[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 23, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H6738-H6742]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CHRISTIAN GENOCIDE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 3, 2013, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert) is recognized
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, it is my distinct honor to yield to a
friend, a colleague, a guy I came in with in the class of 2004, my
friend, Mr. Fortenberry.
Mr. FORTENBERRY. I thank the gentleman from Texas, my good friend,
Congressman Gohmert. I appreciate your yielding, and I appreciate your
willingness to engage in the most important dialogues facing our Nation
night after night. Thank you again for allowing me to intrude a bit on
your time.
I wanted to raise something of the utmost urgency, Mr. Speaker.
Mosul is Iraq's second largest city. For 1600 years, Mosul has been a
center of Christian life, and, today, not a single Christian remains.
Now, who could have imagined that 1 month ago--just a month ago--
large swaths of the country of Iraq would be invaded--conquered--by an
army of religious fanatics who would fly a flag that is a black banner
of death.
After capturing Mosul, this group, known as the Islamic State of Iraq
and Syria, commonly called ISIS, issued an ultimatum to the Christians
who lived in this city. They said three things: you must depart; you
must convert to Islam--or you will die by the sword.
They did more than that.
Mr. Speaker, they did this: this is the Arabic letter for ``N,'' and
it is pronounced ``none.'' It is a symbol that stands for the word
``Nazarene,'' which is a denigrating term used to describe Christians
in the area by some. In their brutal campaign against Christians and
other religious minorities, ISIS spray-painted this letter on the doors
of the remaining Christians' homes, their businesses and their
churches, except they didn't do it in gold. They did it in red--blood
red.
Leave, convert, or die.
Mr. Speaker, Iraq's Christians have just as much right as anybody
else to be there. That community has traditionally served--even in a
minority status--as a leavening influence, oftentimes trying to build
bridges where there were ethnic or religious tensions.
People all around the world, fortunately, are recognizing the
grotesque injustice that is happening. Even though we are busy here,
debating all types of other concerns, nonetheless, in a land very, very
far away, people are being told that they must leave their homes--their
ancestral homelands--and go to who knows where or they will die.
Fortunately, there is a movement that is now happening. Many people
around the world are taking that red symbol of death that was painted
on those Christians' homes, and they are turning it into this gold
symbol of solidarity, saying that, if we are going to find peace in the
world--if we are ever at least going to find a bit of stability--we are
going to have to come to some deeper awareness of understanding of the
nature and dignity of all human persons and of that most sacred right
of religious liberty: to be able to express one's faith tradition,
particularly an ancient faith tradition which has existed in this area
for 1600 years.
{time} 2045
We must find a way to elevate that value. So, in the midst of this
chaos, this horror, this grotesque injustice, there is a little bit of
glimmering light, in that people all around the world are starting to
use this symbol on Facebook and social media.
Mr. Speaker, all I wanted to do tonight is say I stand with them in
solidarity.
I yield back to my good friend from Texas.
Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend. I am immensely grateful
to my friend, Mr. Fortenberry, for bringing this point home. It is a
point that has been brought home repeatedly to me in different places
in the world.
In Afghanistan, where this country helped with a constitution that
would be shari'a law-based, my country, my country, where Americans
have fought and died for freedom, my country, where the most valuable
commodity we have, human life, has been sacrificed on the altar of
freedom because we believed where there was a threat like Afghanistan
to us as Americans, we could repel the Taliban, and the world would
benefit and certainly America would benefit, and Christians around the
world would benefit, who were being so persecuted by the Taliban in
control in Afghanistan.
But we weren't alone. Moderate Muslims in Afghanistan were being
persecuted. That is why there were plenty, there were plenty of groups
willing to rise and fight with America, for America, against the
radical Islamists of the Taliban.
The moderate Muslims didn't want radical Islamists running their
country. They were perfectly willing to allow Christians or Buddhists
or secularists, Jews, to live and worship or not worship as they saw
fit in their country.
So the people that some in this administration call war criminals,
the Northern Alliance, fought for us, and they defeated the Taliban in
a matter of months.
It was in October of 2001, a month or so after the worst attack on
the United States in our history killed over 3,000 people here in our
homeland. We finally figured out that planning and preparation occurred
in Afghanistan.
And there did have to be some diplomatic negotiations to get some of
the tribes to be willing to fight together because they didn't like
each other sufficiently, at least, to work together and be under each
others' control and command.
