[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 37 (Tuesday, April 9, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E470-E471]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         BELIEVING THAT PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST IS INEVITABLE

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                          HON. DARRELL E. ISSA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 9, 2002

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening, along with so many of my 
colleagues, to express my frustration and disgust with the situation 
that is currently boiling over in the Middle East. How long can we 
allow this bloodbath to continue? How long will we have to witness 
Israeli families blown apart by maniacal, suicidal murderers; 
Palestinian children lying dead on the street; young Israeli men and 
women buried alive in collapsed buildings; or Palestinian families 
huddling inside their homes, terrified to step out even to buy food? 
The latest news of more people--human beings with friends and family--
who have been killed today is heartbreaking. The Israeli and 
Palestinian people are on a downward spiral, heading quickly toward 
that state of nature conceived by Thomas Hobbes, where Palestinian and 
Israeli children born into the world can expect only one thing: a life 
that is ``nasty, brutish, and short.'' This situation is an outrage.

[[Page E471]]

  I am outraged that Hamas and other Palestinian groups are spreading 
their poisonous lies of suicidal ``martyrdom.'' I am outraged that some 
members of the Palestinian leadership are apparently using suicide 
attacks as a tactical weapon against the Israeli people. This cult of 
martyrdom is disgusting and I vigorously condemn it. As President Bush 
stated so accurately last week, suicide bombers ``are not martyrs, they 
are murderers.'' I call on the Palestinian leadership to understand 
this fact and acknowledge that these attacks are an assault on 
civilization itself. We cannot hope to see progress in the Middle East 
until suicide bombings stop. As the elected and recognized leader of 
the Palestinian people, Yasser Arafat must unequivocally denounce this 
barbarism and crack down on those who are unwilling to cooperate.
  At the same time, we cannot expect to see an end to this horror until 
the Israeli government ends its military assault in the West Bank. Too 
many Palestinian civilians have needlessly suffered over the past few 
weeks. I am horrified at reports of Palestinian families having their 
homes bulldozed over their heads, children being shot on their way to 
buy bread, and families being forced out of their homes because their 
houses are being used as Israeli military outposts. Palestinian 
children have been witness to scenes that we can hardly bear to watch 
6,000 miles away on television--scenes of their homes and homeland 
destroyed, their friends and family killed in crossfire, their brothers 
and fathers taken away by the Israeli military, not knowing when or if 
they will return. This new generation of Palestinian youth will grow up 
with these images burned into their psyches. They will never forget 
them. This military assault may bring short-term results, but it tears 
down the long-term prospects for true reconciliation between 
Palestinians and Israelis.
  Mr. Speaker, peace between these two proud peoples has seemed an 
impossible goal for so many decades. But I refuse to believe that peace 
is impossible. Over the past half-century, we have been witness to 
incredible historical reconciliation between people who we thought 
would always hate each other. I stubbornly believe that peace in the 
Middle East is inevitable. It may be elusive and it may be complicated, 
but it will happen and I, along with so many of my colleagues tonight, 
will rejoice when it does.

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