil, which it wishes to eliminate.
The American nation did not hesitate to dance in the streets when the evil Bin Laden was eliminated. Values like peace and liberty cannot thrive on a foundation of falsehood and surrender to evil. He who desires these values must be capable of clinging to the truth, and if necessary, of fighting evil.
You demand of the Nation of the Bible, of the nation chosen by G-d from amongst all the nations, the nation to which G-d gave the Land of Israel from which to proclaim liberty to the entire world – to retreat from the heartland of the Promised Land. You demand that we leave the proclamation that is supposed to emerge from Zion in the hands of those who invented the suicide bomber! In the hands of those who went out to celebrate in the streets when Bin Laden destroyed the Twin Towers! In the hands of a culture that sanctifies death!
Do you honestly believe that this is what will bring peace to the world?
Please note, Mr. Obama, that before we, the Israelis, succumbed to American pressure and recognized the Arab demands on the Land of Israel in the Oslo Accords, the world had never heard of a suicide bomber. From the moment that this culture of death got a foothold in Jerusalem – the genie was out of the bottle. There, on the White House lawn, the fate of the Twin Towers was sealed.
How then, should the free world relate to the situation in the Middle East?
The attempt to suture democracy to Islamic Arab culture has led to a horrifying trail of blood and has accelerated the economic downturn in your country. Wouldn't it be wise to learn this lesson before another attempt to duplicate it with the rest of the Arab nations? Why do you think that what was a resounding failure in Iraq will succeed with the other Arab nations, whose Islamic culture is diametrically opposed to the values of liberty?
We must make an honest attempt to understand the significance of the events and changes in the Middle East, to admit the truth to ourselves and to act in accordance with reality - and not with wishful thinking.
Yes, the popular uprisings in the Arab countries have engendered amazement and global sympathy. But historical precedent and the reality on the ground show that this process will likely result in an outcome completely opposite to what you are trying to effectuate. The revolution that brought Khomeini to power in Iran also began with freedom-seeking young people, and we all saw how that culminated. Today, as well, we can clearly sense where the current revolution in Egypt is leading. It is steering Egypt to more religious extremism, to the undermining of the peace accords, to mass demonstrations of hatred outside the Israeli embassy, to the empowerment of the Moslem Brotherhood and Islamic fundamentalism – that all have nothing to do with the values of liberty.
All the revolutions taking place now in Arab states are missing the main actor – the alternative. There is no Khomeini waiting in Paris to take the reins of government, as there was thirty years ago in Iran. All the current revolutions aim to overthrow the existing regime, but offer no alternative regime. If elections do take place there, it is completely clear that they will be a one time affair, because the winners will be the most extreme Moslem factors.
It is very likely, Mr. Obama, that we are not witnessing an Arab spring. It is more reasonable to assume that we are witnessing the disintegration of the Arab nation-states. The modern structure of nation-state that was forced upon the nations of the region by the powers that won World War I never really fit with Islamic culture. It could very well be that our region is simply returning to its natural structure; a tribal Moslem expanse – Dar al Islam as they define it, instead of the national political expanse that the Western nations attempted to create for it.
The vacuum that is being created is an irresistible enticement for rulers like Ahmadinijad. The modern-day Hitler is already planning the new Islamic caliphate that will stretch under his control from the Euphrates to the Nile, including the Land that G-d promised to Abraham.
Mr. Obama, there is no chance that with your approach, the United States will be able to stop this process. With the course that you are leading, the free world will rapidly find itself facing an Iranian Middle East. From this horror scenario, it is just a short distance to a terrible war that will encompass the entire world. You may want peace, but I regret to tell you that just like Chamberlain, you are also pushing the world down a slippery slope to the most horrifying of wars.
Only a significant force that will extend its influence over the area, motivated by a set of values opposite to those that Iran is attempting to dictate; only an entity that is here to stay and not to flee after another failed attempt at Arab democracy – can save the free world from this nightmare.
