[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 9 (Thursday, January 15, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S594]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CRISIS IN GAZA

  Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, when President Obama is sworn into office 
next week, he will inherit an extremely complex and challenging crisis 
in the Middle East. Since Israel commenced military operations in Gaza 
to defend its citizens against rocket attacks more than 1,000 have died 
in Gaza, many of them civilians, while 13 Israelis have died. In spite 
of this carnage, Hamas refuses to surrender and continues to fire 
rockets into Israel. No clear resolution is in sight.
  As a practicing physician, I find this conflict heartbreaking. 
Israelis live in constant fear that a rocket attack will snuff out an 
innocent life. Families in Israel go to bed at night wondering if a 
rocket will slam into their home. At the same time, Palestinians have 
nowhere to run from a terrorist organization that uses its own 
civilians as human shields.
  While we all mourn the loss of innocent life, the world must 
recognize that Hamas deliberately created a situation in which Israel 
was forced to respond as any sovereign nation would while under attack. 
Israel, and every nation, has the right to self-defense.
  What makes Hamas's actions particularly abhorrent and barbaric is the 
fact that they are making decisions, I believe, based on a perverse 
political calculation. While publically condemning Israel, Hamas's 
leaders and sympathizers in Iran and elsewhere privately welcome the 
suffering of the Palestinian people as a political opportunity. Hamas 
knows better than anyone that virtually every area of the densely 
populated Gaza strip is a civilian area. In Gaza, refugees have no 
place to seek refuge. The terrible unintended consequences and loss of 
civilian life we've seen in Gaza is part of Hamas's design and goal.
  The United States and the next administration can play an important 
role in preventing Hamas from achieving its goals. What many on both 
sides long for is not just the cessation of violence but a real, 
lasting and durable peace. Some believe this is impossible, but it is 
in the interest of all sides to work toward this goal.
  I trust President-elect Obama will avoid the false choice between 
unapologetically defending Israel's security and creating hope and 
opportunity for people on both sides of the conflict who want the same 
degree of freedom, peace and opportunity for themselves and their 
children. As Israel's most important ally, the United States should 
never waver in our commitment to Israel's security. The strength of 
that assurance is itself one of our most important contributions in the 
region because it creates the security and stability that are a 
prerequisite for meaningful negotiations.
  At the same time, we enhance security in the region by assuring 
Palestinians in Gaza with our words and actions that they are not 
forgotten and that we hear their calls for peace and an end to 
violence. I've delivered 4,000 babies and I grieve with the pregnant 
women in Gaza who are being turned away at hospitals because their own 
leaders have held their lives and the lives of their children in 
contempt. The next administration can legitimize and support those 
mothers' pleas for peace while condemning and marginalizing Hamas's 
tactics of terror.
  I believe President-elect Obama has the judgment and temperament to 
not only maintain our vital support of Israel, but to also create hope 
in the region and help Palestinians embrace alternatives to Hamas's 
brand of violence and despair. He will have my prayers and support and 
I hope he can have the prayers and support of the American people as he 
confronts this difficult challenge.

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