A great speech from Robert Murdoch, CEO of News Corporation… A few extracts:
Over the years, some of my wildest critics seem to have assumed I am Jewish. At the same time, some of my closest friends wish I were…
MOST FUNDAMENTALLY, we see a growing assault on both the legitimacy and security of the State of Israel. This assault comes from people who make clear they have no intention of ever living side-by-side in peace with a Jewish state – no matter how many concessions Israel might make. The reason for this is also clear: These are men who cannot abide the idea of freedom, tolerance and democracy. They hate Israel for the same reasons they hate us.
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But I am curious: Why do we never hear calls for Hamas leaders to be charged with war crimes? Why, for example, do we hear no calls for human rights investigations into Hamas gunmen using Palestinian children as human shields? Why so few stories on the reports of Hamas assassins going to hospitals to hunt down their fellow Palestinians? And where are the international human rights groups demanding that Hamas stop blurring the most fundamental line in warfare: the distinction between civilian and combatant?
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IN THE WEST, we are used to thinking that Israel cannot survive without the help of Europe and the United States. Tonight I say to you: Maybe we should start wondering whether we in Europe and the United States can survive if we allow the terrorists to succeed in Israel. In this new century, the “West” is no longer a matter of geography. The West is defined by societies committed to freedom and democracy.
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In the end, the Israeli people are fighting the same enemy we are: cold-blooded killers who reject peace, who reject freedom and who rule by the suicide vest, the car bomb and the human shield.Against such an enemy, I will not second-guess the decisions of a free Israel defending her citizens. And I would ask all those who support peace and freedom to do the same.