[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 4 (Friday, January 9, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H142]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1400
COMMENTS ON THE SITUATION IN THE GAZA
(Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, today I wish to comment on the bloodbath
occurring in the Gaza. No human being can watch this carnage and not be
reminded of the festering hatred that grows with each successive
unleashing of violence in Israel, the Gaza, in the Palestinian
territories that sadly rescars that tragic region.
In voting for the resolution today, I want to be clear I did not do
so because I believe more war or violence is the solution to stability.
In fact, more war will breed more retribution, as history surely
demonstrates. I voted for the resolution because its preamble clearly
states our goal is supporting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
The proportionality of Israel's response to Hamas' incessant
terrorist rocket launches is lamentable. Over 750 Palestinians have now
died, one-third of them women and children; there have been four
Israeli soldiers killed; and in the last 7 years three Israeli
casualties from the rocket launches from the Gaza into Israel.
Immediately, there is a lack of adequate humanitarian relief from the
world community, and for the victims, that is appalling. Two wrongs do
not make a right.
My view is, the current administration has left Israel more
vulnerable and less stable as hatreds grow toward it regionally. Our
Nation's reputation, too, has been badly damaged globally.
I would like to enter into the Record today an editorial written by
President Jimmy Carter called ``The Unnecessary War,'' the only
President in the last 3 decades to achieve real, lasting peace in the
Middle East. There is a road forward. His life is proof the future of
that region can be better than the past as development replaces war as
the common denominator. But that will take courage. It will take
perseverance. It will take more than congressional resolutions. It is
why our hopes ride high at this moment with the incoming administration
of President-elect Barack Obama.
[From the Washington Post, Jan. 8, 2009]
An Unnecessary War
(By Jimmy Carter)
I know from personal involvement that the devastating
invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided.
After visiting Sderot last April and seeing the serious
psychological damage caused by the rockets that had fallen in
that area, my wife, Rosalynn, and I declared their launching
from Gaza to be inexcusable and an act of terrorism. Although
casualties were rare (three deaths in seven years), the town
was traumatized by the unpredictable explosions. About 3,000
residents had moved to other communities, and the streets,
playgrounds and shopping centers were almost empty. Mayor Eli
Moyal assembled a group of citizens in his office to meet us
and complained that the government of Israel was not stopping
the rockets, either through diplomacy or military action.
Knowing that we would soon be seeing Hamas leaders from
Gaza and also in Damascus, we promised to assess prospects
for a cease-fire. From Egyptian intelligence chief Omar
Suleiman, who was negotiating between the Israelis and Hamas,
we learned that there was a fundamental difference between
the two sides. Hamas wanted a comprehensive cease-fire in
both the West Bank and Gaza, and the Israelis refused to
discuss anything other than Gaza.
We knew that the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza were being
starved, as the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food
had found that acute malnutrition in Gaza was on the same
scale as in the poorest nations in the southern Sahara, with
more than half of all Palestinian families eating only one
meal a day.
Palestinian leaders from Gaza were noncommittal on all
issues, claiming that rockets were the only way to respond to
their imprisonment and to dramatize their humanitarian
plight. The top Hamas leaders in Damascus, however, agreed to
consider a cease-fire in Gaza only, provided Israel would not
attack Gaza and would permit normal humanitarian supplies to
be delivered to Palestinian citizens.
After extended discussions with those from Gaza, these
Hamas leaders also agreed to accept any peace agreement that
might be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the PLO,
provided it was approved by a majority vote of Palestinians
in a referendum or by an elected unity government.
Since we were only observers, and not negotiators, we
relayed this information to the Egyptians, and they pursued
the cease-fire proposal. After about a month, the Egyptians
and Hamas informed us that all military action by both sides
and all rocket firing would stop on June 19, for a period of
six months, and that humanitarian supplies would be restored
to the normal level that had existed before Israel's
withdrawal in 2005 (about 700 trucks daily).
We were unable to confirm this in Jerusalem because of
Israel's unwillingness to admit to any negotiations with
Hamas, but rocket firing was soon stopped and there was an
increase in supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel. Yet
the increase was to an average of about 20 percent of normal
levels. And this fragile truce was partially broken on Nov.
4, when Israel launched an attack in Gaza to destroy a
defensive tunnel being dug by Hamas inside the wall that
encloses Gaza.
On another visit to Syria in mid-December, I made an effort
for the impending six-month deadline to be extended. It was
clear that the preeminent issue was opening the crossings
into Gaza. Representatives from the Carter Center visited
Jerusalem, met with Israeli officials and asked if this was
possible in exchange for a cessation of rocket fire. The
Israeli government informally proposed that 15 percent of
normal supplies might be possible if Hamas first stopped all
rocket fire for 48 hours. This was unacceptable to Hamas, and
hostilities erupted.
After 12 days of ``combat,'' the Israeli Defense Forces
reported that more than 1,000 targets were shelled or bombed.
During that time, Israel rejected international efforts to
obtain a cease-fire, with full support from Washington.
Seventeen mosques, the American International School, many
private homes and much of the basic infrastructure of the
small but heavily populated area have been destroyed. This
includes the systems that provide water, electricity and
sanitation. Heavy civilian casualties are being reported by
courageous medical volunteers from many nations, as the
fortunate ones operate on the wounded by light from diesel-
powered generators.
The hope is that when further hostilities are no longer
productive, Israel, Hamas and the United States will accept
another cease-fire, at which time the rockets will again stop
and an adequate level of humanitarian supplies will be
permitted to the surviving Palestinians, with the publicized
agreement monitored by the international community. The next
possible step: a permanent and comprehensive peace.
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