The Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, delivered a speech forIsrael's 60th. It is so extraordinary that I must lead off with this today:
"All of my life, Israel has been a symbol of the triumph of hope and faith. After 1945, our battered world desperately needed to be lifted out ofpost-war darkness and despair. After so much pain and suffering, humanityneeded comfort and optimism. After so much death and destruction, we neededthe renewal of the dream of a better and more civilized world. In short, weneeded to be inspired. It was the people who had suffered who most providedthat inspiration. By their example, they led the world back ! to the light. From shattered Europe and other countries near and far, the descendants ofAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob made their way home. Their pilgrimage was theculmination of a two-thousand-year-old dream; it is a tribute to the unquenchable human aspiration for freedom, and a testament to the indomitable spirit of the Jewish people.
"In the sixty years that followed, Israel blossomed into one of the mostsuccessful countries on earth; a land of ingenuity and enterprise, an oasisof agricultural genius, a wellspring of fine art and high culture, a modelof democracy. Israel truly is the 'miracle in the desert.'" But the source of Israel's strength and success,! in my view, is itscommitment to the universal values of all civilized peoples: freedom,democracy, human rights and the rule of law...
"Unfortunately, Israel at 60 remains a country threatened by those groups and regimes who deny to this day its right to exist. And why? Make no mistake; look beyond the thinly-veiled rationalizations: because they hate Israel, just as they hate the Jewish people. Our government believes that those who threaten Israel also threaten Canada, because, as the last world war showed, hate-fueled bigotry against some is ultimately a threat to us all, and must be resisted wherever it may lurk.
"In this ongoing battle, Canada stands side-by-side with the State ofIsrael, our friend and ally in the democratic family of nations. We havestood with Israel even when it has not been popular to do so, and we willcontinue to stand with Israel, just as I have always said we would...
"There will be many challenges along the way, but considering how far Israel has come in such a short time, in the face of such seemingly insurmountableodds, I can foresee no dark force, no matter how strong, that could succeedin dimming the light of freedom and democracy that! shines from within Israel."
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