Barack Obama vs the People of Israel

We have witnessed an extraordinary change taking place in the Middle East and North Africa...
the people have risen up to demand their basic human rights...
And after years of war against al Qaeda and its affiliates,
we have dealt al Qaeda a huge blow by killing its leader, Osama bin Laden.
So you killed Bin Laden, and that was a turning point for you.
Bin Laden was responsible for the murder of countless Americans,
so you focused on him, and you found him, and you assassinated him.
But we are faced with many Bin Ladens every day, not just one.
What gives you the right to decide that we should negotiate with our Bin Ladens,
while you take yours out.
There are times in the course of history
when the actions of ordinary citizens spark movements for change
because they speak to a longing for freedom that has been building up for years.
In America, think of the defiance of those patriots in Boston who refused to pay taxes to a King,
or the dignity of Rosa Parks as she sat courageously in her seat.
You speak of freedom and bravery and human dignity.
Does that not apply to the people of Israel
who have the same inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
Would you negotiate with an entity
that forswears ever recognizing your right to exist,
and moreso, would you oversee the establishment
of a terrorist state on your border,
on your land, peopled by those who have sworn your destruction?
I think not.
For over two years, my administration has worked with the parties
and the international community to end this conflict,
building on decades of work by previous administrations.
Yet expectations have gone unmet. Israeli settlement activity continues.
Are the people of Israel in this world in order to meet your expectations? Or the expectations of the quartet?
What about the expectations of the people of Israel for human rights?
For their basic dignity? For their right to live as a free people in all of their homeland,
unfettered and without the threat of extinction, without the threat of occupation,
because we are currently being occupied by an enemy that refuses to recognize our very right to existence.
And once again, you are employing the historical lie
that Israeli settlements are the obstacle to peace,
when we all know that the PLO was founded before there were any settlements,
and all the Palestinian leaders, whether Fatah or Hamas, admit this is not about settlements.
This is about Haifa. This is about Tel Aviv. This is about Jerusalem.
And the Palestinians will not be satisfied until the Zionist entity disappears.
It's got nothing to do with settlements.
It's got everything to do about whether or not the people of Israel have a right to exist.
The fact is, a growing number of Palestinians live west of the Jordan River.
Technology will make it harder for Israel to defend itself.
What about the fact that a growing number of Jewish Israelis live on the West side of the Jordan river?
Technology is going to make it more difficult for Israel to defend itself?
It seems to us that the only thing that makes it difficult
to defend ourselves is American policy.
Are you threatening us?
Because we are perfectly capable of defending ourselves, if you would only leave us alone.
A region undergoing profound change
will lead to populism in which millions of people
not just one or two leaders - must believe peace is possible.
The international community is tired of an endless process that never produces an outcome.
What exactly is the outcome
that the international community would prefer?
Where was the international community
in 1948,
when the state of Israel was attacked by five Arab armies?
Where was the international community in 1967,
when four Arab armies converged upon Israel?
Where was the international community in 1973,
when Israel was attacked on its holiest day?
Where was the international community during the years of the second world war,
when six million Jews were systematically murdered by an enlightened European society?
Perhaps the international community has an agenda,
and perhaps the existence of Israel is thwarting
the preferred outcome of the international community?
The dream of a Jewish and democratic state
cannot be fulfilled with permanent occupation.
Thanks for defining for us what you think the dream
of the Jewish state should be.
But for the Jewish people
the dream of the Jewish state is a land imbued with the values of the Torah.
A land from which flows to the entire world
the knowledge of the one true G-d of Israel.
The land that G-d bequeathed to us
according to our biblical boundaries.
And it has nothing to do with whether or not
the '67 borders are defensible or indefensible,
or where we could possibly place the negotiated Palestinian state.
The dream of the Jewish state is the land of Israel.
If the president of the United States knows anything about American history,
then for him to say that democracy and occupation are incompatible
is nothing but the height of hypocracy.
The American experience is based on colonialism and occupation.
However, when it come to the state of Israel,
this notion of occupation is both presumptuous and preposterous.
Whose land are we occupying?
We have returned to our own land
and according to international law it's quite clear that Israel,
in every war, thrust upon her by the Arab states, Israel acted in self defense.
Let me repeat what I actually said on Thursday,
not what I was reported to have said.
I said the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines,
with mutually agreed swaps.
Mr. President, I'm not fooled.
Now you're trying to backpedal, to qualify, to explain, to mollify,
this isn't exactly what you meant, and,
of course you're not calling upon Israel to recede to the 1967 borders,
and of course you'll take into consideration the demographic changes
and the facts on the ground,
and any other way you seek to explain away the evil that you have proposed,
the true revelation of what you intend for the state of Israel.
Now you risk reelection and alienating all the supporters of Israel amongst your people,
but the people of Israel are not fooled,
and we will not lay down our dream of living lives of peace
and security and happiness and prosperity in our land.
The land of Israel. The entire land of Israel.
Not to be dictated by your vision.
we will not lay down our lives,
or sacrifice ourselves upon the altar of your ambition.