[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 62 (Monday, April 27, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E983-E984]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HAMAS'S BLOODY HANDS

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                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 27, 2009

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, from time-to-time Members 
insert into this Record articles which are of particular relevance to 
current policy debates, and we often add a commentary. Today I do not 
add any words because this compelling, insightful column by Richard 
Cohen on the willingness of far too many in the world to give a pass to 
Hamas while being harshly critical of Israel needs no gloss.
  Madam Speaker, I add only that I am in very strong agreement with 
virtually everything Mr. Cohen has to say in this piece and I hope it 
will be read and reflected upon.

[[Page E984]]

                          Hamas's Bloody Hands

                           (By Richard Cohen)

       Some residents of Gaza were taken from their homes and shot 
     in the legs or feet. Some were brutally beaten, and some were 
     simply murdered, sometimes after hideous torture. If you are 
     expecting--based on everything that has happened--tha the 
     awful Israelis did this, guess again. It was Hamas, the 
     authentic and genuine government of Gaza. Well, no one's 
     perfect.
       The information about the shootings is taken from a report 
     issued yesterday by Human Rights Watch and available on its 
     Web site. It says that ``Hamas security forces or masked 
     gunmen believed to be with Hamas'' executed 18 people, most 
     of whom were accused of collaborating with Israel, sparing 
     the expense and bother of a trial. Others were shot, maimed 
     or beaten, not for allegedly collaborating with the enemy--
     or, as is often the case, having a house or woman that a 
     snitch covets--but for belonging to the opposition political 
     party, Fatah.
       Many of these murders and assaults took place during 
     Israel's recent pummeling of Gaza. Yet, as Human Rights Watch 
     goes to some pains to document, at no time did Hamas's 
     security forces lose control of Gaza, so the murders and 
     maimings were not a consequence of chaos but of government 
     policy. Whatever the case, the murders, shootings and 
     beatings continued even after the hostilities ended. Since 
     then, at least 14 more people have been executed 
     extrajudicially, which is to say murdered. Some were also 
     tortured.
       You can only imagine what would happen if Israel dealt with 
     its internal political enemies or dissenters in such a 
     fashion. Last month, for instance, Israel got a heap of 
     criticism and abuse when it was reported in the Israeli media 
     that some Gaza civilian had been unjustifiably shot by 
     Israeli soldiers. The report was widely cited, not just for 
     its shocking allegations but also because it was supposedly 
     indicative of the sort of place Israel has become. The 
     government said the allegations were based on hearsay. We 
     shall see.
       No doubt the Human Rights Watch report will be ignored or 
     dismissed in the greater cause of demonizing Israel. This has 
     been the trend of late. No doubt, too, some will excuse 
     Humas's criminality as the inevitable result of Israeli 
     actions--the Officer Krupke School of Behavior made famous by 
     the singing gang members of ``West Side Story.'' But as much 
     as some would like to criticize Israel--and I have done so 
     myself--they still have a minimal obligation to acknowledge 
     the difference in core values between Israel and its enemies.
       This does not mean that Israel is above criticism. After 
     all, it has made life unbearable for some Palestinians, 
     supported illegal settlements in the West Bank, been too 
     harsh in squeezing Gaza, and, maybe most important, it ought 
     to get out of the West Bank--for reasons of justice and for 
     its own sake. Still, it remains unimaginable that Israel 
     would murder its domestic critics or silence dissent with the 
     occasional kneecapping. These are the tactics of thugs.
       Read the Hamas charter. It is not some uplifting cry of a 
     downtrodden people seeking its freedom but a repellent anti-
     Semitic screed. It sees the Jews behind every major world 
     event since the storming of the Bastille: ``They were behind 
     the French revolution, the communist revolution and most of 
     the revolutions we heard and hear about, here and there. With 
     their money they formed secret societies, such as Freemasons, 
     Rotary Clubs, the Lions . . . for the purpose of sabotaging 
     societies and achieving Zionist interests.'' The Rotary? The 
     Lions? Why not Welcome Wagon?
       When Israelis talk of the practical difficulties of pulling 
     out of the West Bank, they mean the likelihood that Hamas 
     will oust Fatah and launch rockets into Israel. They are both 
     concerned and appalled by a Hamas charter that, in part, 
     reads like it could have been written by Hitler. Withdrawal 
     is necessary and right, but it cannot be done naively and 
     without the participation of the United States. It's going to 
     take American peace-keepers. It is that simple. No Israeli 
     can trust Hamas to keep the peace.
       Human Rights Watch is to be commended. It does not have one 
     standard for Israel and another for Hamas, Hezbollah or the 
     other despotic regimes of the Arab world. That is more than 
     can be said, though, for critics who vilify Israel, 
     romanticize Hamas and clearly have never had the 
     inexpressible pleasure of living in a place where a chance 
     remark can get your legs riddled with lead. Say what you 
     will, but that place could never be Israel.

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