ADDRESS BY US PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON- SIGNING CEREMONY OF THE TREATY OF PEACE - 26-Oct-94

October 26, 1994

King Hussein, President Weizman, Prime Minister Rabin, Prime Minister Majali, Crown Prince Hassan, Foreign Minister Peres, Foreign Minister Kozyrev, the Secretary of State, the people of Jordan and Israel, with special thanks to those who are our cheering section up there we thank you all.

At the dawn of this peace of the generations, 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 that 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 greatly you have shouldered that burdered 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 Minster 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 an 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 and in their zeal to kill hope and keep hatred alive they would deny all the 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 opened, people from every corner of the earth will soon come to share in the wonders of your land. 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.

Yours 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 peace makers for their they shall inherit the earth.