There is a force like that in the Middle East. There is a nation in the region that is here for eternity; a nation that miraculously returned to its Land after 2000 years of exile; precisely as our G-d promised in His Torah - and our prophets - throughout the Bible.
Israel's tremendous contribution to humanity; its contribution of values, technology and security – is immeasurable. Israel is the strongest power in the Middle East – economically, militarily and most importantly – ethically, Israel is the most just and strong.
So, Mr. Obama, before you pressure Israel to relinquish the Promised Land to the Arabs, it is important for you to look at the wondrous Jewish history and to understand that if the US wants to succeed, it must stand at Israel's side. The flip side of that is that every action that opposes the Creator's promise to His Nation – will bring about catastrophe.
"And I will bless those who bless you," said the Creator to Abraham. This is the secret of America's success to date. "And those who curse you I will curse," G-d adds and warns.
The Creator's promise to His Nation will be completely fulfilled – and we will yet see the Holy Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem – there is no doubt about that.
All that is left is for me to bless your nation: May you be wise enough not to pressure Israel. May you free our brother, Jonathan Pollard, who has been imprisoned in your country for half a Jubilee. And in the future, may you stand on the blessed side of G-d's promise to Abraham.
In your speech to the people of the Middle East, you referred time and again to the principle of liberty. It is on this principle that you aim to base US policy in our region; a region that you rightly defined as the cradle of human culture.
Your words reflected your understanding that it is not only humanity's past that is bound up with this area, but its future, as well. The instability in the Middle East generates great danger for humanity, perhaps the greatest danger since World War II. The fate of humanity is inextricably linked to the expanse upon which Abraham, our forefather, started out on his trek to human liberty. As such, America's attempt to stabilize our region on the foundation of these values is commendable.
Yes, the Nation of Israel and the American nation share very deep values. But as you mentioned, these shared values must not prevent us from telling the truth. And the truth, as every Christian and Moslem well knows, is that the entire Land of Israel belongs exclusively to the Nation of Israel. The Creator promised it time and again to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – to them and their descendants.
The simple truth is that there is not a "Palestinian nation" and there never has been. Under every stone that you turn over in the Promised Land, you will find remnants of the history of the Nation chosen by the Creator to proclaim His message of liberty. In no place in the Holy Land will you find "Palestinian" history, simply because it does not and never did exist.
If liberty is truly what you want for the nations in our region, you must understand that genuine liberty cannot be founded on falsehood. There is truth, with which most Americans identify and which they sense; and there is falsehood, which they abhor. There is good to which the unique American nation wishes to cling, and there is evil, which it wishes to eliminate.
The American nation did not hesitate to dance in the streets when the evil Bin Laden was eliminated. Values like peace and liberty cannot thrive on a foundation of falsehood and surrender to evil. He who desires these values must be capable of clinging to the truth, and if necessary, of fighting evil.
You demand of the Nation of the Bible, of the nation chosen by G-d from amongst all the nations, the nation to which G-d gave the Land of Israel from which to proclaim liberty to the entire world – to retreat from the heartland of the Promised Land. You demand that we leave the proclamation that is supposed to emerge from Zion in the hands of those who invented the suicide bomber! In the hands of those who went out to celebrate in the streets when Bin Laden destroyed the Twin Towers! In the hands of a culture that sanctifies death!
Do you honestly believe that this is what will bring peace to the world?
Please note, Mr. Obama, that before we, the Israelis, succumbed to American pressure and recognized the Arab demands on the Land of Israel in the Oslo Accords, the world had never heard of a suicide bomber. From the moment that this culture of death got a foothold in Jerusalem – the genie was out of the bottle. There, on the White House lawn, the fate of the Twin Towers was sealed.
How then, should the free world relate to the situation in the Middle East?
