YouSaid · the spoken record

Levy

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS LEVY

lines on the record: 42
first: 1990-09-24
most recent: 1991-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“For us, the Jewish people, it is also the beginning of a new year, when we exchange the traditional blessing: "May the outgoing year sweep away its maledictions, and may the new year bring with it blessings for all mankind."”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“Last week, President Bush appealed to this Assembly to abrogate the cynical and deplorable resolution which equates Zionism with racism. The President aptly described the unique character of the Zionist movement and its spiritual and humanitarian values. More and more representatives of nations are joining his appeal, guided by this great historical truth. This appeal will continue to reverberate both within this Hall and outside it until the repeal, in the near future, of that resolution, which constitutes a calumny on this Organisation and a disgrace to it. This session stands on the threshold of a new hope. People the world over aspire for an end to hardship and suffering and for the beginning, at last, of an era full of promise and hope.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“Wherever tyranny has raged and our people have been persecuted, assistance came from Israel, bringing them back to their national homeland in freedom and security. In the aftermath of the Second World War, Israel took in hundreds of thousands of our brethren who had survived in Europe as well as hundreds of thousands from Arab countries and elsewhere, escaping discrimination and persecution. These very days we are witnessing a phenomenon stirring in its enormity - that of the return of Jews from the Soviet Union and from Ethiopia to their ancestral homeland. The Zionist movement is colour-blind. The distinction between colours is alien to Zionism. That is why it has been proven that Zionism is tolerant and liberal par excellence.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“In Israel, for several generations we have witnessed a revival in the life of a nation which has brought to the world values of peace, liberty and justice. These principles are the essence of the law of the Jewish people and of its universal message. The Jewish people is the only people ever to have been exiled again and again, with its faith in its return to its homeland remaining unshaken. Bach time, mankind has benefited from the spiritual assets and values of justice which have accompanied the revival of the Jewish people in its ancestral land. The return to Zion in our own times, which has been the objective of the Zionist movement, has resulted in a gathering in Israel of the Jewish people from all over the world.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“Israel is a small country, poor in natural resources and material riches, but it has its faith. It faces the tremendous challenge of absorbing every year hundreds of thousands of new immigrants, who flock to it from many countries. However, in the process of building a new society and developing its economy, Israel has, over the past 40 years, accumulated considerable knowledge and experience in agriculture, technology, medicine and science, as well as in organisation and management. Israel has for many years placed its knowledge at the disposal of developing countries. The result of this mission which we have taken upon ourselves has been decades of cooperation and assistance to 96 countries.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“But in many States of the third world, especially in Africa, hunger, disease and misery are still on the rise. The growing birth rate has led to a population explosion and has aggravated the shortage of essential foodstuffs. In extensive areas the desert has reclaimed arable land and pasture land. Hundreds of thousands of people are falling victim to starvation and epidemics. All this is happening at the end of the twentieth century, a century that has seen unprecedented scientific, technological and medical achievements. In an era in which borderlines between East and West are becoming blurred, the developed countries must seek to bridge the huge gaps between the living standards of the northern and southern hemispheres. We must lend an attentive ear, especially to the heart-rending appeals for help from the African continent.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“Do not give up the opportunity for progress and well-being for your own countries for the illusory dream of destroying Israel. "Israel draws its strength from its historic and moral right to a safe existence in its own country. Set out with us on the path of peace. Think of your children, as we think of ours. For they were born not for war, to be killed, but to live." The far-reaching changes that have occurred in the struggle between blocs in the world have also been accompanied by positive changes in Africa. Some internal wars have ended, and others we hope are about to end. The process of African States' attaining their independence has been completed. The apartheid regime in South Africa is nearing its end. A wind of democracy has blown through many African States, inspiring a progressive evolution.