Ahmadinejad Speech – Israel Response

Iran’s president once again, as in his previous appearances in New York and elsewhere, brought a message of hostility towards the family of nations as well as threats to global peace and security.

This should come as no surprise. Less than two weeks ago Ahmadinejad – so cordially hosted today by the UN  – reiterated his hollow assertion that the terror attack of 9/11 was a western plot, a decade after more than 3,000 innocent people lost their lives. He has reiterated this infamy today, facing the Nations.

Iran’s disdain for the international community is clear, and is exemplified by its continued serial disregard for six Security Resolutions calling on it to cease its nuclear and missile programs – as well as its arms transfers to terrorists.  For the past 10 years Tehran has defied the insistence of the International Atomic Energy Agency to come clean about its military nuclear program. Its meddling in the internal affairs of countries near and far flies in the face of respect for territorial sovereignty. A chronic violator of human rights, its cynical attempt to be elected to bodies established to fight human rights violations of all kinds is by now well known. For these reasons alone the international community should not have dignified the Iranian president with this platform to speak.

Tehran’s hostility for the Jewish state and people is also plain for all to see. Iranian leaders repeatedly call for Israel’s destruction, deny the Holocaust, and openly support terrorist organizations in word and deed – as demonstrated by its involvement in the 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires of the AMIA Jewish community center, a tragedy which still cries out for justice to be done.

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12:28 pm The first panelists assemble, they include Israel Consul General in New York Ambassador Ido Aharoni, Executive Vice President of the JCRC Mr. Michael Miller, Minister MK Yuli Edelstein, and Rannen and Kasaey, two Israelis who will share unique stories and perspectives.

12:30 Ambassador Aharoni: “We expect the Palestinians to recognize our right to exist just as we recognized theirs”

12:35 Mr. Michael Miller: “I hope we all enjoy this open dialogue this afternoon”

12:37 Minister Edelstein is asked by the moderator whether the world is right to be “baffled” by Israel’s recent actions in trying to block the Palestinian’s UDI bid. Minister Edelstein: “We are prepared to negotiate a solution There is only one way to reach ANY understanding. I don’t know when negotiations will start and when they will end. One thing I know for a fact, they won’t end if they don’t start.”

12:45 Raneen Khoury, an Israeli-Arab from Nazareth talks about coming to New York. When she told people she was coming this week, people joked she was coming with Abu Mazen. Raneen emphasizes the importance of open dialogue, saying,”I’m a Christian, and I could have been a Druze or a Muslim or a Jew. But what matters above all else is I’m a person.”

12:51 Kasay Damosa is speaking now, telling the amazing story of her mother from a small Jewish village in Ethiopia. Kasaey “My family and I started the journey to Israel through Sudan in 1983. We got to Sudan and that was one of the hardest things we had to face. We were basically stuck in the refugee camp for 9 months.” While there, she says they could not tell people they were Jewish, as Sudan is a Muslim country.

1:00 Q&A has begun, see @israelconsulate for the full play by play

1:30 First panel has ended, we’ll be posting all the open debate later today on this page, but for now, head on over to twitter.com/israelconsulate to get a snapshot of the discussion

2:24 Next panel is about to start, and it should be a good one – focusing on REAL people. Read about the panelists here

2:26 We’re going to start with Adam Assad, who is a Druze-Israeli. He’s a 19 year old studying International Relations, “I want to complete the puzzle of Israeli society. I want to show you the Druze community in Israel.” “I just applied to get a new job in Haifa, and people told me, you can’t get this job because you are an Arab, you are Druze. I applied to the job and did all the interviews and my friend Masjid and I, we got the job. Out of 10 people who applied, 2 got the job – a Muslim and myself. I’m not saying Israel is perfect, in every society there is inequality, but it’s about the person”

2:34 Next up is Clara Cohen, born in Argentina, who says “I never had to choose between being Argentinian or a Jew. I can be both in Israel. I can bring my Argentinian heritage to Israel”

2:44 Hadas speaking now about her father, an Ethiopian rabbi. Her journey to Israel meant walking at night, and sleeping by day, but she was two, so someone probably carried her she jokes.

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