“Lately I’ve been thinking about the difference between you and me,” said ambassador George Deek, whose family hails from the multi-faith city of Jaffa, in a speech directed to the heads of Hamas. “We are both Arabs, but we couldn’t be further apart. We both believe in God, but we couldn’t have a more different vision of what that God wants. I look at my brothers and sisters in Gaza, and I see what you have done to their lives. You deny them basic rights. You steal their money. You kill those who dare to disagree with you. You want to destroy Israel, launching rockets that kill Jews, Muslims and Christians alike.”
Appointed as ambassador to Azerbaijan in 2018, Deek has previously served Israel’s foreign service in Nigeria and in Norway — where, as a 30-year-old deputy envoy, he was hailed as delivering “the best speech an Israeli diplomat ever held.”
“The Middle East that you seek, which has no room for a Jewish state, is a Middle East that has no room for any minority — Christians, Druze, and even Muslims who do not share your hateful ideology,” he continued in the video. “In other words, it’s a Middle East with no room for anyone who is different; and therefore it cannot thrive.”
“Will you use the world’s money sent to help the people of Gaza to build schools, mosques and hospitals, or will you use it to build more missiles and more tunnels?” Deek asked. “Will you seek peace and dialogue, or will you continue to incite more hate and violence? Will you embrace diversity, or will you continue oppressing religious minorities, while calling for genocide of all Jews? Will you build a future for the people of Gaza, or will you continue robbing their dignity and honor in the futile effort to destroy Israel?
“Sadly, we all know the answer. I wanted to make this video to tell you that even though my family spent more than 10 days in a bomb shelter, praying that your missiles don’t kill them, you will not win. Your philosophy of hate and repression, will be defeated. You will not win.”
This is a message to the leaders of Hamas.
You. Will. Not. Win. pic.twitter.com/11Kar0T24P— George Deek (@GeorgeDeek) May 27, 2021