[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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