Diplomatically, there may have been some money that changed hands, we
are told, to get one tribal leader to subjugate to another.
General Dostum, legendary in the region, in the whole continent, for
courage, led. We had less than 500, around 300 or so, embedded
military, special ops guys, as well as intelligence. And within about 4
or 5 months, the Taliban were totally routed, totally defeated.
Then the administration, under the leadership of the State
Department, decided the best thing for Afghanistan would be to have a
stove-piped, centralized, top-heavy government, even though this was a
regional, tribal country, had been for millennia.
That was a mistake that was not the Obama administration's; that
happened before President Obama took office.
But, from those I talked with, they could see problems, and I
believe, if there had been a President Bush clone he would have been
willing to admit we needed a change.
But the new President accepted Afghanistan, with its top-heavy
government, where the President can appoint the governors, appoint the
mayors, appoint the police chief, appoint the highest level teachers,
appoint a slate of a big portion of the legislature. Incredible powers.
If you were looking for a formula that would help you create
corruption, we helped provide it to the Afghans. If you were looking
for an environment that could be created that would encourage
corruption, we helped provide it to the Afghans.
Well, everybody makes mistakes. But the important thing is, after you
have made them, recognize them and correct them.
Instead, this administration came in and really doubled down and bet
on the top-heavy, corrupt Karzai administration. As a result,
synagogues really can't be found in Afghanistan. Christian churches--
you would be hard-pressed to find a church in Afghanistan, not that
they are not there somewhere.
But the Taliban, one of whose leaders has been on national television
in Afghanistan, on behalf of the Taliban,
[[Page H6739]]
citing shari'a law and, basically, announcing if you have been an
opposing the Taliban, if you have not actually supported us, then
everyone knows when the Americans leave, which will be this year, then
we, the Taliban will be back in charge here in Afghanistan.
So under shari'a law, you must come to us, admit your mistakes, ask
forgiveness, and ask for our protection, swear allegiance to the
Taliban. We will forgive you and we will provide you protection. But if
you fail to do so, then you will be fodder for death.
So, we have helped create a situation in Afghanistan, under this
administration, where now, if you are not going to be a radical
Islamist, your life is going to be miserable, which were the conditions
in Afghanistan before we went in.
We have set up a situation in Afghanistan that will be ripe for
further Taliban development, further Taliban training, and planning for
a more glorious 9/11 attack that can and would kill more Americans.
And although that would most likely occur after this President leaves
office, it would only be the mainstream media who would not recognize
that it was this administration that made this possible.
Yes, the Bush administration would have contributed some by the
government so centralized that was set up. But all but the most deaf
and blind to the mistakes of the current administration would say the
Bush administration would have allowed it to get to this point in
Afghanistan, where Christians and Jews have to fear for their lives,
where moderate Muslims have to fear for their lives, and where those
who fought for and with America will likely be killed.
Now, knowing some of these people, Mr. Speaker, I can assure you they
are not going to go down without a fight. So most likely, our
President, here in the United States, by siding with the bullies, is
likely to contribute to a massive, ugly, destructive civil war in
Afghanistan.
But it is one of the situations that has led our allies around the
world to say, wait a minute. The Northern Alliance in Afghanistan
fought for America. They fought for you. They defeated radical Islamic
Taliban in Afghanistan. They were defeated. They were overrun.
That last incredible battle where General Dostum--and I have talked
with him personally about it in Afghanistan, how he knew that they
couldn't send tanks up to this last fortification of the Taliban
because they could get blown up and they would block the way up.
He knew that he couldn't send massive numbers of infantry until,
eventually, they prevailed because they are fighting uphill against
artillery, rocket propelled grenades, and gunfire, and they wouldn't
have a chance, no matter how many they sent.
He felt the only chance was if they put the 1,000 fastest, most
courageous, best horseback riders they had on horses and sent them
uphill into this Taliban stronghold. And they did, and these 1,000
courageous freedom fighters, Muslims who wanted freedom from these
cruel, uncivilized, brutal beasts called the Taliban, they wanted them
defeated, and they went after them.
Riding as fast as they can, they head up the hill, rocket propelled
grenades, artillery, gunfire coming their way, and they lost 30 percent
of the 1,000 riders.