The attempt to suture democracy to Islamic Arab culture has led to a horrifying trail of blood and has accelerated the economic downturn in your country. Wouldn't it be wise to learn this lesson before another attempt to duplicate it with the rest of the Arab nations? Why do you think that what was a resounding failure in Iraq will succeed with the other Arab nations, whose Islamic culture is diametrically opposed to the values of liberty?
We must make an honest attempt to understand the significance of the events and changes in the Middle East, to admit the truth to ourselves and to act in accordance with reality - and not with wishful thinking.
Yes, the popular uprisings in the Arab countries have engendered amazement and global sympathy. But historical precedent and the reality on the ground show that this process will likely result in an outcome completely opposite to what you are trying to effectuate. The revolution that brought Khomeini to power in Iran also began with freedom-seeking young people, and we all saw how that culminated. Today, as well, we can clearly sense where the current revolution in Egypt is leading. It is steering Egypt to more religious extremism, to the undermining of the peace accords, to mass demonstrations of hatred outside the Israeli embassy, to the empowerment of the Moslem Brotherhood and Islamic fundamentalism – that all have nothing to do with the values of liberty.
All the revolutions taking place now in Arab states are missing the main actor – the alternative. There is no Khomeini waiting in Paris to take the reins of government, as there was thirty years ago in Iran. All the current revolutions aim to overthrow the existing regime, but offer no alternative regime. If elections do take place there, it is completely clear that they will be a one time affair, because the winners will be the most extreme Moslem factors.
It is very likely, Mr. Obama, that we are not witnessing an Arab spring. It is more reasonable to assume that we are witnessing the disintegration of the Arab nation-states. The modern structure of nation-state that was forced upon the nations of the region by the powers that won World War I never really fit with Islamic culture. It could very well be that our region is simply returning to its natural structure; a tribal Moslem expanse – Dar al Islam as they define it, instead of the national political expanse that the Western nations attempted to create for it.
The vacuum that is being created is an irresistible enticement for rulers like Ahmadinijad. The modern-day Hitler is already planning the new Islamic caliphate that will stretch under his control from the Euphrates to the Nile, including the Land that G-d promised to Abraham.
Mr. Obama, there is no chance that with your approach, the United States will be able to stop this process. With the course that you are leading, the free world will rapidly find itself facing an Iranian Middle East. From this horror scenario, it is just a short distance to a terrible war that will encompass the entire world. You may want peace, but I regret to tell you that just like Chamberlain, you are also pushing the world down a slippery slope to the most horrifying of wars.
Only a significant force that will extend its influence over the area, motivated by a set of values opposite to those that Iran is attempting to dictate; only an entity that is here to stay and not to flee after another failed attempt at Arab democracy – can save the free world from this nightmare.
There is a force like that in the Middle East. There is a nation in the region that is here for eternity; a nation that miraculously returned to its Land after 2000 years of exile; precisely as our G-d promised in His Torah - and our prophets - throughout the Bible.
Israel's tremendous contribution to humanity; its contribution of values, technology and security – is immeasurable. Israel is the strongest power in the Middle East – economically, militarily and most importantly – ethically, Israel is the most just and strong.
So, Mr. Obama, before you pressure Israel to relinquish the Promised Land to the Arabs, it is important for you to look at the wondrous Jewish history and to understand that if the US wants to succeed, it must stand at Israel's side. The flip side of that is that every action that opposes the Creator's promise to His Nation – will bring about catastrophe.
"And I will bless those who bless you," said the Creator to Abraham. This is the secret of America's success to date. "And those who curse you I will curse," G-d adds and warns.
The Creator's promise to His Nation will be completely fulfilled – and we will yet see the Holy Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem – there is no doubt about that.
All that is left is for me to bless your nation: May you be wise enough not to pressure Israel. May you free our brother, Jonathan Pollard, who has been imprisoned in your country for half a Jubilee. And in the future, may you stand on the blessed side of G-d's promise to Abraham.
