Printing, Graphics, & Direct Mail Document Scanning Index Form High Speed Scanning Date of Request: 12/01/14 Box 19 of64 Senator or Department: SENATOR HARKIN Instructions: Prepare one form for insertion at the beginning of each record series. Prepare and insert additional forms at points that you would like to index. For example: at the beginning of a new folder, briefing book, topic, project, or date sequence. Record Type*: Speeches . Inclusive Month/Year of Records*: 1975-1990 (1) Subject*: Miscellaneous Speeches (2) Staffer*: Jim Whitmire IEMaintain (Return to Office) E Destroy (Shred) *REQUIRED INFORMATION 11111111111111111111111111111111111 I / / / / INTRODUCTION OF JACOBO TIMERMAN BY U.S. REPRESENTATIVE TOM HARKIN DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE HUMAN RIGHTS AWARDS DINNER Los ANGELES OCTOBER 22, 1981 "THE PRISONER IS BLINDFOLDED, SEATED IN A CHAIR, HANDS TIED BEHIND HIM. THE ELECTRIC SHOCKS BEGIN. No QUESTIONS ARE PUT TO HIM. BUT AS HE MOANS AND JUMPS WITH THE SHOCKS, THE UNSEEN TORTURERS SPEAK INSULTS. THEN ONE SHOUTS A SINGLE WORD, AND OTHERS TAKE IT UP: 'JEW...JEW...JEW!...JEW!' AS THEY CHANT, THEY CLAP THEIR HANDS AND LAUGH. "GERMANY IN 1939? No, ARGENTINA IN 1977. WERE THE TORTURERS AN OUTLAW BAND, A GANG OF ANTI-STATE TERRORISTS? NO, THEY WERE PART OF THE STATE: MILITARY MEN FROM ONE WING OF THE ARMED FORCES THAT CONTROLLED THE ARGENTINE GOVERNMENT IN 1977 AND STILL DO. "AND THE VICTIM: WAS HE SOME UNLUCKY SOCIAL OUTCAST? No, HE WAS JACOBO TIMERMAN, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER OF A LEADING BUENOS AIRES DAILY NEWSPAPER, LA OPINION. AND IN A SENSE HE WAS LUCKY. FoR UNLIKE 15,000 OTHER ARGENTINIANS WHO WERE SEIZED BY THE MILITARY OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS, HE LIVED." -2- THAT WAS WRITTEN BY ANTHONY LEWIS OF THE NEW YORK TIMES IN HIS REVIEW OF JACOBo TIMERMAN'S BOOK, "PRISONER WITHOUT A NAME, CELL WITHOUT A NUMBER." FROM HIS BIRTH IN 1923 IN THE UKRAINE, THROUGH HIS CHILDHOOD IN ARGENTINA, FROM THE PAGES OF HIS NEWSPAPER, LA OPINION, THROUGH HIS IMPRISONMENT AND TORTURE AT THE HANDS OF THE ARGENTINE MILITARY; FROM THE PAGES OF HIS MOST POWERFUL BOOK, THROUGH HIS NEW LIFE IN ISRAEL, AND NOW FROM HIS HEART AND HIS LIPS, THE ESSENCE OF JACOBO TIMERMAN CAN BE SUMMED UP THUS: AN ARDENT ZIONIST AND ARDENT DEFENDER OF HUMAN RIGHTS. REGARDING THE FIRST, IN HIS BOOK WHEN JACOBO WAS BROUGHT BEFORE THE MILITARY TRIBUNAL, EACH ROUND OF QUESTIONING WAS BEGUN IN THE SAME WAY BY ITS PRESIDENT, COLONEL BATTESTI: "ARE YOU A JEW?" "YES, MR. PRESIDENT." "ARE YOU A ZIONIST?" "YES, MR. PRESIDENT." "WHEN DID YOUR ZIONIST ACTIVITIES BEGIN?" "AT THE AGE OF 8, MR. PRESIDENT, MY MOTHER ENROLLED ME IN A SPORTS CLUB CALLED MACABI." LATER TIMERMAN ASKED THE MINISTER OF INTERIOR WHY HE WAS IN PRISON, AND THE MINISTER ANSWERED, "YOU ADMITTED TO BEING A ZIONIST, AND THIS POINT WAS REVEALED AT A MEETING OF ALL THE GENERALS. -3- "BUT BEING A ZIONIST IS NOT FORBIDDEN." "No, IT IS NOT FORBIDDEN BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, IT ISN'T A CLEAR-CUT ISSUE, BESIDES YOU ADMITTED TO IT AND THE GENERALS ARE AWARE OF THIS. THE GENERALS WHO GOVERN ARGENTINA WERE DISTURBED BY HIS NEWSPAPER ARTICLES, BY HIS PUBLISHING:THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO WERE ABDUCTED BY THE GOVERNMENT AND 'DISAPPEARED,' AND BY DEMANDING THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT FOR THEM. HE PRINTED APPEALS OF PARENTS, RELATIVES AND FRIENDS OF THE DISAPPEARED. IN THE 6 YEARS THAT HE WAS EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, ARGENTINA HAD 6 PRESIDENTS. AND EACH ONE OF THOSE 6 FOUND REASON TO PUNISH LA OPINION BY CLOSING IT FOR PERIODS OF TIME. DESPITE SUCH HARASSMENT AND THREATS OF VIOLENCE DIRECTED AGAINST HIM AND HIS FAMILY, JACOBo TIMERMAN PERSISTED. ON MARCH 31, 1977, JACOBO TIMERMAN WAS THE ONLY NEWSPAPER EDITOR IN ALL OF ARGENTINA WHO DARED TO MEET WITH PATRICIA DERIAN, U.S. ASST SECRETARY OF STATE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS. THE NEXT DAY, THE PRINTING DIRECTOR OF HIS NEWSPAPER WAS KIDNAPPED -- AND HAS NOT BEEN HEARD FROM SINCE. SLl- STILL, TIMERMAN PERSISTED. AND ON APRIL 15, 1977, THEY CAME FOR JACOBO HIMSELF. 20 ARMED MEN IN CIVILIAN CLOTHES, INVADED HIS APARTMENT IN BUENOS AIRES. THEY LED HIM OFF TO 6 MONTHS OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, FOLLOWED BY 2 YEARS IMPRISONMENT, INTERRUPTED ONLY BY OCCASIONAL TRIPS TO THE TOILET, MEALS, AND SESSIONS WITH HIS TORTURERS AND THE ELECTRIC SHOCKDEVICES. IT IS A SMALL FOOTNOTE IN HISTORY, BUT WORTHY OF BEING REMEMBERED AND RE-TOLD, THAT IN THE SAME MONTH THAT TIMERMAN WAS ARRESTED AND ACCUSED BY THE ARGENTINE GOVERNMENT OF BEING A MEMBER OF A ZIONIST- MARXIST CONSPIRACY -- ANATOLY SCHARANSKY WAS BEING ACCUSED OF BEING A MEMBER OF A ZIONIST-CAPITALIST CONSPIRACY BY THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT. THEN, AGAIN WITHOUT EVER HAVING ANY CHARGES BROUGHT AGAINST HIM, HE WAS RELEASED FROM PRISON, STRIPPED OF ALL OF HIS PROPERTY, HIS NEWSPAPER, EVERYTHING...STRIPPED OF HIS ARGENTINE CITIZENSHIP, AND PERMANENTLY EXPELLED FROM HIS COUNTRY. JACOBo TIMERMAN CAN, WITH MORE CLARITY THAN ANYONE I HAVE EVER MET, CUT THROUGH THE CLOUDED RHETORIC OF THE NEO-CONSERVATIVES AND ANSWER THE TWISTED SEMANTICS OF THOSE WHO WOULD HAVE US BELIEVE -5- THERE IS SOME DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'AUTHORITARIAN' REGIMES AND TOTALITARIANI REGIMES WHO REPRESS THE BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS OF THEIR CITIZENS. THE SEMANTICS OF THIS NEW ADMINISTRATION REGARDING HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS HAS COINED THE WORDS 'QUIET DIPLOMACY.' EARLIER THIS SPRING DURING THE HEARINGS ON THE NOMINATION OF ERNEST LEFEVER, THE POSITION OF ASST SECRETARY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, JACOBO TIMERMAN WAS IN WASHINGTON. AND HE WAS ASKED ABOUT 'QUIET DIPLOMACY," AND IN 8 WORDS DESTROYED THIS MYTH, AND I BELIEVE HELPED TO DEFEAT THE APPOINTMENT OF ERNEST LEFEVER. JACOBO SAID VERY SIMPLY AND ELOQUENTLY, "SILENT DIPLOMACH IS SILENCE. QUIET DIPLOMACY IS SURRENDER." TIME AND TIME AGAIN, JACOBO HAS SAID THAT WE MUST SPEAK OUT, REMINDING US THAT OUR PUBLIC POLICY ON HUMAN RIGHTS SAVES LIVES IN A WAY THAT QUIET DIPLOMACY CAN NEVER DO, MOST RECENTLY, I SAW JACOBO IN WASHINGTON.. :HE WAS THERE TO RECEIVE THE LETELIER-MOFFITTHUMAN RIGHTS AWARD. HE WAS IN ISRAEL AT THE TIME, AND WAS ADVISED NOT TO TAKE IT, OR TO ACCEPT IT, AND LET SOMEONE ELSE RECEIVE IT ON HIS BEHALF. INSTEAD, ONCE AGAIN HE -6- CLIMBED IN AN AIRPLANE AND FLEW TO WASHINGTON TO ACCEPT THE AWARD HIMSELF. AND, HERE IS WHY HE DID IT, IN HIS OWN WORDS: "FORCES THAT WE BELIEVED WERE DEFEATED ARE REAPPEARING. PLURALISTIC,;DEMOCRATIC; AND EGALATARIAN SOCIETY IS THREATENED BY THE TOTALITARIANISM OF THE LEFT AND THE RIGHT. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF ALL THOSE FORCES IS TO CREATE FEAR WITHIN US, A FEAR THAT WOULD PARALYZE AND SILENCE US. A FEAR THAT WOULD KEEP US APARE, AND MAKE US WORRY THAT ACCUSATIONS THROWN AT OTHERS MIGHT FALL UPON US AS WELL. AFTER FEAR COMES SILENCE. SILENCE IN THE FACE OF ATTACKS ON OTHERS IN ORDER TO AVOID BEING ATTACKED, IN ORDER TO LAST AS LONG AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT ARROUSING THE FURY OF THE MCCARTHYITES. FOR THIS AS WELL, I AM HERE TODAY." AND FOR THIS AS WELL, JACOBO, WE ARE HERE THIS EVENING. WE ARE HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE LOUD AND CLEAR TO THOSE TORTURERS OF THE LEFT AND THE RIGHT, THAT WE ARE GOING TO PULL THEM FROM THE DARK CORNERS OF THEIR TORTURE CHAMBERS. THAT WE ARE GOING TO TAKE THEM OUT OF THE SILENCE OF THOSE PRISON CELLS AND MAKE THEM STAND IN THE BRIGHT SUNSHINE OF PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE AND UNIVERSAL DENUNCIATION. -7- AND WE ARE HERE TONIGHT TO SEND A MESSAGE TO THOSE WHOSE HUMAN RIGHTS ARE STILL BEING VIOLATED. THAT WHATEVER MOMENTARY ABERRATIONS MAY HAPPEN IN OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT, THAT THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES WILL BE TRUE TO OUR HERITAGE, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR UNIVERSAL OBSERVANCE OF BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS. JACOBO, IT IS US WHO ARE HERE TONIGHT WHO ARE HONORED BY YOUR PRESENCE. ON BEHALF OF THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL PARTY_ _ _ AND I ARE PROUD TO PRESENT YOU WITH THE AWARD FOR LIFE-LONG COMMITMENT TO THE CAUSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS. I - INTRODUCTION OF JACOBO TIMERMAN BY U.S. REPRESENTATIVE TOM HARKIN DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE HUMAN RIGHTS AWARDS DINNER Los ANGELES OCTOBER 22, 1981 "THE PRISONER IS BLINDFOLDED, SEATED IN A CHAIR, HANDS TIED BEHIND HIM. THE ELECTRIC SHOCKS BEGIN. NO QUESTIONS ARE PUT TO HIM. BUT AS HE MOANS AND JUMPS WITH THE SHOCKS, THE UNSEEN TORTURERS SPEAK INSULTS. THEN ONE SHOUTS A SINGLE WORD, AND OTHERS TAKE IT UP: 'JEW..,JEW...JEW!...JEW!' AS THEY CHANT, THEY CLAP THEIR HANDS AND LAUGH. "GERMANY IN 1939? No, ARGENTINA IN 1977. WERE THE TORTURERS AN OUTLAW BAND, A GANG OF ANTI-STATE TERRORISTS? 0, THEY WERE PART OF THE STATE: MILITARY MEN FROM ONE WING OF THE ARMED FORCES THAT CONTROLLED THE ARGENTINE GOVERNMENT IN 1977 AND STILL DO. "AND THE VICTIM: WAS HE SOME UNLUCKY SOCIAL OUTCAST? No, HE WAS JACOBO TIMERMAN, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER OF A LEADING BUENOS AIRES DAILY NEWSPAPER, LA OPINION. AND IN A SENSE HE WAS LUCKY. FOR UNLIKE 15,000 OTHER ARGENTINIANS WHO WERE SEIZED BY THE MILITARY OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS, HE LIVED. -2- THAT WAS WRITTEN BY ANTHONY LEWIS OF THE NEW YORK TIMES IN HIS REVIEW OF JACOBO TIMERMAN'S BOOK, "PRISONER WITHOUT A NAME, CELL WITHOUT A NUMBER. FROM HIS BIRTH IN 1923 IN THE UKRAINE, THROUGH HIS CHILDHOOD IN ARGENTINA, FROM THE PAGES OF HIS NEWSPAPER, LA OPINION, THROUGH HIS IMPRISONMENT AND TORTURE AT THE HANDS OF THE ARGENTINE MILITARY; FROM THE PAGES OF HIS MOST POWERFUL BOOK, THROUGH HIS NEW LIFE IN ISRAEL, AND NOW FROM HIS HEART AND HIS LIPS, THE ESSENCE OF JACOBO TIMERMAN CAN BE SUMMED UP THUS: AN ARDENT ZIONIST AND ARDENT DEFENDER OF HUMAN RIGHTS.