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“This is why Israel has agreed to become a party to the convention to eliminate chemical weapons, while maintaining the principle of universality. For the convention to be effective all States of the region must become party to it. The term "weapons of mass destruction" is no mere technical phrase. Every type of weapon - including conventional - that entails a threat of the indiscriminate destruction of large numbers of people falls, in our view, into the category of "weapons of mass destruction". Arms control must therefore include conventional weaponry as well. On the eve of the convening of a regional peace conference, I appeal from this rostrum to the leaders of the Arab States. I say "Stop the insane arms race in weapons of extermination. Abandon all destructive impulses. Put an end to blind hatred. Do not waste your resources.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“The bitter arms race in the Gulf and the Middle East has brought many tragedies to the peoples of the region. It is responsible for the poverty and misery of millions of human beings and for the wars which have broken out in our region over and over again in the latter half of this century. The arms race has drained the resources of the different States to the detriment of the welfare of their citizens. The potential means of destruction amassed by cruel dictators with limitless ambitions is a proven recipe for the outbreak of wars. Our region has also known the use of chemical weapons, which Saddam Hussein used against his own people as well as against his Iranian enemy. The elimination of chemical weapons everywhere, and especially in the Middle East, is of supreme importance.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“These principles have strengthened the foundations of the peace process in which we have been engaged since the cease-fire in the Gulf. Since its establishment Israel has tirelessly sought to talk peace with its neighbours. In the aftermath of each of the ware that was forced upon us Israel has appealed to the Arab States to conduct direct talks with it, with no prior conditions, to attain a true and lasting peace. It seems that this appeal will now at last be answered. In a few weeks we shall, I hope, meet in face-to-face discussions with our neighbours in order to lay the foundations of a better future for our peoples and our coming generations. Israel is convinced that the sufferings of our war-torn region will be brought to an end, not as a result of any balance of terror, but of the benefits that peace will bring.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“In January 1991 we presented a consolidated formula of five principles designed to promote the peace process: first, an end to the state of war between the Arab States and Israel, with a view to the signing of a peace treaty; secondly, reduction and control of the arms race; thirdly, direct negotiations, without preconditions, between Israel and its neighbours, with a view to the signing of peace agreements between Israel and each of the Arab States; fourthly, the simultaneous start of a resolution of the Palestinian problem, to be carried out in stages by us and the residents of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, in a joint framework with Jordan; and, fifthly, the drafting of joint programmes for regional development, with international aid, in areas such as water, the environment, electricity, solar energy, agriculture, health, transportation and the infrastructure.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“It has been clearly established that Israel is the only country in the world under a permanent tangible, physical threat to its very existence - a threat that has brought upon it six wars in the four decades of its existence. States that were themselves involved in the Gulf crisis have now come to understand, perhaps for the first time, the logic of Israel's insistence on a peace ensuring its security and the well-being of its inhabitants.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“The international community has come to understand Israel's position as the bastion of genuine democracy in a dangerous and violent region. The events of the past year have made enlightened States world-wide re-evaluate the character of the Israeli-Arab conflict in the light of this correct political and historical perspective. Many countries realise today that the root causes of this bitter conflict, which has lasted decades, lie in the refusal of the Arab States - excluding Egypt - to recognise the existence of Israel and to accept its independence and sovereignty. It is this intransigence that has been the source of the wars imposed on Israel.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“The United Nations inspection commissions have, one after the other, uncovered his lies and discovered the hidden stocks of non-conventional weapons he sought to conceal. Saddam Hussein is attempting to keep the world in ignorance of his revived military power, but the world, under the determined leadership of the United States, is not turning a blind eye to the facts, and will not permit the tyranny of Saddam Hussein to survive. Last September, from this rostrum, I warned that Israel was about to become the target of attacks by Saddam Hussein in a war in which it was not involved, and to which it was not a party. And indeed Israel came under missile attack. It clenched its fists and gritted its teeth in refraining from any counter-attack, so as not to upset the international coalition.