TRIPOLI, LIBYA

The Holy Land can never be secured with carnal weapons. Righteousness is the only security for that land. -Min. Louis Farrakhan

In The Name of Allah,
The Beneficent, the Merciful. 

What good is knowledge without moral character? He who attains to knowledge but does not develop moral character becomes a devil. When you know and you are immoral, you use your knowledge to suppress and oppress and deprive others of their rights. But, if you gain knowledge and moral character at the same time, then you will use knowledge to extract not only from the earth its treasures, but from the human soul its treasures. 

I wanted to use this sacred place to deliver a message to the American administration; to the American people; to the Islamic world; to Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government; and to all those who seek peace.

In a few days we will be celebrating the Holy Month of Ramadan, the month in which the Holy Qur'an was revealed. At the same time that we will be celebrating Ramadan, the Christian world will be coming out of their Holy Day which is called Christmas. The theme for all Christians during Christmas is: "Peace on earth, good will toward men."

I hope President Clinton and the leaders of the West wish peace to Bro. Muammar Qadhafi and the Libyan Jamahiriya, and wish peace to Saddam Hussein and the people of Iraq, and wish peace to the Islamic world in general. But, we cannot have peace without good will. And, we don't have a good will except it is Allah's Will.

I would like to, very humbly, acquaint the American administration with Allah's Will-Allah's Will for the people of America; Allah's Will for the Libyan Jamahiriya; Allah's Will for the human family.

Islam is the religion of peace. All of us who practice the principles of Islam will find the abode, or place, of peace. The greatest gift to the human being is peace and contentment of mind; but, no human being can have peace and contentment of mind who deviates from the nature in which the human being is created.

Allah says in the Qur'an, that the nature of the human being is Islam, or to submit entirely to do the Will of God. So really, the way to peace is obedience to God. This world wants peace, but it's unwilling to submit to the Will of God. Therefore, the slogan, "Peace on earth, good will toward men," is nothing but a slogan until the American administration, the American people, and the people of the world, really submit to do the Will of God.

There is a scripture in the Bible that reads: "They shall seek peace, but they shall not find it." This has been a century of war. Millions of lives have been lost in this century. The human being has become so darkened of mind, that the human being loves gold, or silver, or money, or material things above the sanctity of human life.

We have seen in this century World War I. Why did they have World War II? Because the conditions imposed on the vanquished by the victor were so wicked that it led to World War II. Wherever there is a victor and a vanquished, there are terms for peace. But ofttimes, the terms for peace are so oppressive, that in the spirit of the people who are vanquished, there is anger and there is resentment. Out of that resentment comes a leader who will speak to that condition, (and) if necessary even go to war to relieve that condition.

Because of the conditions imposed on Germany after World War I, Hitler arose for World War II. After World Ware II, we experienced the Cold War. There has never been any just and lasting peace because-even though (there has been) peace time-justice did not prevail.

Vietnam is the only nation in the 20th century to win a war and establish terms for peace that it was pleased with. But even though the Vietnamese were the victors, they could not impose terms on America, whom the Vietnamese vanquished. None of us in America experienced any hardship from the loss of the war. But the Vietnamese people united their country, and now have established their own will over their own land.

The Palestinian people are sufdering. Jerusalem is an occupied city. That part of the world is called, "The Holy Land," and history has taught us that no power has been able to hold on to Jerusalem by means of force.

The message that I desired to give to Prime Minister Netanyahu is this: The Holy Land can never be secured with carnal weapons. Righteousness is the only security for that land. The Holy Land demands a Holy People to live on that land. Whether Palestinians or Israelis, or Christians or Muslims, if the people who live there will not live according to the Will of God, that land will not be their homeland.

The Holy Land is the heart of the earth. It has given most of our prophets. But, if the heart is diseased, then the whole body is corrupted. The Holy Land is now diseased. And, we either need to stem the disease, or have a heart transplant.

The Israelis want a homeland. The Israelis want their own flag. The Israelis want their own sovereign state. The Israelis want self-determination. The Israelis want to develop their people and have trade and commerce with the nations of the earth.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said, "A man is not a Muslim until he wants for his brother what he wants for himself." The Palestinians want a land of their own. The Palestinians want their own flag. The Palestinians want their independence and sovereign existence. The Palestinians want and deserve the right of self-determination.

As long as the Israelis will not allow the Palestinians to enjoy these human rights, there will never be peace in that land, nor will Israel ever have security. The power of the United States of America cannot secure Israel in injustice to the Palestinian people. The Oslo Peace Accords have been violated by the Israelis, according to President Yasser Arafat.

We ought to understand that if we don't have the power to enforce what's on a piece of paper, we may never realize the fruit of these agreements. Therefore, the Palestinian people are literally living in a concentration camp. The Palestinian people are living under a form of apartheid. They have to have passes to go from one village to another, even in their own territory.

The Muslims cannot go to Jerusalem today in Al-Aqsa Mosque if they live in the West Bank and Gaza, unless they have permission of the Israeli authorities.

President Arafat said to us that they are losing $10 million a day. They cannot sell their flowers. They cannot sell their fruits and vegetables. They cannot sell their clothing on the international market.

At the end of the 20th century, the clouds of war are gathering over the Holy Land. The clouds of war are gathering over Baghdad. And even in the distance, we see a cloud of war blowing toward the Libyan Jamahiriya. The Iraqi people, as we speak, are suffering 400 deaths per day, due to sanctions. More than 890,000 children, 12-years-old and under, have died as a result of sanctions. More than 1.4 million Iraqis have died since the end of the war. But the sad, sad fact is, that the Muslim ummah has acted as an accomplice in the death of these Iraqi babies.

The Muslim ummah is so divided, so fragmented, so desirous of friendship with the West, that they fail to see that the Muslim ummah is losing the friendship of Allah. The Muslim ummah could have ended the sanctions on Iraq and Libya, if we were truly a Muslim community.

If this microphone fell on my foot, my mouth would respond by saying: "ah-h-h!" If you are suffering in Libya, where is the cry among the Muslim ummah? If our people are suffering in Sudan, or in Iraq, or in Cuba, or in North Korea, where is the outcry of the human family?

As we speak, President Clinton has sent ships and planes and troops into the Gulf. According to what we saw on the television, the American soldiers are being inoculated against biological weapons. At the same time, the American media is saying that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction hidden somewhere in Iraq.

What have the weapons inspectors been doing in Iraq for seven years? Now they are saying that there may be weapons of mass destruction in the various palaces. I wonder could this be a pretext to bomb the palaces and use weapons of mass destruction on the Iraqi people, then claim that after they bombed the palaces they bombed a supply of biological weapons?

Could it be that President Clinton would like to leave as his legacy, that he was the president who got rid of Saddam Hussein? Are the soldiers being inoculated against biological weapons because America intends to use biological weapons, then send her soldiers in to seek out Saddam Hussein? I'm just raising this as questions.

You might say: "Well, Farrakhan, that seems far-fetched." But, America bombed the water supply of Iraq. America bombed the sewage treatment plants, mixing sewage with water, creating disease. America dropped bombs on Iraq with depleted uranium in those bombs. This uranium has poisoned the water, poisoned the earth, and now all kinds of cancers are seen in Iraqi children and Iraqi people. The effect of this radiation, its intensity, is 20 years; twenty years from the time of the dropping of the bombs, the radiation will be half of its power. This means that a whole generation has been sentenced to death.

Who are the advisers of President Clinton? Some of them are more loyal to Israel than they are to the future of the United States. I would respectfully say to the President of the United States, he needs better advice.

Whenever a people suffer in a great nation, God always raises up from the people, one who would be a warning of justice and truth and peace to that nation.We believe that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad has been raised up in America as that voice of warning to the government.

As a servant of Allah and a follower of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, it is my duty to continue his work. I am here in Libya, not in defiance of the United States government, I am here in Libya in obedience to the Will of God.

The Libyan people are Muslims, and I am a Muslim. The Libyan people are hurting, and I feel their pain. It came over the news this morning that the Justice Department of the United States government, condemned my visit to Libya. Why? Am I a slave? Is America a plantation, that I must seek permission of my government to visit my own brother?

If I was the Pope of Rome, who has established diplomatic relations with Libya and desires to travel to Tripoli, what would President Clinton say? If I was His Holiness the Pope, and I visited Cuba, as the Pope will do, insha-Allah, next month, will President Clinton condemn the Pope for visiting Cuba? No, because the Pope is the Pope. The Pope is white, and the Pope is free. But I am Black. I am a descendant from slaves, and they don't recognize that I am a free man.

In closing, the greatest threat to peace on this earth is the arrogance of a super-power that is out of control. You, the Muslims, must rise to recognize that the West is at war with Islam. The West is afraid of the power of Islam, and no matter how they put it, their aim is to crush the power of Islam.

Muammar Qadhafi is the revolutionary leader of a new wave of Islam. You, Jamahiriya, represent a seminal stage of what Islam will be in the future. Don't look at yourselves as small because you only have four million to six million people in Libya.

Remember that the atom also is small. But, when the atom is cracked it creates a chain reaction. This is why they want to crush the Libyan Jamahiriya, they are afraid of the chain reaction. They refuse to focus on the Man-Made-River, one of the greatest technological and scientific achievements of this century. They refuse to focus on the spiritual, social, and political philosophy of the Arab Jamahiriya. Why? Because they fear that this will spread.

I visited the hospital just an hour or two ago, and this was the first time I was happy to be in a hospital. I had to take a few tests, and this is the first time I was happy to give some of my blood. I knew I was among my brothers.

My dear brothers and sisters, peace on earth will only come when the Muslims rise up again to do the Will of Allah.

Allah says in the Qur'an: "You are the best nation raised among men. You enjoin good and you forbid evil. You believe in Allah." You must rise up and see yourselves, not as Libyans, but as an international people. Whatever good is in Libya must be exported in the entire world. Brother Muammar Qadhafi has guaranteed your human rights.

Let me conclude with these words: Every human right is a human need. We are created complete, yet incomplete. Therefore, food is a human right. To deny any nation food is to deny them their human rights.

Muammar Qadhafi has made sure that you produce much of what you consume of food, therefore you look to me like you are very well fed.

Muammar Qadhafi has given you free education from pre-school all the way through the university. Education is not a privilege, it is a human right. Every nation that educates its people is a nation that God is pleased with.

You have one of the most beautiful hospitals in the world, and all medical service is free. That is protection for your human right to be healthy, well-fed, well- educated, in a cohesive society. It appears to me that Muammar Qadhafi is one of the greatest preservers and fighters for human rights that there is on the earth.

I thank God to be here, and no matter what I suffer in the United States, I want the world to know that Muammar Qadhafi is my brother. Muammar Qadhafi is my friend. And I love my brother. And I love my friend. And I would never abandon my brother and my friend, no matter what pressure comes from the government of the United States of America.

The Libyan Jamahiriya is also our friend and our brothers and sisters, and you have millions of friends and brothers and sisters in the United States of America.

As-Salaam-Alaikum