[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 52 (Wednesday, April 14, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E539-E540]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        A DANGEROUS SILENCE--FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR ED KOCH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PETER T. KING

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 14, 2010

  Mr. KING of New York. Madam Speaker, no one is more dedicated to 
maintaining the strength of the American-Israeli relationship than 
former New York City Mayor Ed Koch. Mayor Koch is a true American 
patriot who knows that Israel is an indispensable partner in the war 
against Islamic terrorism. Israel, of course, shares America's belief 
in freedom and democracy. Like many of us, Mayor Koch is concerned that 
President Obama's policies have ``damaged the relationship between the 
U.S. and Israel . . . to one in which there is an absence of trust on 
both sides.'' Mayor Koch has written a very thoughtful article in which 
he describes his opposition to the Obama policies--policies which have 
caused the Mayor to ``weep''. I commend this article to my colleagues.

                          A Dangerous Silence

       I weep as I witness outrageous verbal attacks on Israel. 
     What makes these verbal assaults and distortions all the more 
     painful is that they are being orchestrated by President 
     Obama.
       For me, the situation today recalls what occurred in 70 AD 
     when the Roman emperor Vespasian launched a military campaign 
     against the Jewish nation and its ancient capital of 
     Jerusalem. Ultimately, Masada, a rock plateau in the Judean 
     desert became the last refuge of the Jewish people against 
     the Roman onslaught. I have been to Jerusalem and Masada. 
     From the top of Masada, you can still see the remains of the 
     Roman fortifications and garrisons, and the stones and earth 
     of the Roman siege ramp that was used to reach Masada. The 
     Jews of Masada committed suicide rather than let themselves 
     be taken captive by the Romans.
       In Rome itself, I have seen the Arch of Titus with the 
     sculpture showing enslaved Jews and the treasures of the 
     Jewish Temple of Solomon with the Menorah, the symbol of the 
     Jewish state, being carted away as booty during the sacking 
     of Jerusalem.
       Oh, you may say, that is a farfetched analogy. Please hear 
     me out.
       The most recent sacking of the old city of Jerusalem--its 
     Jewish quarter--took place under the Jordanians in 1948 in 
     the first war between the Jews and the Arabs, with at least 
     five Muslim states--Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq--
     seeking to destroy the Jewish state. At that time, Jordan 
     conquered East Jerusalem and the West Bank and expelled every 
     Jew living in the Jewish quarter of the old city, destroying 
     every building, including the synagogues in the old quarter 
     and expelling from every part of Judea and Samaria every Jew 
     living there so that for the first time in thousands of 
     years, the old walled city of Jerusalem and the adjacent West 
     Bank were ``Judenrein''--a term used by the Nazis to indicate 
     the forced removal or murder of all Jews.
       Jews had lived for centuries in Hebron, the city where 
     Abraham, the first Jew, pitched his tent and where he now 
     lies buried, it is believed, in a tomb with his wife, Sarah, 
     as well as other ancient Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs. I 
     have visited that tomb and at the time asked an Israeli 
     soldier guarding it--so that it was open to all pilgrims, 
     Christians, Muslims and Jews--``where is the seventh step 
     leading to the tomb of Abraham and Sarah,'' which was the 
     furthest entry for Jews when the Muslims were the authority 
     controlling the holy place? He replied, ``When we retook and 
     reunited the whole city of Jerusalem and conquered the West 
     Bank in 1967, we removed the steps, so now everyone can 
     enter,'' whereas when Muslims were in charge of the tomb, no 
     Jew could enter it. And I did.
       I am not a religious person. I am comfortable in a 
     synagogue, but generally attend only twice a year, on the 
     high holidays. When I entered the tomb of Abraham and Sarah, 
     as I recall, I felt connected with my past and the traditions 
     of my people. One is a Jew first by birth and then by 
     religion. Those who leave their religion, remain Jews forever 
     by virtue of their birth. If they don't think so, let them 
     ask their neighbors, who will remind them. I recall the words 
     of the columnist Robert Novak, who was for most of his life 
     hostile to the Jewish state of Israel in an interview with a 
     reporter stating that while he had converted to Catholicism, 
     he was still a cultural Jew. I remain with pride a Jew both 
     by religion and culture.
       My support for the Jewish state has been long and 
