[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 38 (Wednesday, April 10, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H1190-H1191]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE UNITED STATES MUST AVOID ISOLATIONISM AND HYPOCRISY WITH REGARD TO 
                                 ISRAEL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) is recognized for 5 
minutes.

[[Page H1191]]

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, before I begin my remarks, I just want to 
call attention to the fact that I have submitted into the Record 
paraphernalia about today's National Day of Silence.
  I also, before I begin, want to comment on some of the things that my 
colleague, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul), mentioned, who seems to 
advocate a foreign policy for the United States of isolationism. I had 
thought that we were way beyond that. He sounds like the people pre-
1941 and pre-Pearl Harbor who were talking about isolationism, and as a 
result, the United States entered the war rather late, and we suffered 
through Pearl Harbor.
  After September 11, I would hardly think that anybody who is serious 
would advocate isolationism. We do not live in a vacuum. Today's world 
is closer than ever before, and I think as leaders of the free world we 
have a responsibility, and that responsibility means that we are 
engaged.
  I think that his comment about somehow the United States supports 
Israel because of domestic political pressure is absolutely ridiculous. 
The United States supports Israel because the U.S. and Israel have 
shared values, common values: democracy. Israel is the only democracy 
in the Middle East, and that has a major effect on support for Israel 
in this country from Christian clergy and all clergy and average 
citizens alike, because we share democratic values.
  I want to talk a little bit about the fight against terrorism and 
what is happening in the Middle East. The fight against terrorism I 
believe has to be consistent. If we go halfway around the world, 
rightfully so, to Afghanistan to root out terrorist cells, I believe 
that we have no business criticizing Israel for attempting to do the 
same thing in her own backyard. We need to be consistent.
  We went after the Taliban in Afghanistan, and again, rightfully so, 
because they were harboring terrorists. We went after them because they 
were harboring al-Qaeda. Well, in the Middle East, Yasser Arafat is not 
only harboring terrorists, he is the terrorist. He is akin to Osama bin 
Laden. Three-quarters of the terrorist attacks by the suicide bombers 
carried out in Israel in the past several months have been from groups 
directly under Yasser Arafat's control: the al-Aqsa Brigade, 4/17, 
Tanzime. They are all part of Fatah, the umbrella group that Yasser 
Arafat controls.
  So I would like to ask the question: If we do not negotiate with 
terrorists, why should we force the Israelis to do the same? President 
Bush put it quite right when he said: You are either with us or you are 
with the terrorists.
  Again, I think we have to be consistent. There is no timetable for 
our operation in Afghanistan. The President has said we will be there 
until we finish the job. I do not believe we should pressure Israel 
into any kind of artificial timetable until they can finish the job of 
uprooting terror in their own backyard.
  The media would try to portray Israel as somehow the villain and the 
Palestinians as somehow the victims, but I would say, who has been 
perpetrating the suicide bombings? There have been 73, and to date, 
unfortunately, a 74th incident of a suicide bombing in Israel since 
negotiations broke down 18 or 19 months ago. And believe me, if we 
allow the suicide bombers to continue to use terrorism as a negotiating 
tool and we do not eradicate it now, it is only a matter of time before 
it is going to come to our shores, because if it is effective in the 
Middle East, it will be effective all around the world. We cannot allow 
that to happen.
  I draw the analogy to the United States and Canada. If there were 
terrorists, hypothetically, coming down over the Canadian border 
wreaking havoc in the United States, blowing themselves up and taking 
innocent civilians with them, and we repeatedly, hypothetically, asked 
the Canadian government to apprehend these terrorists and the Canadian 
government refused to do so, would we not feel justified to take 
matters into our own hands and send our troops over that border to get 
and capture those terrorists? Of course we would.
  Israel has repeatedly, and the United States has repeatedly, called 
on Yasser Arafat to rein in the terrorists, to rein in terrorism, but 
he has not done so because he is the terrorist himself and uses 
terrorism as a negotiating tool.
  So, from my way of thinking, Israel is absolutely justified to go in 
and root out terrorist cells in the Palestinian territories, just the 
way we are justified in going to Afghanistan to root out terrorist 
cells.
  Ari Fleischer, who is President Bush's press secretary, said today 
that the President, that Bush does not trust Arafat. If we do not trust 
Arafat, why is Colin Powell going to meet with him? Why are we 
elevating this man's status as somehow being a legitimate leader?
  Let us remember history: Just 18 or 19 months ago in Camp David, the 
Israelis were willing to accept a plan which gave Arafat 97 percent of 
what he was asking for: a Palestinian state with billions of dollars of 
foreign aid, on 97 percent of the lands. He walked away from it. The 
Israelis accepted it. Arafat walked away from it and did not offer a 
counterproposal, but walked away from it and then unleashed the 
Intifada, with terrorism and suicide bombings.
  So I think it is very, very important to have a perspective here and 
to understand what is really happening. So I think the United States, 
again, ought to be consistent. We ought to fight terrorism here and 
around the world, and support those who are fighting terrorism in their 
own backyard.

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