[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 15, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1104]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE ISRAELI BLOCKADE AND THE FLOTILLA

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                               speech of

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 15, 2010

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to join my colleagues in expressing 
support for the State of Israel. Israel is a tiny country that has been 
under attack since its founding 62 years ago. Nonetheless, it has 
developed into a vigorous democracy. With a free and active press, 
freedom of religion, free elections and a free and independent 
judiciary, Israelis of all religions and nationalities enjoy rights and 
opportunities unimaginable elsewhere in the Middle East.
  Israel is our strongest and most reliable friend in the Middle East. 
Israel is a strategic ally, helping to improve American anti-terrorism 
efforts, working with the US military to improve training, intelligence 
gathering, research and development, preparedness and protection of 
travel and trade.
  Despite the threats against it, Israel's economy is thriving, in 
large part as a result of her agricultural, technological and medical 
innovations. Israel constitutes a fraction of 1 percent of the land 
mass and only 2 percent of the population of the Middle East. 
Nonetheless, Israel far outshines much of the world in terms of 
academic, scientific and technological achievement. Israel has the 
highest ratio of university degrees per capita in the world and 
produces more scientific papers and more books per capita than any 
other nation in the world. It is the only nation in the world that has 
had a net increase in the number of trees. Israel has transformed 
itself from an impoverished backwater to a gleaming modern nation, 
ranking among the very highly developed countries of the world.
  The threat against Israel is growing. Hezbollah, along Israel's 
Northern border with Lebanon, is heavily armed with increasingly 
powerful weapons. Hamas, along the Gaza Strip, is vocal about its 
determination to destroy the Jewish State. And the Palestinian 
Authority in the West Bank is refusing to pursue direct talks with 
Israel, believing that they will get a better deal if the United States 
or other countries do the negotiating for them. Fatah leaders and the 
Abbas-controlled official media of the Palestinian authority continue 
to deny Israel's existence.
  The recent Gaza flotilla in which armed thugs challenged Israel's 
blockade of the Gaza Strip makes clear that Israel is facing a clear 
and present danger. If the blockade is broken, weapons will flow freely 
into Hamas's hands. In the years preceding the blockade, Hamas launched 
more than 8,000 missiles at civilian targets in Israel, killing and 
injuring thousands. If the blockade is lifted without a peace 
agreement, Israel's cities and towns can expect the bombardment to 
resume.
  Israel has to be vigilant in defense of its borders. The stated 
desire of Hamas and many Fatah leaders is to wipe Israel off the face 
of the world. When the world condemns Israel for defending its 
population, they are currying favor with terrorists at the expense of a 
democratic nation. And condemning Israel makes peace much less 
probable. I hope the Obama Administration will continue to make clear 
that Israel has no obligation to lift the blockade, and that it is 
Hamas and its terrorist allies who are responsible for the situation in 
Gaza.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to join my colleagues in strongly expressing 
my support for Israel.

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