Ambassadors Against BDS
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
United Nations
New York
Click here to see the video of Ronald S. Lauder's address to the UN summit
I didn’t expect to see so many of you! When Ambassador Danon told me about this, I thought maybe 300 people would come, but there are 1500 of us here in this room.
Thank you Ambassador Danon, Judge Rubinstein, Mr. Zandberg, and all of the students here today who are on the front lines of this battle.
We are calling this special summit: Ambassadors Against B-D-S.
And our location for this conference is no accident.
The United Nations was created 70 years ago out of the carnage of World War II. It was created on the broken bones of the Jewish people, with the pledge that the world would never see again the kind of human destruction that the Nazis forced on our people.
But now, just 70 years later, this organization, of all places, has singled out the only Jewish State in the world – Israel – with lie, after lie, after lie.
So it is no accident that we chose to look at an equally dishonest campaign against the Jews – the B-D-S movement – right here at the United Nations.
But there is something that has changed in the last 70 years. We have changed. The era of the quiet Jew, the timid Jew, the Ghetto Jew, is long over!
Those tough leaders of the early Zionist movement buried that Jew three generations ago.
We are no longer victims! We no longer have to rely on others to protect us!
And we are absolutely done being quiet! Enough is enough!!!
I want to begin with a thought that may surprise you.
I actually understand the popularity of BDS. A political boycott makes you feel good. Any political boycott makes you feel important. It makes you part of the group. And who doesn’t want to be part of the “group?”
Especially when you think you are doing good for mankind. Like standing up against tyranny and fighting oppression.
Because when you are standing up to injustice, you are standing with Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, and even Moses.
That is very seductive. Especially when you are joined by beautiful celebrities, famous rock stars and your favorite professors.
This explains why people as different as British journalists, and freshmen at NYU, are part of the B-D-S movement.
But I wonder if all those people that support BDS have the slightest understanding of what this movement really means.
Those BDS supporters who join protest marches on campuses and chant:
“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!”
I wonder if they realize that the River is the Jordan, the Sea is the Mediterranean. These activists are really calling for the destruction of the State of Israel.
The campus groups such as “Justice For Palestine” and the “Muslim Student Association” have their roots with the Muslim Brotherhood. The same Muslim Brotherhood that believes that the Qur ‘an should be the basis for every government, including our own.
BDS is built on lies. Nasty anti-Jewish lies. And that puts everyone connected to B-D-S in some very bad company.
The plain truth is that today’s boycott against the State of Israel is no different from Henry Ford’s anti-Semitism of the 1920s or the Soviet bloc’s anti-Zionism of the 1950s and 60s. So when you march with BDS, you are marching with some really bad people, anti-Semites.
There is no other way to explain why Israel – the only country in the
Middle East where all religions live together – is called by some people the Apartheid State.
Israel is the only country in the region where the Christian population is growing, not shrinking. Israel is the only country in the region where gay people march with pride and homosexuality is not a crime. Women enjoy equal rights in Israel.
500,000 dead in Syria and Iraq, and Israel is charged with crimes against humanity.
We see no boycotts against North Korea, Sudan, Iran. Only Israel. Only Israel.
Make no mistake, the BDS movement doesn’t support the Palestinian people. It is strictly a campaign to delegitimize Israel, which is simply the latest attempt to deny the Jewish people their right to self-determination.
Every other people on earth have that right, but BDS wants to deny that basic right to Jews.
Do the British have a right to Britain? Do the French have a right to France? Do Germans have a right to Germany?
Well, before there was a Great Britain, or a France, or a Germany, there was a Jewish Kingdom in the land of Judea, with a king, and a temple, with laws and a Torah.
If anyone doubts that, there is pretty strong historic back-up in the best selling book of all time. It’s called the bible.
So when someone says the Jewish State of Israel is not legitimate, that is one of the biggest lies of all time.
And please, when someone says they are not anti-Semitic, only anti-Israel, let's just end this charade once and for all. Because, guess what? They actually are anti-Semites.
So this is how we will fight BDS. We won’t make up lies like they do. We will tell the truth, but we are going to tell the truth in a very aggressive way.
The World Jewish Congress will commit all of our resources and all of our abilities to help you fight BDS.
But we are doing this differently than before.
