President
Bill Clinton at
Museum of Jewish Heritage
dinner. |
MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE
Bill Clinton Calls for Change
In Palestinian Leadership
Story by Tim Boxer
Photo by
Nina Boxer
asked Ed Koch what he thought of Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon’s proposal to banish the families of suicide bombers
from their homes, as a deterrent to terrorism. Some thinkers have
even called for the death of parents who encourage their children to
blow themselves up in order to kill Jews.
“You can’t just kill the mother for giving
birth to a suicide bomber,” the former New York mayor replied.
“But if you tie them to the crime, then you
have a case. You can prosecute them as accessories. They can be held
accountable and punished.
We talked at the sixth annual dinner of the
Museum of Jewish Heritage at the Waldorf-Astoria, where guest
speaker Bill Clinton stood in for his wife who was too busy
being a senator.
“I always love being with Koch,” Clinton
said.
Picking up on the suicide bombers, the former
president said, “People have been ill served by leaders who
sanction suicide bombers. It’s the darkest, most twisted thing a
people could do. We cannot allow madness. We will have to have a
change in leadership among the Palestinians.”
Clinton told of his recent visit to Dubai where
the king said, “I do not condone suicide bombing. I wonder what
will happen to their souls. It’s against our religion. What can I
do about it?”
“Say it in public,” Clinton urged the king.
New York City District Attorney Robert
Morgenthau, museum chairman, honored Irving Schneider, a
museum trustee and head of Helmsley-Spear realty.
“When I want to know what happens next
week,” Morgenthau quipped, “I call Irving. He is a week older
than I am.”
The guest of honor, who built children’s
hospitals on Long Island and Israel, explained his deep commitment
to the Jewish people:
“My mother and father came from Ukraine, not
knowing a word of English. I could have been a victim of the
Holocaust.”
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