They didn't slow down, they didn't stop, they didn't watch and see as
someone fell. They knew their only chance of victory was to keep
heading up that hill to the fortification. Around 700 got there and
wiped out the Taliban, destroyed the last fortification, the last
stronghold of the Taliban, and there was victory in Afghanistan.
Now, all these years later, 12 years later, with an administration
that keeps helping the bullies of the world and hurting those who are
oppressed in the world, the Taliban is poised to take back over.
Our allies are wondering, why did we trust you? Why did we fight with
you?
You said when we defeated the Taliban for you that we could trust
you, we could give you our weapons because we had nothing to fear; the
United States would always stand with us and make sure the Taliban
would never take back over.
Now, 12 years after we trusted you, we put our lives in your hands,
we gave these weapons to you, you are turning your back on us in
Afghanistan who fought for you and with you, lost family, lost limbs,
fighting for you and with you, and now you are going to walk away and
leave this country to fall back in the hands of the Taliban.
We are not going to let it happen without a fight. But we can't
believe you would do this to someone to whom you said, hey, trust us,
you can trust us, and we did, and now the current administration is
turning its back on us, calling us war criminals.
{time} 2100
Other allies around the world see this, and they say, wow. You know,
we can't say this to Secretary of State Kerry. We couldn't say it to
Secretary of State Clinton. We couldn't say this to President Obama,
but we can say this to you. We trust you, but we are wondering if we
are going to be the next allies to be thrown under the bus.
People around the world are saying--it seems to be pretty clear--you
can't trust the United States, or you will pay with your life. That is
not the America that gained the trust and respect around the world from
everyone except the radical Islamists and some of the mainstream media.
The America that became the most free, the most affluent nation in
world history has also been the most generous nation in world history,
and what we have done and given and lost on behalf of other people--not
to create an empire, not to build an empire, not to force people to
speak English and to follow American ways--but so they could be free to
choose the way in which they should go.
Countries historically have not done that, and we have, and now, that
generous nature has been used by this administration until it has
become a vice, a vice that would allow our allies to be killed, to be
oppressed and persecuted because we are going to let the bullies take
over.
Not only did we watch and let bullies take over in other parts of the
world, but we saw the Arab Spring that, in the not-so-distant future,
would become a Christian and Jewish winter--a bleak, miserable winter
for Jews and Christians and secularists.
We demanded that the leader of Egypt be ousted--never mind that this
administration had agreements with the Egyptian leader--the President.
We turned our back on them--and how about after the Soviet Union fell
and the United States, particularly the Clinton administration, as I
understand it, were the ones that guaranteed Ukraine that if you will
give up the nuclear weapons that you hold and allow us to provide them
to Russia--we know you don't want to give these weapons to Russia, we
know you don't trust the Russians, but you can trust us, the United
States.
President Clinton, as I understand it, worked this great deal with
Ukraine: trust us, you can trust us--yes, let the Russians have the
nuclear weapons that you possess, Ukraine; and we, the United States,
will have your back, we will protect you. Russia wouldn't dare come
against you because we will protect you. We will fight for you. We have
got your back.
What this administration has done with the Ukrainians' back is to put
a knife in it.
Well, you know, there were a lot of Russians in Crimea. Well, yes,
there were. The Russians forced them in there and forced the Ukrainians
out at one time. Gee, what a great way to claim this land is yours, by
forcing the people out of there.
If you want to talk about earlier possession being the right to
currently possess, you are going to be hard-pressed to find any Muslim
that was a practicing Muslim 1,000 years before Christ, although you
will find the Jews under King David, and you would find King David in
the first 7 years of his reign in Hebron, leading Israel from Hebron.
This administration wants to say: oh, that is not Israel's land--the
people that came along and worshiped Mohammed 1,600 years after King
David ruled in this land, they are the ones that should have the land.
Really--that is this administration's position--seriously? What about
the prophecies in the Old Testament that, in the mountains of Sumeria,
there would be fruit, there would be grapes, there would be fine wine?
[[Page H6740]]
For decades, since Israel came back into the land, it was promised
over 3,000 years ago. People are saying, well, you can't grow grapes
there in those mountains. We don't know. The prophets really blew that
one. You can't grow grapes in that area of Sumeria, except that I have
been in that area of Sumeria where the prophet said that Israeli grapes
would grow and provide great wine. I don't drink alcohol, but the
grapes were amazing, and they are growing where the prophet said they
would.
