[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 9, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H4302-H4303]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STANDING BY ISRAEL
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the
gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. SCHIFF. Last week's interdiction by the Israeli Navy of a small
flotilla of ships trying to run the blockade on Hamas-controlled Gaza
ignited a firestorm around the world.
Foreign commentators, who look askance at the Jewish state in the
best of times, condemned the raid in the strongest of terms, attempting
to cast it as another example of Israel's supposed slide toward South
African-style apartheid or even fascism.
Here and in Israel, itself, the reaction reflected a deeper
understanding of the broad spectrum of threats confronting Israel. The
execution of the raid, itself, was criticized in some quarters, but
there remains a fundamental understanding of the underlying conditions
that gave rise to Israel's blockade of Gaza and a realization that
those conditions persist and that, as long as Gaza remains under the
control of Hamas, there can be no lasting peace between Israel and the
Palestinians.
Hamas leaders and their masters in Tehran and Damascus have
repeatedly refused to renounce terror, to abide by agreements signed by
the Palestinian Authority and Israel and to recognize Israel's right to
exist. They have used Gaza's impoverished population as human shields
in their war of attrition with Israel and have subordinated their
people's needs to the quest for rockets and other weapons. Two days
ago, Israeli forces intercepted an armed squad of five terrorists who
were wearing diving suits and who were apparently on their way to
attack Israeli targets.
Madam Speaker, there can be no doubt that these are dangerous times
for Israel and that America must stand by the Middle East's only
democracy in its quest for peace and security.
Despite four rounds of U.N. sanctions, including today's passage of
tighter finance curbs and an expanded arms embargo, Iran has not been
deterred in its quest to develop nuclear weapons. While this latest
round of sanctions is a welcomed step, there is deep skepticism that
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the hard-line clerics who rule Iran
can be dissuaded from their present course. An Iran armed with the bomb
would be a catastrophe, destabilizing the Middle East and triggering an
arms race in the region.
President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have done a great
service to Israel, to the greater Middle East, and to the cause of
international peace and security through their efforts to forge a
consensus in the Security Council, and I offer them my personal thanks.
Yet, even as we applaud today's sanctions vote, we must redouble our
efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and I look
forward to further diplomatic and unilateral initiatives to convince
Tehran that the costs of continuing on this reckless path are greater
than any perceived benefit.
Hezbollah, the Shiite militia cum political party created in Lebanon
by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1983, has rearmed in the aftermath of
the 2006 war with Israel. Its arsenal of short-range missiles has
reportedly been augmented by longer range Scuds, which can reach
targets throughout Israel. The Scuds, believed to be supplied by Syria,
augment Hezbollah's existing stockpile of up to 40,000 rockets stored
in underground bunkers in southern Lebanon.
Turkey, which had been Israel's strongest Muslim majority ally and an
important mediator between Jerusalem and Arab capitals, has, in recent
months, become deeply hostile to Israel. In addition to hosting the
organizers of the Gaza flotilla, Turkey has said it would reduce
military and trade ties, and it has put off discussions of energy
projects, including natural gas and freshwater shipments. Last year,
Prime Minister Erdogan accused Israel of being a greater violator of
human rights than Sudan, and today, Turkey was one of only two votes
against new rounds of sanctions against Iran in the Security Council.
Most worrisome in the long term is the broad-based international
campaign to delegitimize Israel. University campuses have been divided
by divestment campaigns. There have been academic and economic boycotts
of Israel in Europe, and many Israelis are wary of traveling to several
European countries.
The great majority of the world's people alive today were not born
until well after World War II and did not bear witness to the
Holocaust. They did not watch as thousands of Jewish refugees,
desperate to start new lives in Palestine after the war, were forcibly
prevented from entering the country by Britain. They did not witness
the miracle of Israel's birth in 1948 and
[[Page H4303]]
the immediate invasion of the new state by five Arab armies.
For more than six decades, this country has stood by Israel. We have
admired its pluck, its ingenuity, and its dedication to democratic
principles in spite of all of the threats it faces. While there has
always been a strategic dimension to the U.S.-Israel alliance, the
relationship has really been rooted in our shared values.
Madam Speaker, 17 years ago, on the occasion of the signing of the
Oslo Accords, late Prime Minister Rabin spoke movingly of his journey.
He said, ``We have come from Jerusalem, the ancient and eternal
capital of the Jewish people. We have come from an anguished and
grieving land. We have come from a people, a home, a family, that has
not known a single year--not a single month--in which mothers have not
wept for their sons. We have come to try and put an end to the
hostilities so that our children and our children's children will no
longer have to experience the painful cost of war, violence, and
terror.
``We have come to secure their lives and to ease the sorrow and the
painful memories of the past--to hope and pray for peace.''
We share the prime minister's sorrow, and to the people of Israel, we
say, America is with you.
____________________