[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 130 (Monday, October 11, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1956]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         IS ISRAEL STILL AN ENEMY OF THE STATE IN THE NEW IRAQ?

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SHELLEY BERKLEY

                               of nevada

                    in the house of representatives

                       Saturday, October 9, 2004

  Ms. BERKLEY Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my deep concern, and 
frankly my disbelief, at the arrest of Mithal Al Alusi, an Iraqi 
citizen who was charged recently for visiting an enemy state.
  The world took little notice of what one might expect to be major 
news in the United States and around the world. Unfortunately, this 
story has been nearly invisible.
  What makes this case so disturbing is the fact that the nation he 
dared visit, the nation labeled an enemy state by the new post-Saddam 
government in Iraq is none other than America's strongest ally in the 
Middle East--the State of Israel.
  As unbelievable as it seems, under a 35-year-old law written by 
Saddam's Baath Party, Israel remains an enemy of the Iraqi State. And 
any Iraqi who dares visit our ally Israel, can expect the same criminal 
punishment now being sought against Mr. Al-Alusi.
  A New York Times article published on October 6, 2004, described the 
situation this way:

       In recent days, Iraq's special criminal court established 
     by the American occupation authority issued a warrant for Mr. 
     Al-Alusi's arrest based on the 1969 law. According to the 
     Oct. 4 issue of the Iraqi newspaper Al Sabah, a court 
     official said, ``AI-Alusi committed a crime by visiting the 
     enemy, the Zionist state,'' and the official vowed ``to 
     protect the Islamic and Arab identity of Iraq.''

  Is this the new Iraq that we have sacrificed more than a thousand 
American lives to protect? A country that allows Israel to be labeled 
as a Zionist threat, and whose courts, which were established under our 
Coalition rule, are now being used as a tool to inflame anti-Israeli 
sentiment.
  It is a disgrace that as we shed American blood, and the blood of our 
allies to bring democracy to the people of Iraq, those who have 
persecuted Mithal Al-Alusi remain in authority.
  Secretary Powell is reported as saying that he is looking into the 
outrage committed against Mr. Al-Alusi. I encourage him to swiftly 
complete his examination and to provide guidance toward a U.S. policy 
that forever eliminates this type of bigotry from Iraqi law.
  I hope President Bush, Secretary of State Powell and Members of 
Congress will step forward and without reservation, condemn this 
continuation of an anti-Semitic policy that is a hateful and dangerous 
residue of Saddam Hussein's failed regime.

                          ____________________