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“The billows of black smoke that rose from hundreds of oil wells across the Kuwaiti desert are a living and tangible illustration of the evil genie that had escaped from its bottle, throwing a huge pall over entire continents. Tyranny - and the tyrant - displayed an undreamed-of vitality. Saddam Hussein has not been removed from the world scene. His defeated people have not rejected him. The Kurdish revolt has been brutally suppressed, leaving in its wake hundreds of thousands of homeless refugees. The scale of military strength that Saddam Hussein has retained is now revealed as a renewed and genuine threat to the region. The Iraqi tyrant continues to scheme against and deceive the rest of the world.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“They stood against them unarmed, like a human banner, and the soldiers did not shoot. The army held its fire, faced as it was with the spirit of freedom that had taken root even among its own ranks. When the muse of freedom sang, the guns fell silent. That is the lesson the world has drawn from the crisis of August 1991. Yet it learned another bitter and rapid lesson from the Persian Gulf crisis of August 1990. It learned how short-sighted it had been in supplying, over the years and without any controls, vast quantities of weapons to a dictatorial regime. It has learned just how terrifying can be the combination of military power and a lack of inhibition regarding its use. The chameleon that had bemused the entire enlightened world turned into a lethal python that wound itself around mankind's neck.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“"When one saves a human life it is as if one has saved all of humanity," runs an ancient Jewish saying. These basic truisms have thrust themselves to the fore during recent years, when a new dawn has broken in the Soviet Union and in the countries of Eastern Europe. Seventy years of an oppressive regime could not suppress man's spirit of freedom. That spirit has arisen anew and broken its chains after three generations of independence denied. Now that the wind of freedom has been liberated no power on Earth can ever return it to captivity. We saw this with our own eyes in the 70 hours of the abortive coup in the Soviet Union. We could have anticipated the end of that coup from the moment a small group of citizens first appeared in the streets of Moscow to face the approaching tanks.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“Our lesson from the two recent crises is that there is an unequivocal link between the nature of political regimes and the peace and stability of the world. Democratic government is based on the recognition of civil liberties and on respect for the sovereignty of other nations. Democracy is the natural condition of a healthy society. It would be the preferred system for all mankind, were it free to choose. Man was born to freedom; it is part of his intrinsic nature. He was born to live, not to fight wars; to create, not to destroy. The spirit of freedom is embedded in the human intellect and the law of the jungle is alien to it. Therein lies the superiority of man over creatures that are devoid of the power of choice. "Live and let live" is the voice of human reason.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“Future historians will undoubtedly cast more light on these two grim chapters in the closing years of this century from an appropriate perspective. But we, representatives of Governments, do not have the time to indulge in the luxury of observing events passively, as historians can do. We are making history, not writing it, making history here and now. It is incumbent upon us as representatives of responsible Governments to mould current events in a spirit of respect for the values our democratic regimes represent, and aspiring to a world order based on universal freedoms. We must draw the correct conclusions and apply the lessons of the crises of the past year and bequeath to all mankind a code of conduct, thus ensuring that our world will no longer be exposed to insane outbursts of tyranny.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“Let me begin by congratulating Ambassador Shihabi on his election to the office of President of the forty-sixth session of the General Assembly, which I hope will be crowned with success. I also take this opportunity to congratulate the Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Peres de Cuellar, on his endeavours and his valuable contribution to the promotion of world peace and understanding among nations. In this era of heightened expectations of freedom and of peace among nations, the threat of despotism has not yet disappeared from the world. This Assembly convenes in the aftermath of two crises that threatened human freedoms and that aroused profound concern throughout the enlightened international community.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“Israel must assiduously safeguard its security and its future, with the same degree of resolve and determination with which it safeguards its principles and values and strives to achieve peace. In the spirit of Yom Kippur, this day of forgiveness, the holiest of the holy days for the Jewish people, let our prayer be raised from this rostrum: May the Lord give strength unto His people - and to all mankind. May the Lord bless all peoples, including the people of Israel, and give them peace. With this prayer in our holy language, I now draw to a close my statement, my remarks and my appeal, in the hope that the appeal will be heeded and will lead to a new era of construction, an era of confidence, of understanding, expectation and co-operation among all peoples, particularly the peoples of the Middle East.