FREE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF MY SPEECH AT THE ALTERNATIVE CEREMONY

First, I would like to thank David Harel for this gesture
[of lending me his 2004 Israeli Prize trophy],
which symbolizes his [concrete] support of me ever since this
affair started approximately a month ago. In particular, 
David gave interviews in several news outlets, skillfully
articulating the position with respect to this affair that 
is shared by all gathered here. I could not have done this,
due to my own personal limitations. 

Second, I would like to thank my lawyer, Michael Sfard,
who has been representing me in court and in the media 
for several weeks. And, of course, I thank all who are gathered here,
and all who support me who could not make it. Your support warms my heart.

I would like to make a point regarding these supporters.
They are quite varied. Some of them agree to all my political
positions (well, more or less), and some disagree with all my
political positions but support my right to voice them without
being punished with the denial of the Israel Prize. 
By the way, I think that it may be Gen. Gallant's prerogative
to deny me the Likud Party's Prize, but the Likud is not Israel,
although it may be that Gallant thinks differently.

This affair is not really about me.
It is far larger than me and refers to all of us.
The position of the Education Minister is merely a small step in 
an on-going process aimed at the de-legitimization of the left in Israel.
We are determined to fight this de-legitimization process,
and I am happy that I got the opportunity to try and contribute
directly to this fight. 

Goethe said that it makes no sense to search for a new version 
for things that have been said perfectly by others. So I will use
things that were said by my lawyer, Michael Sfard,
in the supreme court last Thursday.

[Passing to Dana (my partner in life and opinions for three decades)]

The Israeli society is torn apart. We are divided by deep struggles
on values, on principles, on identity, and on ideology. 
These struggles are near and dear to our hearts, 
since we are people who care about this place. 
These struggles define us and our existence here.

According to the supreme court's rulings, 
the Independence Day and the Israel Prize are supposed
to rise above these differences of opinion. 
The prize is supposed to serve the Israeli tent, 
in the most wide interpretation possible.
In a sense, it defines the boundaries of what is legitimate in Israel. 
Indeed, there is a significant portion of the Israeli population who 
thinks that the settlement project is a disaster to the State of Israel
and it harshly criticizes the policies of the Israeli government regarding
the conflict with the Palestinians. Denying the prize [from Oded Goldreich]
is an attempt to declare (even merely implicitly) that whoever objects
to the settlement project is not a legitimate part of the Israeli society. 

This is an attempt to exclude a large group, which may be in the minority
but is certainly a large and non-negligible minority. It is represented
in the Knesset [i.e., the parliament] by parties that received the
votes of hundreds of thousands of voters [among few million votes],
and are represented outside the Knesset by civil organizations 
that list thousands of activists and enjoy the support of
hundreds of thousands of citizens. 

[Back to me]

We believe that, eventually, we shall win the struggle 
for the re-legitimization of the left in Israel, and subsequently 
also alter the left's status from a minority to a majority.
We shall certainly keep struggling towards this goal,
and no decision of no minister will stop us.