[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 63 (Thursday, May 16, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E827-E828]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 CHANGE IN THE MIDDLE EAST IS POSSIBLE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DARRELL E. ISSA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 16, 2002

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I am deeply disappointed to learn that the 
Central Committee of the Likud party in Israel recently voted in favor 
of a resolution never to allow the creation of a Palestinian state. 
This decision is so troubling because it refuses to address the paradox 
that all Israelis have wrestled with since the end of the six-day war 
in 1967. 1 like to call this the paradox of the occupation. The paradox 
of the occupation is that the modern state of Israel, post 1967, has 
not been able to achieve the Zionist dream of a Jewish, democratic 
state. There are over 3 million men and women who live in land that was 
occupied by the Israeli Defense Forces in 1967, who are not allowed to 
take advantage of Israel's nationality law. They are required to carry 
a special identification card that greatly restricts their freedom of 
movement throughout the country. They are at the mercy of the Israeli 
judiciary if they want to become naturalized citizens, regardless of 
where they were born. They are denied these basic rights of nationality 
because of their ethnicity. These are Palestinian Muslims and 
Christians, and they are not citizens in the Jewish state of Israel 
because they do not have the right ethnic ancestors or religious 
affiliation. Mr. Speaker, doesn't the current state of affairs in the 
occupied territories stretch beyond recognition our definition of 
``democracy?'' Isn't the President making the right decision to call 
for an end to the occupation and the creation of a Palestinian state? 
According to a public opinion poll taken by the Dahaf Institute in 
Israel, 67% of all Israelis agree with the President, believing that 
Israel should withdraw from the occupied territories.
  To say, as the Likud party said Sunday night, that there will never 
be a Palestinian

[[Page E828]]

state is to say that Israel will exist either as a Jewish state or a 
democratic state, but not both. Or it could be implicitly saying that 
the Palestinian people will somehow cease to exist. This is troubling, 
particularly in light of the fact that so many in the Israeli 
government have openly discussed the prospect of driving Palestinians 
out of their homes as a means to solving this conflict. Mr. Speaker, we 
should state openly as President Bush has stated, that the United 
States will never tolerate the forceful removal of Palestinian people. 
Driving the Palestinian people out of the occupied territories is not 
an option.
  Mr. Speaker, there is a solution to the paradox of the occupation. 
This solution would allow Israel to be both fully Jewish and fully 
democratic. It would dispel forever the notion that Israel has no right 
to exist, and it would take away the fear of so many Palestinians that 
they will one day be driven out of their homes. This solution is, as 
the President has articulated so many times, to have ``two states 
living side by side'' in a climate of peace and security. For the first 
time in the history of this conflict, this vision has become possible. 
Based on the formula of land for peace, Saudi Arabia has led the Arab 
states in an unequivocal call for peace with Israel in exchange for an 
end to the occupation of pre-1967 Arab lands. Can you imagine, Mr. 
Speaker, how different this troubling region could be if all states 
were to live together in peace and security? The Middle East would 
change beyond our imagination.
  This change is possible, but only if both sides are given a fair 
shake in working out a lasting agreement. We need to make the right 
decisions now, without the taint of political agendas, to create a 
lasting peace for the future children of Israel and Palestine.

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