[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 160 (Tuesday, December 7, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H8070]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1900
                   A SETBACK FOR A PALESTINIAN STATE

  (Mr. ENGEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to condemn the actions of the 
Governments of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay for recognizing Palestine 
as an independent state before there are conclusive negotiations 
between the Israelis and Palestinians.
  The Prime Minister of Israel gave a 10-month moratorium on any kind 
of building of additional settlements or houses or anything like that 
in exchange for talking with the Palestinians. The Palestinians waited 
9 months and didn't talk. In the 10th month, they talked, and now it 
ran out, and the Palestinians are again placing preconditions and are 
refusing to talk. The Palestinians must know that a peace agreement 
with Israel is the only way they can have their Palestinian state. It 
can't be done unilaterally.
  What Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay did, I think, has set back rather 
than enhanced the negotiations for a two-state solution, which I 
support. This is something that was wrong and that should be condemned. 
It gives the Palestinians no incentive to sit down and talk with Israel 
and bargain in good faith.

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