Gideon Hausner Quotes
No one can demand that you be neutral toward the crime of genocide. If there is a judge in the whole world who can be neutral toward this crime, that judge is not fit to sit in judgment.
Defending the legality of Israel to try Adolf Eichmann:
Gideon Hausner, Israel Supreme Court Justice, Quoted in New York Times, June 27, 1961
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The Iran President seemed to be irrational at times. He was also very hostile to democracies—none of which were acceptable to him. But he was the only leader of a member nation of the UN who ever called for the extermination of another UN member state. He called for the State of Israel to be “wiped off the map.”
The Armenians were victims of ethnic cleansing where some were chased out and others killed.
He was referring to the police interrogation methods that Turkey had used in the past but was in the process of reforming.
The speech is traditionally written by the government.
This political issue has been in contention in every major world power since the Roman Empire. There has always been a division between hard liners and others. At issue is whether the nation should defend and or take up the cause of any national, individual, corporation, ideals even against a foreign country who may object to the behavior or use their own legal system to punish violators of their local laws. Failure to do so, they have argued over the years, makes the power appear weak and will invite further insult and transgressions. They claim that the government’s duty is always to protect its citizens from foreign elements regardless of whether the citizen’s behavior is right or wrong, reasonable or unreasonable, honest or dishonest. Also, this view holds that the nation should NEVER apologize as this makes it seem weak. These people have argued that it is the obverse of “My Country, Right or Wrong” and should be “Our Citizens, Right or Wrong”. On the other side, it is claimed that defending citizens or institutions that are clearly in the wrong not only is morally and ethically improper, but by being so indiscriminate, it weakens the nation’s power and credibility when it later wants to defend its citizens who are in the right and are being railroaded and discriminated against. And an apology, if the individual and institution has been in the wrong or caused harm and damage, is the proper thing to do and will often resolve matters and this is the best outcome often for the erring individual or institution. It is such a universal political issue of contention, that in the 2012 Presidential Campaign Mitt Romney had castigated President Barack Obama for apologizing to the African Nations for forcing their ancestors into American Slavery, even though Romney was very much opposed to slavery. It was the apology that makes America seem weak. The other side is that the apology shows that America has strong democratic principles and occasionally falls short, and when it does so, it acknowledges and corrects it setting a democratic example for all.
Gideon Hausner was an Israeli jurist and politician. Between 1960 and 1963, he served as Attorney General and was later elected to the Knesset and served in the cabinet.