So how could land that was in Israel's possession, that was
prophesied would be lost by the children of Israel, but God would
return them to the area, and there would be fine grapes and fruit grown
in that area, how could that be somebody else's prior claim when they
were longer there than anybody still, any tribes in existence today?
Perhaps that is Israel's land, but not according to this
administration. This administration is anxious to help those who are
the most brutal in all of Israel.
So even though we have gotten used to seeing this administration turn
its back on an ally in Egypt in favor of a radical Islamist Muslim
brother, Morsi, who was in charge--and who, by the way, sent his wife
to have a baby in America, who could be brought up and taught to hate
America, just like Alamoudi, who is doing over 20 years in prison for
supporting terrorism. His wife came to America and had a baby. They
have got an American citizen.
Actually, it was rather interesting. I found out today that Osama bin
Laden told his wife to come to America to have her baby. He wanted her
to have an American citizen that they could raise up and teach to hate
America who, because of their citizenship, would be able to come in and
out. Fortunately, she ended up in Saudi Arabia, as I understand, before
the child was born.
These radical Islamists may be crazy, but they are not stupid. They
know as long as we have open borders and welcome people who are
pregnant that hate us, they can get in and have baby American citizens
and take them back to their country and, over their life, teach them to
hate America.
I have talked about it for a number of years. There have been the
naysayers, and at some point, they will wise up and see, wow, this has
been happening for many years.
Well, the same administration that has condemned Israel at different
times for not being willing to step up and do what we told them to do,
the same administration that has left the leader of Israel sitting,
waiting for the President for long periods of time while he went and
ate and yet chastised him, well, you stay here and think about it, like
a child, and when you come to the agreement I told you to, basically
then I will get back together with you.
Like a child--really? We treat our allies like that?
Well, Prime Minister Netanyahu should be thankful because the way
this administration treated the ally leader in Egypt was to have him
destroyed--his position, get him out of office, out of power, subject
him to torture by the locals.
Look at the ally that this administration had in Libya. Qadhafi was
not a good man, but he was scared so badly after we entered Iraq that
he opened his doors: okay, guys--America, you tell me what I can keep,
what I have to get rid of. I don't want you to invade me, so I would
rather be your friend. You tell me what I can have in the way of
weapons.
He really and truly did give up whatever we told him to, and he
became an ally. I have even met Qadhafi's son here at the Capitol
before--while President Obama has been President. Apparently, he had
meetings here in Washington with the administration, with people on
Capitol Hill, and yet this administration not only turned on their ally
that they had in Qadhafi--who had supposedly given up his terrorist-
supporting ways--and this administration supplied weapons into Libya to
al Qaeda, to other rebels who were not al Qaeda, but to al Qaeda, to
al-Shari'a, to other radical Islamists to take out Qadhafi.
Some have contended, if we had not gone in and bombed Qadhafi's
caravan as he was trying to get away, they would not have caught him,
and he would have gotten out, so it would appear that the United States
contributed mightily to the torturous death of Qadhafi.
I am not saying he didn't deserve a rough death after what he had
done to so many, Mr. Speaker. I am just pointing out that this
administration had made agreements and discussions with him as an ally,
and they turned on him, threw him away--and not only that, but they
helped bring about his personal death and destruction.
When you deal with al Qaeda, when you deal with radical Islam, the
Taliban, it is like handling a snake, a poisonous snake. Eventually, it
will bite because it is a snake. That is what it does.
Now, in areas where this administration helped rebels, being a
Christian or a Jew is the quickest route to death. This administration,
sadly, has helped contribute to situations in the world where there is
now more terror if you are a Christian or a Jew than there has been in
centuries.
So I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I am a little bit surprised
that as Hamas--who does get some of our money. Money is fungible, and
we are sending it to the Palestinians, and every dime of it ought to be
cut off as long as they have a relationship with Hamas; but yet,
because we are sending money that is being used for textbooks and
things like street signs that are named for people who have killed
innocent Jews, Israelis, Christians, we are contributing to what they
are doing.
Then this administration, through the FAA, stuck a knife in Israel
once again by having the administration, through the FAA, ban U.S.
flights to and from Israel's main airport for a second day.
As even CNN reported, ``The FAA's ban on U.S. flights to and from
Israel's main airport for a second day marks another blow to that
country's economy and a success for Hamas militants, experts said
Wednesday.''
{time} 2115
As one said, quoted in the CNN story:
It is a big hit to the Israeli economy and to our pride,
the director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel said.
