The Middle East Conflict: Zionist Quotes

MORE = QUOTES...

"We must expel = Arabs and=20 take their places." -- = David Ben=20 Gurion, 1937, Ben Gurion and the Palestine = Arabs, Oxford=20 University Press, = 1985. "We must use terror, = assassination,=20 intimidation, land confiscation, and the cutting = of all=20 social services to rid the Galilee of its Arab=20 population." -- David Ben-Gurion, May 1948, to the = General=20 Staff. From Ben-Gurion, A Biography, = by=20 Michael Ben-Zohar, Delacorte, New York=20 1978. "There has=20 been Anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, = Auschwitz, but=20 was that their fault? They see but one thing: we = have=20 come and we have stolen their country. Why would = they=20 accept that?" -- Quoted = by Nahum=20 Goldmann in Le Paraddoxe Juif (The Jewish = Paradox), pp.=20 121-122. "Jewish=20 villages were built in the place of Arab = villages. You=20 do not even know the names of these Arab = villages, and I=20 do not blame you because geography books no = longer=20 exist. Not only do the books not exist, the Arab = villages are not there either. Nahlal arose in = the place=20 of Mahlul; Kibbutz Gvat in the place of Jibta; = Kibbutz=20 Sarid in the place of Huneifis; and Kefar = Yehushua in=20 the place of Tal al-Shuman. There is not a = single place=20 built in this country that did not have a former = Arab=20 population." -- David Ben Gurion, quoted in The Jewish = Paradox, by Nahum Goldmann, Weidenfeld and = Nicolson,=20 1978, p. 99. "Let us not ignore the truth = among=20 ourselves ... politically we are the aggressors = and they=20 defend themselves... The country is theirs, = because they=20 inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and = settle=20 down, and in their view we want to take away = from them=20 their country." -- David = Ben=20 Gurion, quoted on pp 91-2 of Chomsky's Fateful = Triangle,=20 which appears in Simha Flapan's "Zionism and the = Palestinians pp 141-2 citing a 1938=20 speech. "If I=20 knew that it was possible to save all the = children of=20 Germany by transporting them to England, and = only half=20 by transferring them to the Land of Israel, I = would=20 choose the latter, for before us lies not only = the=20 numbers of these children but the historical = reckoning=20 of the people of = Israel." --=20 David Ben-Gurion (Quoted on pp 855-56 in Shabtai = Teveth's Ben-Gurion in a slightly different=20 translation).		David Ben = Gurion Prime Minister of Israel 1949 = -=20 1954, 1955 - = 1963
"There is no = such thing=20 as a Palestinian people... It is not as if we = came and=20 threw them out and took their country. They = didn't=20 exist." -- Golda Meir, = statement=20 to The Sunday Times, 15 June,=20 1969. "How can=20 we return the occupied territories? There is = nobody to=20 return them to." -- Golda = Meir,=20 March 8, 1969. "Any one who speaks in favor of = bringing=20 the Arab refugees back must also say how he = expects to=20 take the responsibility for it, if he is = interested in=20 the state of Israel. It is better that things = are stated=20 clearly and plainly: We shall not let this = happen."=20 -- Golda Meir, 1961, in = a speech=20 to the Knesset, reported in Ner, October=20 1961 "This=20 country exists as the fulfillment of a promise = made by=20 God Himself. It would be ridiculous to ask it to = account=20 for its legitimacy." -- = Golda=20 Meir, Le Monde, 15 October 1971		Golda=20 Meir Prime = Minister of=20 Israel 1969 -=20 1974

"We walked = outside,=20 Ben-Gurion accompanying us. Allon repeated his = question,=20 What is to be done with the Palestinian = population?'=20 Ben-Gurion waved his hand in a gesture which = said 'Drive=20 them out!" -- Yitzhak = Rabin,=20 leaked censored version of Rabin memoirs, = published in=20 the New York Times, 23 October=20 1979. "[Israel=20 will] create in the course of the next 10 or 20 = years=20 conditions which would attract natural and = voluntary=20 migration of the refugees from the Gaza Strip = and the=20 west Bank to Jordan. To achieve this we have to = come to=20 agreement with King Hussein and not with Yasser=20 Arafat." -- Yitzhak Rabin = (a=20 "Prince of Peace" by Clinton's standards), = explaining=20 his method of ethnically cleansing the occupied = land=20 without stirring a world outcry. (Quoted in = David=20 Shipler in the New York Times, 04/04/1983 citing = Meir=20 Cohen's remarks to the Knesset's foreign affairs = and=20 defense committee on March 16.)		Yitzhak = Rabin Prime Minister of Israel 1974 = - 1977,=20 1992 - = 1995