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“It constitutes also its message to humanity. The attainment of peace is the loftiest aspiration of every Jewish person. It is an integral part of his daily prayers. It is the word used both for greeting and farewell. When we meet each other we shake hands and say shalom. meaning peace. We say that it is the Creator of the universe Himself who makes peace reign. It is even one of His glories. It is written: "We who makes peace in the heavens, may We make peace upon us." This longing for peace has always characterized the people of Israel. And it is with this ethos, today as in ancient times, that Israel's hand is extended in peace to all nations. Israel is one of the few countries against which war has been wag@£ continuously since its creation.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“The Organisation, the community of nations, envisioned as a place of freedom and independence, is overshadowed by a heavy cloud which formed with the passing of the nefarious resolution comparing Zionism with racism. That resolution - which dares to treat as a racist movement the liberation movement of a people, which, more than any other, has suffered from racism - has become one of the most flagrantly racist propositions of modern times. That resolution sullies the Charter of the United Nations. For several generations, the people of Israel - which proclaimed to humanity the universal message of peace - has devoted its efforts to bringing about the national renaissance on the land of Israel. The word shalom - peace - represents the essence of all that has been revealed to the people of Israel.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“There has emerged in the Soviet Union a bold, wise and realistic statesman, who has initiated a dramatic turning-point in his country. The walls of hostility between regimes and peoples have finally been dismantled. We are following this course with hope - hope for the Soviet people, for Europe, for ourselves and for mankind as a whole. This transformation has freed liberty and democracy from its chains. In Israel too we are happy about this transformation, which has enabled our people to return to Zion. We are grateful to the democratic Governments of the world, and especially to Presidents Reagan and Bush, who, by their devotion, have contributed to opening the gates of freedom.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“The Soviet Union has unbolted the gates and allowed Jews to return to their ancestral land, a wondrous vision is unfolding before our very eyes: tens of thousands of Jews are regaining their national identity and rejoining their brethren in their homeland. This historic process is one of the fruits of the transformation taking place in Europe. The ideals of freedom at the basis of respect for human rights and dignity have finally been accepted in the East. Democracy is dawning on the horizon. The Western countries that have adhered to the principles of freedom and democracy have made a significant contribution to this development, as has the firm resolve of successive Presidents of the United States to impart those principles to the peoples of the world.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“More than 300 Palestinians have been murdered by the PLO in the wake of Israel's peace initiative, in an attempt to impose a reign of fear and terror, using the same methods as the PLO's ally Saddam Hussein. We shall continue to combat terrorism and we reject its perpetrators as interlocutors. But that should not debar the peaceful forces among the Palestinians from joining us forthwith at the negotiating table to further the peace initiative that we have proposed. It is good for them; it is good for us; it is good for the whole region; it is good for the entire world. These days Israel is adding a new chapter to the epic of its national regeneration.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Israel is determined to continue its efforts to ensure the realisation of its peace initiative. In Israel’s peace initiative the right has been offered to the Palestinian inhabitants of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza district to join as negotiating partners with Israel in determining their destiny and future. This right was never given to the Palestinians by any of the former empires or regimes, including Jordan. It is the PLO which has been, and continues to be, the obstacle to the fulfilment of this unprecedented opportunity. It is the PLO that cot only carries out repeated acts of terrorism against Israeli civilians, but also brutally murders Palestinians.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“We shall share with our neighbours our experience, our expertise and our technological advances in such fields as solar energy, innovative irrigation techniques and modern agricultural methods, as well as plans for developing road and other communication infrastructures. In so doing we shall meet the challenges of disease, famine and poverty. Together we shall work for the reintegration of the refugees, whose profound misery is the price of the rejection of peace. If only the Arab states were prepared to foreswear the state of war and embark on the road to peace, they would contribute - I are sure - to finding a solution to the Palestinian problem. In Israel's peace initiative of May 1989, much political and practical thought was given to the ways of grappling with both those challenges.