But he and other Israeli officials insisted their country's
sophisticated antimissile system makes Ben Gurion Airport a
safe place, even though a Hamas rocket from Gaza fell 1 mile
away from the airfield, prompting the FAA temporary ban on
U.S. flights.
``We knew about that rocket,'' said Israeli Government
spokesman Mark Regev. ``We were tracking it for about 3
minutes, our air force. We could have taken it down, but
because we saw that it wasn't going to hit inside the
airport, we let it through.''
For some Americans, Gaza conflict strikes close to home.
The FAA ban marks something of a victory for Hamas--as well
as prudent decision to protect commercial airlines, one
expert said.
But his quote included, ``What is the objective of
terrorists? To incite terror in people.''
That was Tim Clemente, a retired FBI counterterrorism agent talking
about Hamas.
Clemente said:
I think because they probably got lucky with this one
rocket that came close enough to Ben Gurion to make it seem
like the threat was legitimate.
Well, the truth is, maybe Mr. Clemente didn't know the Israelis were
tracking it. They could have shot it down, but there have been so many.
What? A couple thousand of these rockets have been sent in the last 15
days into Israel, they cannot afford to knock down ones that are not
going to harm people or do damage, so they didn't take it down. They
could see the trajectory. They knew where it was going to hit.
Yet the Obama administration decides to inflict even more damage on
Israel by harming them economically. Oh, we are lifting bans. We are
working with Iran, even though Iran said they want to wipe out the
Little Satan, Israel, and the Great Satan, the United States. They made
it clear, and they have never, ever ceased to pursue that dream of
wiping out Israel and the United States.
Oh, we will give them some money. We will let them have proceeds, but
when it comes to Israel, we are going to slap them around like a little
kid again even though they have the sophisticated weaponry to knock
down rockets and they let one go because it is not going to hurt
anybody. This administration seizes on that to declare a ban on U.S.
flights to and from Tel Aviv.
[[Page H6741]]
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, described the missile
landing near the airport as one victory in the ongoing war
between Hamas and Israel in Gaza. The resistance success in
stopping the air traffic and isolating Israel from the world
is a great victory for the resistance, Barhoum told Al-Aqsa
Television.
Great victory for Hamas. Great victory for radical Islam. They have
gotten the United States administration under President Obama to ban
air traffic into Tel Aviv, so we are sticking a knife in our friend.
It is not bad enough that Hamas is launching rockets nonstop into
Israel, that they have made clear no matter how badly Israel wants a
cease-fire, they are not going to stop the rockets, they are hoping
they will kill innocent people because they have made clear before that
to them, to these terrorists, they don't think there is an innocent
child in all of Israel because ultimately they will be in the military,
so they are doing the world a favor, they say, or they think, by
killing every Israeli they can.
And what does this administration do? It says let's help Hamas by
sticking, taking a stab into the heart of Israel's economy.
Here is an article from haaretz.com:
Will the threat to Israel's only international airport be a
game-changer?
Whether or not flights in and out of Israel are suspended
for any length of time, the suspension of flights by several
major air carriers is Hamas' first major achievement of this
conflict.
Mr. Speaker, it is tragic that the United States is the one who gave
Hamas, the radical Islamists, their first big victory. It wasn't Israel
that gave them a victory. Israel has defended itself, and that is all
they are doing.
The article says:
With a single rocket, which evaded the Iron Dome missile
defense system and exploded between two houses in the Tel
Aviv suburb of Yehud, Hamas might just have achieved what it
failed to do with nearly 2,000 rockets fired at Israel since
the beginning of this round of warfare 15 days ago.
Again, Mr. Speaker, it should be clear that Israel tracked the
missile, saw it wasn't going to hit anybody, and they let it go. It was
not a mistake. It was something they saw would be harmless, and they
let it go, the Israelis did.
But the article says:
The decision of the United States' Federal Aviation
Administration to advise the three U.S. carriers flying to
Israel, Delta, United, and US Airways, to suspend their
flights to Israel for 24 hours, could just be just a
temporary blip, another inconvenience caused by the current
security situation. If the suspension is extended
indefinitely, for as long as the rockets are flying, and if
it spreads to the airlines of other countries--a number of
European carriers have already followed suit and Korean Air
suspended flights already last week--it would create an
intolerable situation for the government of Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu.
