Memorable Quotes
Compiled by Stanley Fischman

William J. Bennett:
"September 11th was a moment of moral clarity. We saw the face, we felt the hand of evil. We were not responsible for the attack. We did not ask for it and we did not seek a war, but the war came."

"Moral clarity means nothing less than seeing things for what they truly are. It requires the understanding of distinctions, such as the distinction between a democracy and a dictatorship.

There is a difference, a real and substantial difference, between a democracy fighting for survival and its opponents fighting to push that democracy into the sea. And there's a distinction as well between civilization and barbarism, between decency and terror. And when we see things for what they really are, it means the time for moral equivocation and moral equivalence should be over."

"Let us not forget what we owe Israel, who alone, and to the scorn of the world, girded herself and took out Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981. This made the world a less dangerous place. It also helped us to liberate Kuwait a decade later.

Israel stands as the singular model of democracy in the Middle East. It has shown the way, and it has done so through untold acts of courage by Israeli's, acts of courage like going to the grocery store, boarding a bus, attending synagogue.

Natan Sharansky:
"Dear friends, let me tell you what life is like not after an isolated terror attack but under prolonged assault of terror. Terror today in Israel means that when the couples say goodbye to each other in the morning they tell each other, 'Know that I love you, just in case I don't come home in the evening.'

Terror today means that when you go to celebrate a bar mitzvah or the Passover Seder, you go with the knowledge that it can turn into a massacre. Terror today means that children cannot grow up normally. They are not allowed to play basketball or soccer outdoors. Terror means that housewives are afraid to shop, that places of entertainment are empty, that smiles and laughter are a rare commodity, and that fear is the constant companion."

"Dear friends, let me tell you the true story about Jenin. When our army came to Jenin, it was the real autonomy of terror. Dozens of terrorists went from there in the last month to kill hundreds and thousands of civilians. And when we came to the camp, where for 10 years no soldier dared to enter, we found out that every house is a fortress and that every door and every car and even dead bodies are booby-trapped and the snipers are shooting from every window.

And then we had the choice to use the artillery, the tanks, the airplanes, or to go from house to house, risking the lives of our soldiers but not risking the lives of civilians. And we decided to go from house to house, and 23 of our soldiers, 23 of our young soldiers who just started to live, and veterans who came from (resolve?) leaving their families, they fell in order to destroy tons and tons of ammunition, to arrest dozens of terrorist, but also to save the lives of hundreds and hundreds of Palestinians.

That is the difference between those who launch the terror and those who fight the terror. That is the difference. That is why we cannot accept moral equivalence between those who see the human lives, human bodies, as shield for the terrorists, and those for whom human rights are the highest value."

Rudy Giuliani:
"Israel is vitally important to America and to all Americans and to all who agree, and like us, are dedicated to political freedom, economic freedom, religious freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights and human life.

Those five principles define us as Americans. Together they constitute our beliefs, our philosophy and our principles. And those five principles bind us inextricably with the state of Israel.

Israel is an oasis of freedom in a desert of authoritarianism and worse. It is an outpost of democracy where democracy is unique. And in all ways, it's America's good friend.

When American lives were at risk in the Gulf War, it was Israel that stood with America - while others turned their backs. When America was attacked on September 11th in New York, here in Washington, and in Pennsylvania, attacked for our beliefs, the beliefs we share with Israel, Israel stood with us shoulder to shoulder while some others refused to condemn or even tried to shift the blame and celebrate. We remember that."

Congressman Dick Armey:
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm from Texas. And in Texas, we've got a reputation for straight talk. We don't believe in ambiguity and we believe in clarity. So let me make this as clear as possible. A deliberate attack on innocent civilians is terrorism. It is terrorism when it happens in New York City. It is terrorism when it happens at the Pentagon across the river. It is terrorism when it happens in the skies over Pennsylvania. And it is terrorism when it happens in the heart of Jerusalem."

"And let me be clear about one more thing. Israel is a democracy. In fact, it is the only democracy in the Middle East today. Israel is a good friend to the United States, one of the best friends we will ever have."

Benjamin Netanyahu:
"But I've also come here today, my dear friends, to give thanks, to thank all of you for standing up for the Jewish state when so many outside America stood silent - to thank the American people and their government for remembering the difference between freedom and tyranny, between right and wrong, between good and evil, to thank President Bush for boldly declaring that terrorism, the deliberate attack on civilians, is never justified; it's always evil - and for bravely charting a course that will lead the free world to victory."

"And indeed, Yasser Arafat is the quintessential terrorist. Both his means and his goals are illegitimate. Arafat pursues a goal of policide, the destruction of a state, by employing the means of suicide, suicide and mass terror. Arafat does not want a Palestinian state next to Israel. He wants a Palestinian state instead of Israel.

But my friends, any time that Israel was confronted with an Arab leader who was genuinely interested in peace and delivered a message of peace to his own people in Arabic, every time we were confronted with such a leader, we made peace.

