Invoking the lessons of history, Israeli ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor warns that the world faces a danger similar to that posed by Nazism during World War II.
“Freedom is once again under attack,” Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor warned in an address on Tuesday to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Recalling the subjugation of Europe by Nazi tyranny, Prosor said that the historical period called for bravery, and he thanked the Allies for their sacrifice for freedom.
“We know the evil that Man is capable of, and we know that some things are worth fighting for. Freedom is worth fighting for. Equality is worth fighting for. Democracy is worth fighting for,” Prosor declared.
However, “the hands of time now threaten to cloud the world’s memory,” and the number of first-hand witnesses who can recount their experiences diminishes each year, he said. Therefore “the responsibility falls to us to ensure that the lessons of history are passed to future generations.”
Prosor warned that the radical Islamists marching across the Middle East and North Africa are every bit as determined and dangerous as the Nazi forces that marched across Europe. Seventy-five years ago, men, women, and children were rounded up and murdered because of what they believed…the same crimes are taking place in the Middle East.”
“Make no mistake, evil is alive and well – and not just in the Middle East,” he continued. “In the heart of civilized Europe, angry mobs can be heard chanting, ‘Gas the Jews,’ firebombs have been thrown at synagogues, young men are afraid to walk down the street wearing a kippah and a kosher grocery store is targeted for attack.”
“The writing is on the wall,” Prosor stated. “Former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin once said, ‘If an enemy… says he seeks to destroy us, believe him. Don’t doubt him for a moment.'”
Focusing on the lessons of history, Prosor said that Jewish lives can never be entrusted to others.” We must always be able to defend ourselves by ourselves. The State of Israel is the fulfillment of that promise. Never again will Jews be rounded up like cattle and marched to their death. Never again will the world think that Jews can be targeted with impunity.”
“Seventy years ago, a generation of men and women sacrificed in war so that we would inherit freedom, equality, and democracy,” the ambassador said. “We cannot allow those sacrifices to be in vain. With courage and conviction we must now fight for the ideals for which they lived and died.”
“The time has come for us to be united in purpose, united in valor, and united as nations – so that we too may pass the gifts of freedom, equality and democracy to our children and grandchildren,” he concluded.
By: Max Gelber, United with Israel
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