Further in the article it says:
The rocket falling on Yehud did not change that situation.
One factor that could have changed the FAA assessment was
probably the downing of the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777
over eastern Ukraine on Thursday, with the deaths of all 298
crew and passengers on board.
Tens of thousands of Israelis planning to fly abroad,
tourists who were to leave, and those who were scheduled to
arrive here in the next few days will have had their plans
disrupted. The national carrier, El Al, however, will
continue to fly, and since there have been many cancelations
already, it will carry many of those who were set to fly on
foreign airlines.
But the psychological effect on Israelis will be
significant, and this could have a longer term implication
for Israel's economy.
The last time there was a wide-scale suspension of flights to Israel
by foreign airlines was not in 2001 after 9/11 when there were
continued threats against Israel or 2002 with continued threats against
Israel or 2003 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8. No. There were no flights
suspended from the United States under the President George W. Bush
administration, even though the threats at that time were probably more
severe than now that they have such an effective Iron Dome. There were
days before the effective Iron Dome that Israel was probably more at
risk than they are with the Iron Dome, but Bush didn't call a
suspension. But this administration has.
The last time there was a wide-scale suspension of flights
to Israel by foreign airlines was in early 1991, when Iraqi
scud missiles were falling on Israel during the first gulf
war. Israelis then did not travel abroad as often as they do
now, and that conflict did not happen during the summer
vacation period. More significantly, the local economy was
not integrated into the global markets as it is today, with
hundreds of international companies having research
centers in the Israeli high-tech hubs and thousands of
companies here totally reliant on export markets. It took
Israel's economy many years to break down the reluctance
of foreign corporations to invest and work in Israel--a
few days or a couple of weeks with limited air travel
probably won't change that, but it may well create a
temporary feeling of siege.
This may prove to be a game-changer in a conflict which is
now entering its third week. It could provide further impetus
for the government in seeking a speedy cease-fire with Hamas,
but that seems doubtful.
It is much more likely that, faced with the prospect of
more rockets cutting off Israel off from the international
air routes, the government will be inclined to order a much
more devastating blow, a wider ground operation to occupy the
rocket-launching sites or even directed at Hamas' underground
headquarters, with dreadful implications for the people of
Gaza living above.
And that will be the fault of this administration by failing to put
pressure on Hamas but instead putting pressure on the more reasonable
people who have just tried to defend themselves and have made clear if
you stop the rockets, we stop attacking.
All we are seeking is peace. Hamas holds the peace in its own hands,
and with that hand, it keeps trying to murder Israelis. And then you
end up having discussions in mainstream media--not that hardly anybody
is watching. But on CNN when one commentator asked another, I think it
was Wolf Blitzer, in effect, gee, these Hamas, they don't have near the
weapons that Israel has, so are you seeing any let-up of Israel since
they clearly have more fighting power than Hamas?
I am sorry. That is just really a stupid question. If somebody is
coming at you with a rock with the intent to murder you and you have a
gun, are you supposed to stand aside and say: Yeah, beat me as long as
you want to until you kill me. I can't use a gun because it is more
powerful than your rock?
Of course not. You can use self-defense when someone has murderous
intent.
Israel does have the ability to go in and clean out the weapons in
Gaza. I have pointed out to Prime Minister Netanyahu and other leaders
of Israel that going back to the very inception of Israel--the very
inception--before there was a king, even before there were judges,
there has never been a time in Israel's history when Israel gave away
its land trying to buy peace. Not only did they not get peace, that
land they gave away was used as a staging area from which to attack it.
Southern Lebanon and Gaza Strip are just more modern examples.
Mr. Speaker, I didn't understand until I went to Israel for the first
time why in the world Israel would be willing to give away more land.
But when you are there, you see it among the people. They were tired of
suicide bombers, and they were tired of rockets. Look, if you will just
leave us alone, we will give you land. But hopefully Israel has learned
a lesson that even though you are tired of the rockets, you are as
tired of the destruction from Hamas and from radical Islamists as you
were from the PLO, you can't buy peace by giving away your country, not
part of it, not all of it.
As long as you exist, they will want to kill you, eradicate you, and
wipe you out. They have said they will create a worse holocaust than
World War II, and I think they are quite serious.
