Speech at the Signing Ceremony for the Israel-Jordan
Peace Treaty
(October 26, 1994)
King Hussein, President Weizman, Prime Minister Rabin,
Prime Minister Majali, Crown Prince Hassan, Foreign Minister Peres,
Foreign Minister Kozyrev, Mr. Secretary of State; to the people of Jordan
and Israel, with a special thanks to those who are our cheering section
up there—[laughter]—we thank you all.
At the dawn of this peace of a generation, in this
ancient place we celebrate the history and the faith of Jordanians and
Israelis. But we break the chains of the past that for too long have
kept you shackled in the shadows of strife and suffering. We thank those
who have worked for peace before. We celebrate the efforts of brave
leaders who saw the bright horizon of this dawn, even while the darkness
lingered.
This vast bleached desert hides great signs of life.
Today we see the proof of it, for peace between Jordan and Israel is
no longer a mirage. It is real. It will take root in this soil. It will
grow to great heights and shelter generations to come.
Today we honor the constant and devoted work of two
courageous leaders, two who have risked everything so that their children
and their children's children need fight nor fear no more.
King Hussein, today in this arid place, you bring to
full flower the memory of the man who taught you to seek peace, your
grandfather, King Abdullah. When he was martyred four decades ago, he
left you with a great burden and a great dream. He believed that one
day, on both sides of the River Jordan, Arab and Jew would live in peace.
How bravely you have shouldered that burden and carried that dream.
Now after so much danger and so much hardship, Your Majesty, your day
has come. Truly, you have fulfilled your grandfather's legacy.
Prime Minister Rabin, you have spent a lifetime as
a soldier, fighting first to establish your country and then for so
long to defend it. For a lifetime, you have fought with skill and tenacity
and courage, simply to achieve a secure and lasting peace for your people.
Now you have given them the hope of life after the siege. In your own
words, you have now given them the challenge to furnish the house of
Israel and make it a home. As a general, you have won many battles through
strength and courage. But now, through strength and courage, you command
the army of peace, and you have won the greatest victory of all. We
salute you.
As has been said before, this treaty is the product
of many hands. Crown Prince Hassan and Foreign Minister Peres know better
than any of us that peace does not spring full-grown. It requires cultivation.
It requires patience and care. We salute their devotion and persistence,
and the wise and determined counsel of Secretary Christopher. We are
in all their debt, and we thank them.
I say to the people of Israel and Jordan: Now you must
make this peace real, to turn no-man's land into every man's home, to
take down the barbed wire, to remove the deadly mines, to help the wounds
of war to heal. Open your borders. Open your hearts. Peace is more than
an agreement on paper. It is feeling. It is activity. It is devotion.
The forces of terror will try to hold you back. Already
they take deadly aim at the future of peace. In their zeal to kill hope
and keep hatred alive, they would deny all that peace can bring to your
children. We cannot, we must not, we will not let them succeed.
The United States stands with you. Since President
Truman first recognized Israel, we have wished for and worked for comprehensive
peace between Israel and all of her neighbors. On behalf of all Americans,
including millions of Jewish and Arab Americans for whom this day means
so much, I thank you for trusting America to help you arrive at this
moment. The American people are very proud of the opportunity we have
had.
And now let the work of progress bear fruit. Here at
the first of many crossing points to be open, people from every corner
of the Earth will soon come to share in the wonders of your lands. There
are resources to be found in the desert, minerals to be drawn from the
sea, water to be separated from salt and used to fertilize the fields.
Here where slaves in ancient times were forced to take their chisels
to the stone, the Earth, as the Koran says, will stir and swell and
bring forth life. The desert, as Isaiah prophesied, shall rejoice and
blossom.
Here your people will drink water from the same well
and savor together the fruit of the vine. As you seize this moment,
be assured that you will redeem every life sacrificed along the long
road that brought us to this day. You will take the hatred out of hearts,
and you will pass along to your children a peace for the generations.
Your Majesty, Mr. Prime Minister, here in the great
Rift Valley you have bridged the tragic rift that separated your people
for too long. Here in this region, which is the home of not only both
your faiths but mine, I say: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall
inherit the Earth.
Note: The President spoke at approximately 1:50 p.m.
at the Wadi Araba border crossing. In his remarks, he referred to King
Hussein,
Crown Prince Hassan, and Prime Minister Abd al-Salam
al-Majali of Jordan;
President Ezer Weizman,
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin,
and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres of Israel;
and Foreign Minister Andrey Kozyrev of Russia.
Sources: Public Papers of the President |