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Nov. 17, 2006
Clinton wows Ottawa crowd
Former U.S. president speaks at JNF dinner in Canadian capital.
EVA COHEN
Speaking at a Jewish National Fund dinner in Ottawa last week,
Bill Clinton honored the memory of Yitzhak Rabin.
The former president of the United States is well known as a supporter
of Israel. Although the night on which he spoke fell immediately
after his wife Hillary's success in the U.S. midterm elections,
Clinton also paid tribute to the late Israeli prime minister.
"Even though I am immensely proud of my wife and the victory
she won last night in New York – and profoundly grateful to
the people of our state for giving her another term and I'm happy
that all that traipsing around I did for my wife helped to produce
the results that it did," he said, "this is always a really
sad week for me, because Nov. 5th was the 11th anniversary of Yitzhak
Rabin's assassination, and I loved him so much.
"I am convinced that, had he lived, we would have had a lasting
peace in the Middle East ... because he had a hold, a sway, over
not just the mind but almost the psyche of the Palestinian leaders
that has never been equalled before or since," Clinton continued.
"They held him in a mixture of awe and respect and trust that
broke through all the otherwise self-defeating behavior that the
[Palestinian Liberation Organization] leadership under Yasser Arafat
repeatedly engaged in.
Clinton noted that Nov. 8, the date of his JNF talk, was the same
day he had spoken at the memorial service for Rabin 11 years earlier.
The atmosphere in the room was solemn as Clinton then spoke about
his time working on the Oslo peace process and the signing of the
accord by Rabin and Arafat at the White House in 1993. He lightened
up the mood a bit with his sincere reverence toward Rabin's positive
attitude and true wish for peace.
"'I know you didn't want to shake hands with him, Yitzhak,'
" Clinton recalled saying to Rabin. "But there were a
million people watching and he said, 'Well, I suppose you don't
make peace with your friends.'"
The current situation in Israel was also a passionate topic for
Clinton, who spoke for well over an hour and was very much at ease
with his audience.
"Look at the awful no-win situation Israel was put in in Lebanon,"
said Clinton. "What are you going to do, just let your soldiers
be picked up? Are you going to sit there while they shell you, and
if you fight back, they'll hide behind civilians, and you will look
bad? That's the mangly world of interdependence."
Since this was a JNF event, Clinton stepped away from Middle Eastern
politics to praise the work JNF has done over the years, not only
in tree planting, but also in water conservation. Clinton has been
involved in humanitarian and activism programs, such as rebuilding
areas like Sri Lanka, hit by the tsunamis, and the American Heart
Association, and impressed upon the audience present how important
organizations such as JNF are to the world.
The timing of the event was unique, since the elections for state
governors had taken place the day before.
"I think [my commitment] explains why I'm here even though
my wife was re-elected to the Senate last night and I didn't go
to bed until five o'clock in the morning," said Clinton. "I
am just barely standing here, but I'm honored to be here."
Clinton said it had been an interesting election in the United States,
"and clearly a call by the majority of people in the country
to take a new direction in Iraq." He mentioned his own opposition
to the United States entering Iraq before the United Nations had
completed its weapons inspection process.
Mark Mendelson, executive director for Eastern Canada, observed
that Clinton was, "brilliant, analytical and relaxed. He made
everyone feel as though they were his close and confident friends."
The dinner was honoring Stephen Victor, Q.C., a prominent member
of the Ottawa Jewish community and active supporter of Friends of
the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, of which he is past president.
This year's Negev Dinner Project, chosen by Victor, is a new botanical
garden at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Eva Cohen is a journalism student at Carleton University
in Ottawa.
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