No college campus would allow racist or homophobic hate speech to go un answered. So we will place ads in every key newspaper and all across the internet, telling students to report any kind of pro-BDS and anti-Semitic activity at their school.
We even have a new email for this. I’d like you to P please take out your smartphones and write this down: (for those of you under 40…)
It’s campus@worldjewishcongress.org. Once again, it’s campus@worldjewishcongress.org. I want you to use it.
If your school or your professor is backing BDS in any public way, contact us at campus@worldjewishcongress.org.
If you have any suggestions or if there is anyway that I can help you fight this battle, please contact us.
My team and I will read your emails (please keep them short) and we will help you fight back.
We are also going to remind alumni what’s going on at their alma maters. And we will urge them to stop any donations until their schools clean up their mess.
We are also taking a legal route.
The World Jewish Congress is sponsoring counter-law suits and legislation because there are laws against discrimination.
You will hear more about this today from the lawyers working with us, and you will see how they are successfully defeating BDS in court.
The World Jewish Congress will create a platform for sharing, coordinating and synchronizing efforts against the BDS movement.
The World Jewish Congress will fund and support the anti-BDS forces and help them in their work.
We are here to help all of you. You are not alone.
That it is why it’s so important that so many students are here today.
I said earlier that all of you are on the front lines of this battle. I see you the same way I see the IDF soldiers who are defending the State of Israel.
You are just engaged on a different battlefield. One that is no less critical.
This also gives you a chance to be part of something greater than yourself.
It gives you the chance to stand for something that is as vital as anything you will ever do in your life.
You will have the honor of defending your people.
There is one more part of this fight that changes today.
From now on, we celebrate Israel. And we are going to be loud about it.
This is one of the most remarkable countries on earth and that is what we will tell the world.
And we are going to thank the millions of supporters of the State of Israel.
I don’t want to hear about the Rock Stars that won’t play in Israel.
Instead, let’s talk about Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Louis C.K.
Five nights ago, Elton John dedicated “Your Song” to the State of Israel in Tel Aviv.
And when someone told Mick Jagger not to play in Israel, the Rolling Stones answered with not one but two concerts in Tel Aviv.
Sir Mick, you are not just a rock star. You are a mensch!
The brilliant Jewish-Reggae star, Matisyahu, is here today, and it gives me the opportunity to explain how we fight BDS at the World Jewish Congress.
Last summer, Matisyahu was kicked out of a music festival in Spain because he would not condemn Israel. I contacted the Spanish Prime Minister and explained just why this was so outrageous - And lo and behold the very next day after the letter was delivered, Matisyahu called me to say he had been “re–invited".
The point here is that world leaders do respond to truth, logic and strong language.
These are the Rock Stars we will stand by.
And we will stand by the hundreds-of-thousands of people of all religions who visit Israel and have a fabulous time.
We will stand by the wonderful Christians who support Israel with their visits and their votes.
We will stand by the young people like all of you who fight the bullies on campus.
And the amazing Lone Soldiers who leave the safety of their homes and families to defend the Jewish State.
We are so proud of all of you.
Bottom Line:
Israel is a fabulous country. A vibrant, caring, decent country. An amazing country. And that is the truth! Period. End of story!
You may find this hard to believe, but it wasn't that long ago that I was a student just like you.
When I wanted to raise my voice for Israel on my campus, and stand up for the Jewish people back then, that wasn't considered very cool.
But there is one big difference between me and you.
I didn't know there was an organization like the World Jewish Congress out there that would back me up.
And there weren't any Jewish leaders that really cared about what students faced or what they were thinking.
So know this. I understand your pain. I know what you are up against. And I promise you that I will read every single letter and email you send that comes across my desk.
I am with you. I care about you. And I want you to win this struggle more than you will ever know.
I want to end today with a remembrance.
Yesterday was Memorial Day here in the United States. And 2 weeks ago, Israel held its Memorial Day.
Both countries stopped to remember young men and women no older than many of you, who gave their lives so all us could be free.
They gave their lives so that we would live.
From Valley Forge, to Iwo Jima, to the liberation of the camps.
From Jerusalem, to Sinai, to Entebbe.
These young men and women demonstrated bravery and self-sacrifice.
The very least we can give them in return is to deal in truth and fight the lies that undermine us all.
God bless their memories. God bless you. And may God continue to bless the United States of America and the Jewish State of Israel.
