[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 64 (Thursday, May 10, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E768]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       ANTI-SEMITISM IN DAMASCUS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 9, 2001

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, during the historic visit of His Holiness 
Pope John Paul II to Syria earlier this week, Syria's new president 
Bashar al-Assad, in a speech welcoming the Pope in Damascus, spewed 
forth the most vile and vicious anti-Semitism. He said that the Jews 
``tried to kill the principles of all religions with the same mentality 
in which they betrayed Jesus Christ and the same way they tried to 
betray and kill the Prophet Muhammad.''
  This venomous remark was in stark contrast to the theme that the Pope 
voiced during his visit to Syria--peace and understanding. This was 
reflected in his visit to the Great Omayyad Mosque in Damascus, the 
first visit by any Pope to a Moslem house of worship. His Holiness on 
that occasion called for a ``new attitude of understanding and 
respect'' between Muslims, Christians and Jews.
  The Wall Street Journal yesterday editorially expressed the concern 
for the response from President Bashar Assad and others in Syria. ``But 
instead of being met by reciprocal gestures, Sheik Kuftaro, with Syrian 
President Bashar Assad, used the Pope's visit to showcase their own 
intolerance. The Sheik delivered a speech urging Christians and Muslims 
to line up against `Jews and Zionists.' Assad helpfully reminded the 
Pope of the role played by Jews in the death of Christ. And from 
Syria's state-controlled media came the line that Israelis were 
`enemies of God and faith.'''
  The Journal also noted that vicious anti-Semitism which the Pope's 
visit brought out in his hosts is certainly not limited to Syria alone. 
The editorial quoted an Arab school text: `` `Perhaps Allah brought the 
Jews to our land so that their demise would be here,' reads a 
characteristic passage of a Palestinian textbook for children. In 
Egypt, popular columnist Ahmad Ragab recently wrote, `Thanks to Hitler, 
blessed memory, who on behalf of the Palestinians, revenged in advance, 
against the most vile criminals on the face of this earth.' The 
Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious anti-Semitic tract penned 
in czarist Russia, remains in wide circulation throughout the Middle 
East.''
  Mr. Speaker, how much at odds with the purpose and message of the 
Papal visit were the vile words of President Assad. He used the 
occasion of the Papal visit to throw gasoline on the flames of anti-
Semitism at a time when this region of the world is most in need of 
soothing remarks and racial healing. I welcome the condemnation of the 
statements of President Bashar Assad that have appeared in the a large 
number of American newspapers.
  Mr. Speaker, The Washington Post published an excellent editorial 
yesterday criticizing Bashar Assad's vicious anti-Semitic, outrageous 
and inflammatory statements. I ask that this editorial be placed in the 
Record, and I urge my colleagues to read it.

                               Vile Words

          Editorial, The Washington Post, Tuesday, May 8, 2001

       SYRIAN PRESIDENT Bashar Assad on Saturday offered a vivid, 
     if vile, demonstration of why he and his government are 
     unworthy of respect or good relations with the United States 
     or any other democratic country. Greeting Pope John Paul II 
     in Damascus, Mr. Assad launched an attack on Jews that may 
     rank as the most ignorant and crude speech delivered before 
     the pope in his two decades of travel around the world. 
     Comparing the suffering of the Palestinians to that of Jesus 
     Christ, Mr. Assad said that the Jews ``tried to kill the 
     principles of all religions with the same mentality in which 
     they betrayed Jesus Christ and the same way they tried to 
     betray and kill the Prophet Muhammad.'' With that libel, the 
     Syrian president stained both his country and the pope, who 
     so far has failed to adequately respond. He also confirmed 
     something about himself that has become increasingly clear 
     during the months since he inherited the presidency from his 
     father: This 35-year-old naif is headed in a dangerous 
     direction.
       John Paul's decision to visit Syria and to become the first 
     pontiff to visit a mosque offered Mr. Assad a remarkable 
     opportunity. The former ophthalmologist has been struggling 
     to establish himself as a credible leader both in and outside 
     of Syria, and could have drawn on the pope's enormous 
     prestige by welcoming his latest attempt to reach out to 
     another faith. But Mr. Assad seems to have little 
     understanding of the world outside Damascus, or how he can 
     productively relate to it. Since taking office, he has 
     abandoned his father's uneven efforts to reach out to Israel 
     and the West and instead taken a series of militant and 
     provocative steps, ranging from increased support for the 
     Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon to the illegal export 
     of hundreds of millions of dollars of Iraqi oil through a 
     Syrian pipeline. At an Arab conference in March he proposed 
     the reinstitution of a boycott against Israel, saying the 
     Israelis were ``worse than the Nazis.'' The Arab leaders 
     wisely ignored his proposal, while his rhetoric drew 
     widespread condemnation.
       Having evidently learned nothing from that episode, Mr. 
     Assad sought Saturday to recruit the pope and the Catholic 
     Church for his war against Jews. Vatican officials maintained 
     that the pope did not have prior notice of Mr. Assad's 
     medieval appeal, and the pontiff's own words implicitly 
     rejected it. But the Vatican's response to Mr. Assad was 
     shockingly blase, considering the effort John Paul has made 
     to repudiate the church's own history of anti-Semitism. ``We 
     are guests of the president and he expressed his opinion,'' 
     said longtime papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls. ``I 
     wouldn't call it strong; I would call it clear.''
       What is clear is that Mr. Assad converted a visit meant to 
     symbolize tolerance and reconciliation into a display of 
     obtuseness by the Vatican in the face of religious ignorance 
     and hatred. During the past decade the United States engaged 
     diplomatically with Mr. Assad's father, gaining his support 
     in the Persian Gulf War and drawing him into the Middle East 
     peace process. Despite the totalitarian nature of his regime 
     and its sponsorship of terrorism, Hafez Assad seemed to 
     understand that peace with Israel and engagement with the 
     West offered the only way forward for his country. His son 
     clearly does not--and should be treated accordingly.





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