(Facebook) Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told the UN Security Council on Friday: "While thousands are being massacred in Syria, this Council wasted valuable time and effort condemning the democratic State of Israel for building homes in the historic homeland of the Jewish people....By voting 'yes' in favor of this resolution, you have in fact voted 'no' to negotiations, you voted 'no' to progress and a chance for better lives for Israelis and Palestinians, and you voted 'no' to the possibility of peace." "You are sending a message to the Palestinians that they should continue on the path of terrorism and incitement, that they should continue to hold their own people hostage, that they should continue to seek meaningless statements from the international community. The sad truth is that today's vote will be a victory for terror, it will be a victory for hatred and violence." "Today this Council, including many of the world's leading democracies, voted to condemn the State of Israel. You voted to condemn the Jewish people for building homes in the Land of Israel. You voted to ban us from building in our historic capital of Jerusalem, the heart and soul of the Jewish people." "Tomorrow night, Israel and the entire Jewish community around the world will celebrate the holiday of Hanukkah. Over 2,000 years ago, King Antiochus banished the Jewish people from our Temple in Jerusalem and issued decrees trying to sever us from our religion and our heritage. But we prevailed. The Jewish people fought back. We gained our independence and we lit the menorah candles in the Temple." "I ask each and every member of this Council who voted for this resolution: Who gave you the right to issue such a decree denying our eternal rights in Jerusalem? Would this Council have had the nerve to condemn your country for building homes in your capital? Would you ban the French from building in Paris? Would you ban the Russians from building in Moscow? Would you ban the Chinese from building in Beijing? Would you ban the British from building in London? Would you ban the Americans from building in Washington?" "We overcame those decrees during the time of the Maccabees and we will overcome this evil decree today. We have full confidence in the justice of our cause and in the righteousness of our path. We will continue to be a democratic state based on the rule of law and full civil and human rights for all our citizens, and we will continue to be a Jewish state proudly reclaiming the land of our forefathers, where the Maccabees fought their oppressors and King David ruled from Jerusalem."
2016-12-25 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive