[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 111 (Thursday, July 31, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8485-S8486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TERRORIST BOMBING IN JERUSALEM

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with the 
distinguished chairman and ranking member of the Foreign Relations 
Committee, and many others, as an original cosponsor of Senate 
Concurrent Resolution 46.
  Yesterday two suicide terrorist bombers blew themselves up in the 
Mahane Yehuda open-air marketplace in the center of Jerusalem. These 
bombs were clearly timed to do the maximum possible damage. They 
exploded seconds apart at about 1 p.m. local time, at the height of the 
lunchtime shopping hour. Initial reports indicate that at least 18 
people were killed and over 100 were injured.
  This was a despicable, bloodthirsty act, which all of us stand and 
condemn in one voice. It is not yet known exactly who perpetrated the 
bombing, but it bears great similarity to attacks conducted in the past 
by the Palestinian extremist groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Whoever 
bears guilt for this terrible crime is beneath contempt.
  We join Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Weizman, and the Israeli 
people in mourning those who were murdered yesterday, and we offer our 
deepest condolences to their families. To the wounded, we offer our 
prayers and hopes for their full recovery.
  Sadly, Israelis have become all too familiar with having their daily 
routines shattered by the sudden bloodshed and carnage of bombings in 
seemingly ordinary places--on a bus, in a marketplace, in park or a 
cafe. On top of all the other tragic aspects of these bombings, the way 
Israelis are forced to live with the knowledge that their world could 
be blown apart at any instant is a peculiar kind of torture.
  President Clinton was exactly right when he said yesterday morning 
that this bomb was aimed not only at innocent Israeli civilians, but 
also at all those in the Middle East who genuinely desire peace. And I 
fear that this bombing, because of its timing and location, could be as 
damaging to prospects for peace as any that we have seen.
  The timing could hardly have been worse. The President's Special 
Middle East Coordinator, Dennis Ross, was about to travel to Israel to 
try to breathe new life into the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which 
have been suspended for many months, but which were just beginning to 
show signs of resuming. In fact, there is good reason to believe that 
this attack was timed specifically to disrupt Mr. Ross's trip and the 
impending resumption of the peace talks. Now it may be weeks or months 
before these talks can resume and be productive. For the extremists, 
the greatest danger is that the talks could make progress, and they are 
obviously willing to do anything to prevent it.
  This bombing also has ramifications for our work. On August 12, the 
Middle East Peace Facilitation Act will expire. This act provided the 
legislative framework for U.S. involvement in the peace process by 
giving the President the authority to provide assistance to the 
Palestinian Authority, allow the

[[Page S8486]]

PLO to operate an office in Washington, and waive other restrictions on 
United States-Palestinian contacts, if he certifies that the 
Palestinian Authority is fulfilling its commitments.
  I had hoped that the House and Senate leadership would work with 
those of us who care deeply about this issue to pass a short-term 
extension of the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act, so that it does 
not expire while the Congress is in recess next month. There are many 
Members, myself included, who believe that the act needs to be reworked 
to establish a tougher standard of compliance, before it is extended 
for the long term. But a short-term extension of 60 or 90 days would 
give us the opportunity to negotiate a meaningful new version of the 
law, without this important legislation lapsing for a matter of weeks, 
or even months.
  Now, under these circumstances, I do not think it will be possible to 
pass to a short-term extension in the short time remaining before the 
August recess. I hope that we will be able to negotiate an appropriate 
replacement for the current Middle East Peace Facilitation Act shortly 
after the recess in September.
  The location of this bombing also makes it deeply resonant. The 
Mahane Yehuda marketplace is in the heart of downtown Jerusalem. It is 
a place where every Israeli has spent time, and many Jerusalemites 
visit or pass through it daily. It will be difficult to recover from an 
attack in such a central and symbolic place, and the Israeli Government 
will find it difficult to engage in peace talks while this memory is 
fresh.
  What will it take to recover from this bombing? Before anything else 
can take place, it will take action by the Palestinian Authority. First 
and foremost, the Palestinian Authority should resume security 
cooperation with the Israeli government to the full extent that they 
had cooperated before. At one time, in 1995 and part of 1996, Israeli 
an Palestinian security cooperation reached unprecedented levels. This 
cooperation reflected a mutual understanding in the shared stake both 
sides had in preventing acts of terrorism by extremists bent on 
destroying the peace process.

  That shared stake still exists today, but the Palestinian leadership 
must recognize it and act upon it. Even if the Palestinians are angered 
by some Israeli actions, that does not change the mutual interest they 
have in preventing terrorism. Because if anything will stop the peace 
process from achieving the aspirations of both Palestinians and 
Israelis, terrorism will.
  Second, the Palestinian Authority must reinvigorate its efforts to 
root out terrorist groups in the areas under its control. This effort 
has been spotty, at best, and Palestinian officials, including Chairman 
Arafat, have been rightly criticized for giving less than clear signals 
that terrorism will not be tolerated under any circumstances. This is 
not acceptable. An unequivocal red light against terrorism and the 
operations of terrorist groups--a no-tolerance policy--is the only 
thing that is acceptable.
  Chairman Arafat called Prime Minister Netanyahu shortly after the 
bombing to condemn the attack, which is the right thing for him to have 
done. But he must not and cannot stop there. He should condemn publicly 
in the strongest possible language--in English and Arabic--these 
bombings and all other acts of terrorism. He should instruct his 
security forces to dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist 
groups, arresting those who are complicit in the conduct of terrorist 
attacks. He should use his bully pulpit to insist that Palestinian 
society rejects the elements who believe their aspirations--or 
martyrdom--can be attained by killing Israelis. If he fails to take 
these steps, there can be no peace process, and Palestinian aspirations 
will never be realized.
  Finally, when the security situation is more stabilized, both sides 
must resume peace talks with a view toward meeting only their own 
needs, but the needs of the other side as well. If these talks are seen 
in purely zero-sum terms, they will go nowhere. Both sides must make 
their demands--on Israel's further redeployments in the West Bank, and 
on final status issues like Jerusalem, settlements, refugees, and 
sovereignty--with the understanding that if the other side has no stake 
in the process, there will be no final status agreement that brings 
about a lasting peace.
  Clearly the peace process cannot coexist with terrorism. But despite 
yesterday's tragic and criminal bombing, the logic of this peace 
process, and the fundamental need for peace between Israelis and 
Palestinians has not changed. To give up on this effort would condemn 
future generations of Israelis to controlling a hostile population of 
over 2 million, to the detriment of Israel's long-term security and 
well-being. It would also bury Palestinian dreams of self-
determination.
  To turn away now from the search for peace would be to reward the 
extremists for their acts of violence and terrorism. It would be a 
victory for the barbaric suicide bombers of Mahane Yehuda. It would say 
to them: ``You were right. You win. There cannot and shall not be peace 
between Israelis and Palestinians.''
  Neither Israelis nor Palestinians--nor the United States--can afford 
for that to happen.

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