     steadfast. Never have I thought that I would leave the U.S. 
     to go and live in Israel. My loyalty and love is first to the 
     U.S. which has given me, the son of Polish Jewish immigrants, 
     so much. But, I have also long been cognizant of the fact 
     that every night when I went to sleep in peace and safety, 
     there were Jewish communities around the world in danger. 
     And there was one country, Israel, that would give them 
     sanctuary and would send its soldiers to fight for them 
     and deliver them from evil, as Israel did at Entebbe in 
     1976.
       I weep today because my president, Barack Obama, in a few 
     weeks has changed the relationship between the U.S. and 
     Israel from that of closest of allies to one in which there 
     is an absence of trust on both sides. The contrast between 
     how the president and his administration deals with Israel 
     and how it has decided to deal with the Karzai administration 
     in Afghanistan is striking.
       The Karzai administration, which operates a corrupt and 
     opium-producing state, refuses to change its corrupt ways--
     the president's own brother is believed by many to run the 
     drug traffic taking place in Afghanistan--and shows the 
     utmost contempt for the U.S. is being hailed by the Obama 
     administration as an ally and publicly treated with dignity. 
     Karzai recently even threatened to join the Taliban if we 
     don't stop making demands on him. Nevertheless, Karzai is 
     receiving a gracious thank-you letter from President Obama. 
     The New York Times of April 10th reported, ``. . . that Mr. 
     Obama had sent Mr. Karzai a thank-you note expressing 
     gratitude to the Afghan leader for dinner in Kabul. `It was a 
     respectful letter,' General Jones said.''
       On the other hand, our closest ally--the one with the 
     special relationship with the U.S., has been demeaned and 
     slandered, held responsible by the administration for our 
     problems in Afghanistan and Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle 
     East. The plan I suspect is to so weaken the resolve of the 
     Jewish state and its leaders that it will be much easier to 
     impose on Israel an American plan to resolve the Israeli-
     Palestinian conflict, leaving Israel's needs for security and 
     defensible borders in the lurch.
       I believe President Obama's policy is to create a whole new 
     relationship with the Arab states of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and 
     Egypt, and Iraq as a counter to Iran--The Tyrannosaurus Rex 
     of the Muslim world which we are now prepared to see in 
     possession of a nuclear weapon. If throwing Israel under the 
     bus is needed to accomplish this alliance, so be it.
       I am shocked by the lack of outrage on the part of Israel's 
     most ardent supporters. The members of AIPAC, the chief pro-
     Israel lobbying organization in Washington, gave Secretary of 
     State Hillary Clinton a standing ovation after she had 
     carried out the instructions of President Obama and, in a 43-
     minute telephone call, angrily hectored Prime Minister 
     Benjamin Netanyahu.
       Members of Congress in both the House and Senate have made 
     pitifully weak statements against Obama's mistreatment of 
     Israel, if they made any at all. The Democratic members, in 
     particular, are weak. They are simply afraid to criticize 
     President Obama.
       What bothers me most of all is the shameful silence and 
     lack of action by community leaders--Jew and Christian. Where 
     are they? If this were a civil rights matter, the Jews would 
     be in the mall in Washington protesting with and on behalf of 
     our fellow American citizens. I asked one prominent Jewish 
     leader why no one is preparing a march on Washington similar 
     to the one in 1963 at which I was present and Martin Luther 
     King's memorable speech was given? His reply was ``Fifty 
     people might come.'' Remember the 1930s? Few stood up. They 
     were silent. Remember the most insightful statement of one of 
     our greatest teachers, Rabbi Hillel: ``If I am not for 
     myself, who is for me? And if I am only for myself, what am 
     I? And if not now, when?''
       We have indeed stood up for everyone else. When will we 
     stand up for our brothers and sisters living in the Jewish 
     state of Israel?
       If Obama is seeking to build a siege ramp around Israel, 
     the Jews of modern Israel will not commit suicide. They are 
     willing to negotiate a settlement with the Palestinians, but 
     they will not allow themselves to be bullied into following 
     self-destructive policies.
       To those who call me an alarmist, I reply that I'll be 
     happy to apologize if I am proven wrong. But those who stand 
     silently by and watch the Obama administration abandon 
     Israel, to whom will they apologize?

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