JStone
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- Jun 29, 2011
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John F. Kennedy
Massachussets Institute of Technology [MIT]
When the first Zionist conference met in 1897, Palestine was a neglected wasteland
I first saw Palestine in 1939. There the neglect and ruin left by centuries of Ottoman [Muslim] misrule were slowly being transformed by miracles of [Jewish] labor and sacrifice. But Palestine was still a land of promise in 1939, rather than a land of fulfillment. I returned in 1951 to see the grandeur of Israel
I left with the conviction that the United Nations may have conferred on Israel the credentials of nationhood; but its own idealism and courage, its own sacrifice and generosity, had earned the credentials of immortality.
Israel was not created in order to disappear - Israel will endure and flourish. It is the child of hope and the home of the brave. It can neither be broken by adversity nor demoralized by success. It carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom; and no area of the world has ever had an overabundance of democracy and freedom.
It is worth remembering, too, that Israel is a cause that stands beyond the ordinary changes and chances of American public life. In our pluralistic society, it has not been a Jewish cause - any more than Irish independence was solely the concern of Americans of Irish descent. The ideals of Zionism have, in the last half century, been repeatedly endorsed by Presidents and Members of Congress from both parties. Friendship for Israel is not a partisan matter. It is a national commitment.
The original Zionist philosophy has always maintained that the people of Israel would use their national genius not for selfish purposes but for the enrichment and glory of the entire Middle East. The earliest leaders of the Zionist movement spoke of a Jewish state which would have no military power and which would be content with victories of the spirit
The technical skills and genius of Israel have already brought their blessings to Burma and to Ethiopia. Still other nations in Asia and in Africa are eager to benefit from the special skills available in that bustling land
John F. Kennedy: Speech by Senator John F. Kennedy, Zionists of America Convention, Statler Hilton Hotel, New York, NY
Massachussets Institute of Technology [MIT]
As a world leader in science and technology, Israel excels in such areas as genetics, medicine, agriculture, computer sciences, electronics, optics, and engineering. Scientists at Israeli universities such as Bar Ilan University, Ben Gurion University, Haifa University, Hebrew University, The Technion--Israel Institute of Technology, Tel Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute of Science are pioneers in areas such as stem cell-based tissue engineering, nanotechnology, high-resolution electron microscopy, and solar energy. Israeli companies have developed such diverse products as the first anti-virus package, technologies that allow you to leave voice mail on mobile phones, and stents that save lives by keeping the arteries to the heart open.
MISTI MIT-Israel