Internationally recognized Human Rights activist and former Soviet dissident, Natan Sharansky sat down in Jerusalem today to speak about the Iraq War, democracy and the fight against radical Islam with a gathering of American bloggers.
Sharansky is currently the chairman of the Shalem Center’s Institute for Strategic Studies as well as a distinguished fellow.
After spending nine years as a political prisoner in the Soviet gulags, Natan and his wife, Avital, moved from Russia to Jerusalem with their two daughters. Natan Sharansky served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, Minister of Housing and Construction since March, Interior Minister of Israel, Minister of Industry and Trade during his years in Israeli politics. He resigned from the cabinet in April 2005 to protest plans to withdraw Israeli communities from the contested Gaza Strip.
Here Natan Sharansky discusses the War in Iraq at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem:
During a meeting on Monday at the Jerusalem Shalem Center, human rights activist and former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky talked about the gullibility of the Western news services broadcasting from Iraq before the war. He explains that the mothers in Baghdad who swore on Western TV that their sons would die for Saddam strangely went missing after the war started. In similar vein, Natan says the Palestinian’s loved Arafat like the Soviet citizen’s loved Stalin.
They had no other choice but to love him.
President George W. Bush congratulates Natan Sharansky after honoring him with the 2006 Presidential Medal of Freedom during ceremonies Friday, Dec. 15, 2006, at the White House. Said the President, “Americans first came to know Natan Sharansky as a voice for freedom inside an empire of tyranny. As a free man, he’s become a political leader in Israel. He remains, above all, an eloquent champion for liberty and democracy. We honor Natan Sharansky for his life of courage and conviction.” (White House photo by Eric Draper)
Previously on Natan Sharansky:
Freedom Writer
Sharansky Resigns
A Blogger Teleconference with Natan Sharansky
Natan Sharansky Blogger Teleconference -2-
A Night Out With Jose Maria Aznar, Vaclav Haval & Natan Sharansky
