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1994-05-12
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<text>
<title>Israeli Official Peres on Accord: "Today a Commitment"</title>
<article>
<hdr>
Foreign Broadcast Information Service, September 14, 1993
Israeli Official Peres on Accord: "Today a Commitment"
</hdr>
<body>
<p> [Address by Foreign Minister Shim'om Peres during the
signing ceremony of the Israel-PLO agreement at the White House
in Washington--live, in English]
</p>
<p> [Text] Mr. President, your excellencies, ladies and
gentlemen:
</p>
<p> Mr. President, I would like to thank you and the great
American people for peace and support. Indeed, I would like to
thank all those who have made this day possible. What we are
doing today is more than signing an agreement, it is a
revolution. Yesterday a dream; today a commitment. The Israeli
and the Palestinian peoples, who fought each other for almost a
century, have agreed to move decisively on the path of dialogue,
understanding, and cooperation.
</p>
<p> We live in an ancient land, and as our land is small, so
must our reconciliation be great. As our wars have been long, so
must our healing be swift. Deep gaps call for lofty bridges.
</p>
<p> I want to tell the Palestinian delegation that we are
sincere, that we mean business. We do not seek to shape your
life or determine your destiny. Let all of us turn from bullets
to ballots, from guns to shovels. We shall pray with you, we
shall offer you our help in making Gaza prosper and Jericho
blossom again. [applause]
</p>
<p> As we have promised, we shall negotiate with you a
permanent settlement and with all our neighbors a comprehensive
peace, peace for all. [applause]
</p>
<p> We shall support the agreement with an economic structure.
We shall convert the bitter of triangle of Jordanians,
Palestinians, and Israelis into a triangle of political triumph
and economic prosperity. [applause]
</p>
<p> We shall lower our barriers and widen our roads, so goods
and guests will be able to move freely all over the places, holy
and other places.
</p>
<p> This should be another genesis. We have to build a new
commonwealth on our old soil, a Middle East of the people and a
Middle East for the children. For their sake we must put an end
to the waste of arms race and invest our resources in education.
[applause]
</p>
<p> Ladies and gentlemen, two parallel tragedies have unfolded.
Let us become a civic community. Let us bid once and for all
farewell to wars, to threats, to human misery. Let us bid
farewell to enmity, and may there be no more victims on either
side. [applause]
</p>
<p> Let us build a Middle East of hope, where today's food is
produced and tomorrow's prosperity is guaranteed. A region with
a common market, a Near East with a long-range agenda. We owe it
to our fallen soldiers, to the memories of the victims of the
Holocaust. Our heart today grieves for the lost life of young
and innocent people yesterday, in our own country. Let their
memory be our foundation we are establishing today, a memory of
peace on fresh and old tombs. [applause]
</p>
<p> Suffering is first of all human. We also feel for the
innocent loss of Palestinian life. We begin a new day. The day
may be long and the challenges enormous. Our calendar must meet
an intensive schedule.
</p>
<p> Mr. President, historically you are presiding over a most
promising day in the very long history of our region, of our
people. I thank all of you, ladies and gentlemen, and let's pray
together. Let's add hope to determination. As all of us since
Abraham believe in freedom, in peace, in the blessing of our
great land and great spirit.
</p>
<p> From eternal Jerusalem, from the White House lawn, let us
pray: Peace, peace to the far and to the near, says the Lord;
and I will heal him. [previous sentence in Hebrew, from the book
of Isaiah, chapter 58, verse 19]
</p>
<p> From the eternal city of Jerusalem, from this green
promising lawn of the White House, let's say together in the
language of our Bible: Peace, peace to him that is far off, and
to him that is near, said the Lord; and I will heal him. Thank
you. [applause]
</p>
</body>
</article>
</text>