Menachem Begin made peace with Egypt's Anwar Sadat, and Yitzhak Rabin made peace with Jordan's King Hussein. But five Israeli prime ministers have been unable to make peace with Arafat. Do you know why? For a simple reason: Because Arafat does not want peace."

"Now, contrast that to Yasser Arafat. Do you know that he does? He glorifies these mass killers. He calls public squares after them. He names buildings, streets in their honor. He has suicide kindergarten camps. He has suicide universities. He has suicide museums. For G-d's sake, this is the man who pays the checks. He signs the checks for the explosives of the suicides. He is a terrorist, if there ever was one."

"I think that the face of Palestinian terror has finally been unmasked. The people of this great nation are not fooled by Yasser Arafat and the con artists he employs on American television. Americans know that Yasser Arafat is nothing more than Osama bin Laden with good PR. Americans know that if it looks like a duck, it walks like a duck, it talks like a duck, it's a terrorist."

"To the anti-Semites of the world, we send a message of defiance. The Jewish people are not afraid. We will roll back the savage assaults, those assaults that you direct against us. We will courageously stand up to you and to all other enemies. And to the terrorists and terror regimes that support them, we send a warning: The free world, led by President Bush, has awoken to your evil. Terror will be given no quarter, no peace, until it is wiped out from our world."

Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA):
"This gathering is a strong affirmation of Israel's right to self defense. The terrorist - the terrorist bombers who struck the United States on September 11th were just a little more sophisticated, hijacking planes and crashing into the trade center and heading for the White House and heading for this Capitol. And just as the United States pursued Taliban and al Qaeda and defeated them in Afghanistan, so too Israel has a right of self-defense.

It had been my hope that the Saudi peace plan would have amounted to something, but now we see Saudi Arabia having a telethon to raise $92 million for the Palestinians. When is Saudi Arabia going to have a telethon for the thousands of Americans who were killed by 19 terrorists, 15 of whom were Saudis?"

Rabbi Michael Melchior (Deputy Minister, Foreign Affairs, Israel):
"This is a coalition in which there is no neutrality. As President Bush has taught us, there are only the defenders of freedom, those who are helping, either actively or passively, to undermine it. This is a vital cause and a holy one. The Torah portion of (phrase in Hebrew) describes the Biblical laws of Kidoshim, holiness. The climax of these laws, the peak of holiness is remarkable. It is the simple commandment - V'ahavta L'reachah Kamocha - 'Love your neighbor because he is as yourself.' This is Jew holiness. We will never accept those who pervert this holiness, who subscribe to a doctrine of 'Kill you neighbor with yourself.' Let us never forget, it is always the victim, never the murderers, never the 'shaheeds' who are the holy ones. This fight seems overwhelming. A raging sea of violence ready to engulf us, and many of us have moments of despair. But our people from its earliest days have found ways of crossing such seas. I pray and truly believe that if we keep sight of the values for which we are fighting, we will cross this sea as well and reach the land of which we have so long dreamed, the land of peace."

Mr. Mark Sokolow (Double terrorist victim):
"We ask President Bush to hold true to his words that there is no such thing as a good terrorist; that every country has a right to defend ourselves. We ask Prime Minister Sharon to remain strong and steadfast and do all that he can to preserve every precious Jewish soul - because a single Jewish life is worth more than a hundred glowing editorials, a single Jewish life is worth more than a thousand flowery eulogies, and a single Jewish life is worth more than a million Nobel Peace Prizes."

Rabbi Seth Mandel (Father of Coby Mandel):
"With all the pain and the heartache, my wife Sherri and I, through her writing, and through our founding of the Coby Mandel Foundation, are trying to turn the darkness of Coby's death into light. With all the pain and the heartache, by standing in front of you symbolizing the thousands of survivors of terror, I'm trying to turn the darkness of Coby's death into light. And with all the pain and the heartache, we're staying in Israel. We're not leaving. We're living in Israel and we're loving in Israel.

Through it all, we're trying to turn the darkness into light. In the Sbarro Pizza bombing, there was a family of Dutch people, five of whom were killed. There was a four-year-old boy named Avraham Yitzchak. As he was laying on the ground bleeding, burning and dying, he said to his father, he said, 'Aba, help me, Aba, save me.' And his father reached over to him and he said, 'Say the Shema.' He said together they held hands and they said, 'Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad.'

Coby died alone. I didn't have a chance to say the 'Shema' with him, and I want you to help me. I want you to help me and I want you to say the 'Shema' with me in the honor of the 460 people killed in the last year and a half; I want you to say the 'Shema' with me in the merit of Avraham Yitzchak ben Mordechai, the boy in the Sbarro pizza place; and I want you to say the 'Shema' with me now in the merit of my son, Coby Yaakov Natan Ben Shraga Fayvel."

www.ou.org