[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 84 (Monday, June 8, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H6292-H6293]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE UNITED STATES SHOULD NOT PICK WINNERS AND LOSERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, the recent focus on Israel and the 
Arab-Israeli conflict that continues today is vital and important to 
our world peace. There are a lot of people out there trying to revise 
history, however.
  The State of Israel was established in 1948 by British mandate after 
the Holocaust of World War II. The Jewish people lay claim to this area 
since Biblical times. The establishment of the Jewish State of Israel 
merely formalized the return of their indigenous homeland by 
international agreement. Both the United States and the U.N., including 
the Soviet Union, recognized the State of Israel.
  The day after the Jewish state was established in 1948, it was 
invaded by six surrounding Arab nations. A negotiated cease-fire ended 
hostility, with Jerusalem being split in the middle between Israel and 
Jordan.
  In 1967 Israel was once again invaded by Syria from the north, Jordan 
from the east and Egypt from the southwest. During the war, Israel 
defended itself and expanded its border by including the Golan Heights 
that was controlled by Syria, the West Bank, controlled by Jordan, and 
Gaza, controlled by Egypt.
  Some would have you believe that the establishment of the State of 
Israel changed the borders of Arab states in agreements that had 
existed for centuries. That is simply incorrect. The boundaries of the 
Middle East countries were fixed by Western powers after Turkey was 
defeated in World War I. The French took over Syria and Lebanon. The 
British took over Palestine and Iraq. The areas allotted to Israel had 
been under the control of the Ottoman Empire from 1517 to 1917. During 
this 400-year reign of the Turks, the Holy Land was only sparsely 
populated. The few folks living there were an oppressed Jewish 
population and mostly revolving Muslim immigrant groups, but also there 
were small groups of Christians in the area.
  The actual boundaries of what became the State of Israel were set by 
the United Nations in 1947. When formally established in 1948, the 
attacks on the tiny new state of Israel began immediately by the 
neighboring Arab states.
  Yasser Arafat formed the Palestine Liberation Organization, or the 
PLO, in 1964. He formed a state within a state in the Palestinian 
homeland of Jordan. Arafat many times stated that Jordan is Palestine. 
It was not until the 1967 war that the Arab nations backed the PLO for 
the purpose of taking back land that Israel had won in that defensive 
war of 1967. In 1967 Arab forces massed against Israel, surrounding the 
tiny nation.
  Egyptian President Nasser was allowed to kick the U.N. peacekeepers 
out of the Sinai Peninsula, which acted as a buffer between Egypt and 
Israel. The world watched as hundreds of thousands of Arab troops tried 
to ``drive Israel into the sea.'' The unexpected brilliance of the 
Israeli military stopped the aggression from all directions, and Israel 
was secure for a moment.
  As a result of that war for survival, Israel fairly won land: The 
Sinai, the West Bank and Gaza. Everywhere else in the world, territory 
acquired in self-defense is only returned in the context of a 
negotiated peace. Israel has never been fully afforded that negotiated 
peace. Israelis have returned land time and time again when a peaceful 
settlement was reached. Soon they may run out of land to give away.
  In the Camp David accords of 1978, Israel returned the Sinai to Egypt 
in return for a peace treaty. Jordan and Syria have less formal but 
similar agreements with Israel.
  Now one issue is whether Israeli Jews that have settled into the West 
Bank should leave or not be allowed to have natural expansion of their 
own communities. This should be negotiated between the Israeli 
Government and the Palestinians. The United States should not interfere 
in and prevent negotiations by picking winners and losers.
  This year the United States is picking the loser of Israel. The 
United States should help broker negotiations

[[Page H6293]]

and help get all parties to negotiate, but not demand either side take 
a certain position.
  Israel has been a longtime ally of the United States, and our 
interest should be that the sides involved solve this problem without 
the United States dictating who wins and who loses.
  And that's just the way it is.

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