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“First and foremost, the States of the region should proclaim forthwith the termination of the state of war and should meet, as Israel has proposed many times in the past, in the context of a conference on disarming the Middle East of chemical and other weapons. Israel extends to its neighbours an offer of broad co-operation to ensure the prosperity and well-being of our peoples and alleviate the suffering of millions of human beings. Israel is prepared to make available to its neighbours the expertise and experience it has acquired, particularly in desalinating sea water and making the deserts flourish.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Such measures could induce a gradual reduction in hostilities and tensions and the cessation of hostile rhetoric, belligerence and terrorism. That is the, path recently followed by the East and West blocs in achieving the rapprochement that made a significant contribution to reducing the hostilities between the two blocs and led to the collapse of the barriers separating them. A similar process forged the route to the peace agreements between Israel and Egypt. Should a complete and immediate solution to the dispute prove impossible to achieve, let us build peace step by step. Each step will contribute to the enhancement of mutual understanding, the easing of tensions and the consolidation of good-neighbourly relations.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Can we tolerate the continued existence in the Middle East of a "sand curtain", setting that region apart from a world marching towards peace? Since Israel achieved its independence in 1948 and was invaded by seven Arab States in an attempt to destroy it, Israel has never ceased extending to those countries the offer of peace. Today more than ever before peace is a vital necessity for all the countries of the region. In that spirit, I appeal once again to the leaders of the Arab countries to settle this protracted dispute through direct negotiations, free from all shackles and pre-conditions. To advance this process, it would be appropriate to initiate and encourage mutual confidence-building measures.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“(Leviticus, 2616) At a time when the cold war is ending and being replaced by an ardent desire for co-operation, a period in which the international community has come to regard the toppling of the Berlin Hall as a symbol of a new era in relations between peoples and Governments, the international community can no longer countenance the continued existence of the solid wall of Arab hostility encircling Israel to stifle that only truly democratic country in the Middle East. Such a state of affairs must no longer be accepted as a foregone conclusion. It is not a law of nature. This blind hostility by Arab Governments towards Israel should not be allowed to fester as an eternal curse. The Iron Curtain is collapsing in Europe.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“The awesome toll of this futile and unnecessary undertaking has been and is - but I hope it will not continue to be - the loss of human life, the abandonment of the prospects of development and socio-economic prosperity for the region as a whole and the perpetuation of self-destructive hostility. Today, a great cry of distress is being heard. From this region of the world, which bestowed upon humanity the Book of Books, the Koran and the New Testament, emanates the cry of humanity and its pleas for mercy, expressed in the prayer of every Jew: "And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid".”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“The latest developments in the Middle East provide us with yet another opportunity to assess and evaluate the Arab-Israeli conflict in the appropriate historical and political light. For decades the underlying causes of this protracted and bitter dispute have stemmed from the refusal of the Arab States, with the exception of Egypt, to recognise the right of Israel to exist. This uncompromising Arab position has been the cause of successive wars imposed on Israel and has manifested itself in venomous anti-Israel propaganda, economic boycotts, acts of terrorism and blatant acts of aggression. For two generations Arab countries have squandered their natural resources, their wealth and their peoples' well-being in a continuous, all-embracing arms race, with Israel as the target.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“He cocks a gun at Israel's heart, in the hope of extricating himself from punishment in keeping with international law. The free world should know that Israel will not sacrifice its security as the price of United Nations decisions aimed at safeguarding their economic well-being and freedom. Israel will know how to defend itself if attacked, and its response will be harsh and painful. This reality, however, does not absolve the international community from the responsibility of taking firm measures to put an end to this regime which is threatening the stability of the entire region and runs the risk of undermining the world economy. We are witnessing an unfolding drama. The United Nations should not allow this drama to be enshrined in the annals of history as a tragedy.