THEATER OF THE ABSURD

Whereas PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas received a standing ovation and frequent applause when he addressed the UN General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu received a cool reception and his speech was met with silence by the assembled delegates.

Netanyahu laid out the case against the Palestinian bid for UN statehood recognition and offered to meet with Abbas in New York ‘today’ to start negotiating for peace. "I'll tell you my needs and concerns. You'll tell me yours. And with God's help, we'll find the common ground of peace,” said Netanyahu.

Saying that he had come to speak the truth and not to win applause, Netanyahu labeled the UN as the “theater of the absurd” for its long history of condemning Israel for what it does to stay afloat in a stormy sea of enemies.

Here is an excerpt from the September 24 issue of The Jerusalem Post:

Netanyahu attacked the UN for its poor record on Israel, calling it the “theater of the absurd.”

“It doesn’t only cast Israel as the villain, it often casts real villains in leading roles,” said Netanyahu.

He reminded the UN that Libya under the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi had chaired the UN Commission on Human Rights and that Iraq under Saddam Hussein had headed the UN Committee on Disarmament.

“You might say: That's the past. Well, here's what's happening now -- right now, today. Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon now presides over the UN Security Council. This means, in effect, that a terror organization presides over the body entrusted with guaranteeing the world's security,” the prime minister explained.

The UN, Netanyahu said, has condemned Israel more than any other country, even though it is “the only true democracy in the Middle East.”

In 1975, the UN branded the Jewish yearning for a state in its biblical homeland as “racism.” In 1980 it denounced the peace treaty with Egypt.

“You couldn't make this thing up,” he exclaimed.

Now, Netanyahu said, “they have decided that the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Judaism’s holiest place, is occupied Palestinian territory.”