"[The = Palestinians] are=20 beasts walking on two legs." -- Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, = speech=20 to the Knesset, quoted in Amnon Kapeliouk, = "Begin and=20 the 'Beasts,"' New Statesman, June 25,=20 1982. "The=20 Partition of Palestine is illegal. It will never = be=20 recognized .... Jerusalem was and will for ever = be our=20 capital. Eretz Israel will be restored to the = people of=20 Israel. All of it. And for=20 Ever." -- Menachem Begin, = the day=20 after the U.N. vote to partition = Palestine.		Menachem = Begin Prime Minister of Israel 1977 = -=20 1983

"The past = leaders of our=20 movement left us a clear message to keep Eretz = Israel=20 from the Sea to the River Jordan for future = generations,=20 for the mass aliya (=3DJewish immigration), and = for the=20 Jewish people, all of whom will be gathered into = this=20 country." -- Former Prime = Minister Yitzhak Shamir declares at a Tel Aviv = memorial=20 service for former Likud leaders, November 1990. = Jerusalem Domestic Radio=20 Service. "The=20 settlement of the Land of Israel is the essence = of=20 Zionism. Without settlement, we will not fulfill = Zionism. It's that = simple." --=20 Yitzhak Shamir, Maariv,=20 02/21/1997. "(The Palestinians) would be = crushed like=20 grasshoppers ... heads smashed against the = boulders and=20 walls." -- Isreali Prime = Minister=20 (at the time) Yitzhak Shamir in a speech to = Jewish=20 settlers New York Times April 1, 1988 =		Yizhak=20 Shamir Prime Minister of = Israel 1983 -=20 1984, 1986 - = 1992

"Israel should = have=20 exploited the repression of the demonstrations = in China,=20 when world attention focused on that country, to = carry=20 out mass expulsions among the Arabs of the=20 territories." -- Benyamin = Netanyahu, then Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, = former=20 Prime Minister of Israel, speaking to students = at Bar=20 Ilan University, from the Israeli journal Hotam, = November 24, 1989.		Benjamin=20 Netanyahu Prime = Minister of=20 Israel 1996 - = 1999
"The = Palestinians are=20 like crocodiles, the more you give them meat, = they want=20 more".... -- Ehud Barak, = Prime=20 Minister of Israel at the time - August 28, = 2000.=20 Reported in the Jerusalem Post August 30,=20 2000 "If we=20 thought that instead of 200 Palestinian = fatalities,=20 2,000 dead would put an end to the fighting at a = stroke,=20 we would use much more=20 force...." -- Israeli = Prime=20 Minister Ehud Barak, quoted in Associated Press, = November 16, 2000. "I would have joined a terrorist = organization." -- Ehud = Barak's=20 response to Gideon Levy, a columnist for the = Ha'aretz=20 newspaper, when Barak was asked what he would = have done=20 if he had been born a Palestinian.		Ehud=20 Barak Prime = Minister of=20 Israel 1999 - = 2001

"It is the duty = of=20 Israeli leaders to explain to public opinion, = clearly=20 and courageously, a certain number of facts that = are=20 forgotten with time. The first of these is that = there is=20 no Zionism, colonialization, or Jewish State = without the=20 eviction of the Arabs and the expropriation of = their=20 lands." -- Ariel Sharon, Israeli Foreign = Minister,=20 addressing a meeting of militants from the = extreme=20 right-wing Tsomet Party, Agence France Presse, = November=20 15, 1998. "Everybody has to move, run and = grab as=20 many (Palestinian) hilltops as they can to = enlarge the=20 (Jewish) settlements because everything we take = now will=20 stay ours...Everything we don't grab will go to=20 them." -- Ariel Sharon, = Israeli=20 Foreign Minister, addressing a meeting of the = Tsomet=20 Party, Agence France Presse, Nov. 15, 1998.=20 "Israel may=20 have the right to put others on trial, but = certainly no=20 one has the right to put the Jewish people and = the State=20 of Israel on trial." -- Israeli = Prime=20 Minister Ariel Sharon, 25 March, 2001 quoted in = BBC News=20 Online		Ariel=20 Sharon Prime Minister of Israel 2001 = -=20 present