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“We was the one who invaded Kuwait, who was on the brink of launching an assault and perhaps even of annexing Saudi Arabia and who now threatens to shell and destroy all the oil sources of the Arabian peninsula. He has trampled upon the sovereignty of nations, and placed the global economy in danger. All the efforts made to achieve global peace, which have already found expression in the rapprochement between nations and political systems, are now overshadowed by a terrible genie which could spew out of the oil wells of the world in pillars of smoke that will eclipse the sun. At this time, as the General Assembly of the United Nations is in session, Saddam Hussein threatens to attack Israel and bring about its destruction in retaliation for United Nations solutions or resolutions.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“That man, who stops at nothing, has already proved to the world his willingness to employ chemical weapons, using them against his own Kurdish countrymen. He has exposed his ruthlessness to the world by sacrificing the lives of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Iranians in a futile and nonsensical war which he unleashed against Iran for 8 years. This chilling military might devoid of any morality catapults the world back to the nightmare years of the 1930s and 1940s. On the eve of his invasion of Kuwait Saddam Hussein threatened to destroy Israel if Israel should attack Iraq or any other Arab country. But he was fully aware that Israel had no intention of attacking Iraq or any other Arab country. As we know, he himself was the one who attacked Iran, and who decimated many of his own people, the Iraqi Kurds.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“From Europe and Latin America, from East and West, came the transfer to Iraq's dictator of technological expertise and the means for the development of terrible chemical weapons, which he threatens to use, in accordance with norms of war more brutal and vicious than the laws of the jungle, as he has himself admitted. Private corporations in the West continued to supply him with the knowledge and technology for his efforts which almost reached fruition; the possession of the nuclear weapon. By their own actions, all those countries contributed to this terrible and pernicious machine which threatens them today. That megalomaniac tyrant, incapable of weighing his actions rationally, does not subscribe to the logic of balance of terror.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“As members know, that action was not universally welcomed. Today, however, the world realizes that the far-reaching military arm of Israel was guided by a far-sighted political outlook. The situation in the region, and even that of mankind as a whole, would have been different had Saddam Hussein been in possession of a nuclear bomb today. For 10 years the free world continued to shore up and consolidate Saddam Hussein's power. He was provided with quantities of all kinds of weaponry. The Arab countries themselves - including Kuwait - placed at his disposal enormous financial resources to fund the building of his engine of destruction.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“The proposition also ignored the fact that this violence-prone and conflict-ridden region became, increasingly, a global sieve for the surpluses of arms. Certain States in this region are run by autocratic rulers driven by fanaticism. This combination of destructive capabilities at the disposal of rulers with destructive inclinations has created ominous threats to the peace and security of the region and the world. These are the factors which engendered the crisis in the Persian Gulf. For many years the countries of the world assisted in the military build-up of Iraq. They believed that in so doing they were contributing to the containment of Khomeini's Iran. East and West alike inadvertently created a horrific and dangerous monster. In 1981 Israel destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“In Western Europe, the crystallization of the Community of Europe into a powerful and cohesive alliance of nations continues, transcending barriers and unifying hearts and nations. The enlightened leadership of that great democracy - the United States - reaps the fruits of its victory: the ascendancy, across continents, of the values of liberty and respect for humankind. A widespread perception has held sway for decades, contending that the thawing of hostilities between East and West would usher in the attainment of global peace. Ostensibly, the consecration of this thaw enhanced the prospect that the world was, indeed, on the threshold of an epoch which would render war obsolete. This optimistic supposition failed to take into account the true and feckless nature of some Middle Eastern and Persian Gulf regimes.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Mr. President, I would like to congratulate you, at the outset, on your election to the presidency of the forty-fifth session of the General Assembly and to wish you every success. I would also like to congratulate the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, for his continuous and outstanding endeavours in the service of world peace and accommodation among nations. We live in an era of sweeping aspirations for freedom, liberty, and the establishment of peace among nations. At the same time, it is a period in which tyranny rears its head, trampling cherished values of humanity while grinding into dust the sovereignty of nations. In Eastern Europe, the fabric of a new spring of nations is being woven before our eyes.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)