Steve Quayle News Alerts

June 21, 2002
By GREER FAY CASHMAN

Declaring this to be a time of emergency for the Jewish people, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the 34th Zionist Congress yesterday that it is no coincidence that the surge in anti-Semitism around the world comes at the same time as the escalation of terrorist attacks in Israel.

But there's a difference between the pogroms of pre-World War Two Europe and what is happening today, when the Jews have a homeland and the resources with which to fight back, he said.

Terrorism today is also different; in the past when attacks were more sporadic. Today, said Sharon, terrorism is part of an organized international network that includes the Palestinian Authority, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and al-Qaida.

Yet for all that, he said, Israel remains committed to the quest for peace.

Referring to Tuesday's suicide bombing at the Beit Safafa bus stop, Sharon said, "I have never seen anything as horrific as what I saw in Jerusalem on Tuesday morning."

Sharon, who had been scheduled to address the Congress at its first session on Tuesday, said that he received notice of the terrorist attack while en route to the convention hall. There is nothing worse for a prime minister, he said, than receiving news of such a terrible nature.
"It is a moment of extreme isolation."

When he finally entered a packed Teddy Hall after a half hour delay, he received a thunderous welcome; cries of "Arik! Arik! Arik" resounding over the applause.

At that moment, he most certainly was not isolated. Wrapped in the embrace of solidarity and affection, he was visibly moved.

The convening of the Zionist Congress at such a time is symbolic, he said. "It exudes a message of Jewish unity and our ability to face every challenge together and win."

Sharon referred to the strong relationship between Israel and the United States a relationship he said is based on shared values and mutual interests, "but nothing is stronger than our relationship with the Jews in the Diaspora."

Sharon listed a series of challenges that have been met through the joint efforts of Israel and Diaspora Jewry, especially rescuing Jews from lands of oppression."

The current challenge to be faced together is to guarantee the future survival of the Jewish people, he said.

Sharon echoed a challenge voiced earlier in the week by Sallai Meridor, chairman of the Jewish Agency, who said that Hebrew must become the common language of the Jewish people. Declaring the need for a greater emphasis on Jewish education, Sharon said that Jews must be connected to Jewish history and tradition, to Israel, and above all to aliya.

Throughout centuries of exile, he said, Jews repeated the age-old prayer: "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand lose its cunning." But since the establishment of the state, he said, many Jews have forgotten the significance of that pledge.

Sharon urged them to make aliya, which he said is the ultimate expression of Zionism.
As he was about to leave the stage, he turned back, telling an enraptured audience: "We always needed you. Now we need you more than ever. Come on aliya."

Sharon had already exited the hall when loud boos and catcalls rose from the ranks of Peace Now activists, who unfurled an enormous black and white banner calling for an end to occupation. They were yelled at by the rest of the crowd, who said that such a demonstration is inappropriate after so many terrorist acts which have claimed so many lives.

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