by: Zoe McHenry, BFP Writer
The eyes of the nations are increasingly focused on the most contested place on Earth: Israel. Some countries shout their hate from every public forum, while others whisper secretly, weaving anti-Semitic rhetoric into UN resolutions. It’s a bleak reality. Lies are rampant, truth is ignored and Israel remains condemned for its every move toward a safer status quo.
Yet there is hope.
A lion’s roar is sounding from the nations of the world in surprising places. Politicians, prime ministers, military officers, presidents and members of parliament alike—some who are not known for their association with Israel or the Jewish community—are holding up the burning torch of truth for the world to see. These leaders use their platforms to solidify facts and dismantle the propaganda that aims to vilify Israel. Sometimes, the most influential truth-tellers are the ones we least expect, but their words prove there is hope; there are leaders who stand for what is right, regardless of the consequences.
“During its operation in Gaza, the Israeli Defense Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare. Israel’s on the front line of the fight, but the fight affects us all.”
—Richard Kemp, retired British Army officer, former commander of the British forces in Afghanistan, journalist, military advisor and analyst
“For Western countries to side with those who question Israel’s legitimacy, for them to play games in international bodies with Israel’s vital security issues, for them to appease those who oppose Western values rather than robustly to stand up in defense of those values is not only a grave moral mistake but a strategic error of the first magnitude. Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its Judeo–Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is upturned and Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Whether we like it or not, our fate is inextricably intertwined.”
—José María Aznar, former prime minister of Spain
“Any other nation that was adjacent to a neighboring nation that was bombing it with rockets, sending commandos over to murder its citizens, pledging itself to murder every person in that nation and annihilate it, would go and level it with aerial bombardment. But Israel is a moral nation. So it didn’t do that. Instead, it built an Iron Dome to protect itself so it would not have to go into Gaza.”
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Independent US presidential candidate
“There is very little independent, impartial reporting documenting what is happening in Israel, which feeds into a lack of fact-based knowledge, and I think that allows these narratives to take off and be propagated, and that has been the case in Ireland.”
— Lucinda Creighton, former minister of European affairs and deputy foreign minister of Ireland
“We will continue to provide Israel with every support that it needs as we stand steadfast with Israel, including (supporting) its right to self defense to ensure that these attacks do not happen.”
— Rishi Sunak, British prime minister
“German history and our responsibility arising from the Holocaust make it our duty to stand up for the existence and security of the State of Israel.”
— Olaf Scholz, German chancellor
“Israel is a lighthouse and the only democracy in a dark and tyrannical region. It’s part of us, of our European identity. If the Jews are denied the right to live in freedom and peace, soon we will all be denied this right. If the light of Israel is extinguished, we will all face darkness. If Israel falls, the West falls.”
— Geert Wilders, Dutch politician, leader and founder of the Party of Freedom and member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands
“We again, strongly and unambiguously, condemn these abhorrent actions and reaffirm our solidarity and support for Israel, again for the legitimate right to self-defense. Where is the voice of the free world demanding the release of the kidnapped? We shouldn’t remain silent in the face of modern Nazism today disguised as the terror group Hamas. Choosing life is fighting terrorism.”
— Javier Milei, president of Argentina
“Hamas’s acts of terror against Israeli civilians are sickening. There is never an appropriate time for violence, but the timing of the attack—at the end of Sukkot and the beginning of Simchat Torah—is especially disturbing. Leaders around the world must come together to urge for an immediate end to this bloodshed.”
— Tim Kaine, US Senator, Senate Foreign Relations Committee member
“Israel has a right to defend itself and must do everything in its power to defend itself and protect its civilians from such indiscriminate and violent attacks…We call on South African and world leaders to condemn these attacks, and to demand that all Israeli hostages are immediately released. What makes these attacks even more deplorable is that they took place on Simchat Torah, the last of the high holy days when Israelis were at rest for the Shabbat. We call on all South Africans to pray for the innocent victims and their families and to ‘pray for the peace of Jerusalem.’”
—Kenneth Rasalabe Joseph Meshoe, president of the African Christian Democratic Party, South African member of parliament
“Australia stands against terrorism. We stand in solidarity with Israel. We unequivocally condemn the attack by Hamas: indiscriminate rocket fire, the targeting of civilians and the taking of hostages. I reiterate Israel’s right to defend itself…It is cold comfort that the story of the Jewish people is a story of extraordinary courage and resilience. But we should proclaim their resilience and courage in the face of thousands of years of persecution and many of the worst atrocities in human history. And we must remember that it is persecution and those atrocities that finally resolved the international community to establish the State of Israel.”
—Hon. Penelope Ying-Yen Wong, Australian minister for foreign affairs
“There can be no ‘yes but…’ France condemns these atrocious acts with the strongest firmness. Let us say it clearly: Hamas is a terrorist organization.”
—Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron, president of France
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