What this administration ought to do for the good of mankind is to
recognize that in Hamas are some of the most heinous war crimes in
current days because Hamas is willing to take schoolchildren, the sick,
the afflicted, and families and put weapons in their homes, their
schools, and their hospitals, hiding them under, hiding them in, and
then when Israel defends itself by taking out the weapons, they get to
claim: Oh, gee, look. You killed innocent civilians. Shame on you.
The Hamas leaders ought to be tried for war crimes, convicted and
killed.
{time} 2130
They ought to be put to death in a war crimes system of justice for
using children and innocent people as shields. And this administration
ought to be leading the cry against Hamas' exposure of its children and
its people. But unfortunately, because some of the
[[Page H6742]]
American money we have spent is capable of being used to fund
schoolbooks that teach the children to hate Israelis and hate
Americans, hate Jews, hate Christians, you actually have families that
say sure, you want to hide your weapons in here, gee, if we are taken
out by the Israelis, then we are martyred and we will be heroes. What
kind of sick thinking have we contributed to in the region?
It is time to cut off every dime that America is giving to the
Palestinians, to Hamas, anybody working with Hamas, anybody having any
relationship with Hamas. It is time to take President Bush's words that
you are either with us or you are against us. If you are doing business
with Hamas, if you are helping Hamas, if you are friendly with Hamas,
then you are our enemy, and then we ought to enforce that.
Israel is standing in defense not only of itself but of the United
States of America because the radical Islamists represented in Hamas
don't just want an end to Israel. Anyone who wants the destruction and
end of Israel wants the destruction and the end of the United States of
America, and it is time that somebody in this administration recognized
that. I think there are military leaders that recognize that, and some
day they are going to grow a pair and tell the President of the United
States that he is helping the wrong side, and God bless him when they
do.
We even have Jewish self-loathers in this country and in the media--
which there have always been--who want to beat up and vilify Israel
when the country just wants to defend itself. But we know this has
happened as long as there have been the Jewish people. I mean, going
back to World War II, there were actually Jews who went and identified
where other Jews lived for the Germans. So is it any surprise that you
would have some Jewish people, self-loathing Jews, who would ridicule
Israel when it is just trying to defend itself?
Here is another article, ``World suspension of Israel flights a
`great victory': Hamas'':
The success of Hamas in closing Israeli airspace is a great
victory for the resistance, and is the crown of Israel's
failure.
That is Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. Well, he should give credit
to this administration. This administration is the one who gave it to
him.
And then here is an article from Reuters. Netanyahu asks Kerry to
help resume flights to Israel. Well, good luck with that. As long as
they think they are hurting Israel, they will probably keep it.
Sure, the President has already got his Nobel Peace Prize, he got
that before he really got started. But Secretary Kerry doesn't have his
yet, and the only chance he will have of bringing any peace to the
Middle East from his perspective is if you put pressure on the only
reasonable group over there, and that is the Israelis, because they are
the only ones that recognize that human life is valuable and we ought
to try to save as much as we can. They have shown great restraint in
the Gaza Strip. They shouldn't have to. We should clean it up for them.
Another article by Andrew McCarthy, ``Palestinians Chose Hamas and
the Mass Murder of Civilians, Including Their Own.'' He posted this
July 22:
Today, we are yet again being inundated with tales of
Palestinian woe after Hamas's familiar barbarism has provoked
an Israeli military response. It thus bears remembering that
the Palestinian people chose Hamas. Whatever happened to all
of those Democracy Project paeans to self-determination?
Hamas is Palestinian self-determination. Hamas was not forced
on Palestinians. Hamas did not militarily conquer Gaza. No,
Hamas swept parliamentary elections freely held in the
Palestinian territories in 2006--thrashing its rival, Fatah,
which is only marginally less committed to the destruction of
Israel.
Anyway, Andrew McCarthy quotes from The Wall Street Journal:
The people of Gaza overwhelmingly elected Hamas, a
terrorist outfit dedicated to the destruction of Israel as
their designated representatives. Almost instantly Hamas
began stockpiling weapons and using them against a more
powerful foe with a solid track record of retaliation. What
did Gazans think was going to happen? Surely they must have
understood on election night that their lives would now be
suspended in a state of utter chaos. Life expectancy would be
miserably low. Children would be without a future. Staying
alive would be a challenge, if staying alive even mattered
anymore. To make matters worse, Gazans sheltered terrorists
and their weapons in their homes, right beside ottoman sofas
and dirty diapers. When Israel warned them of impending
attacks, the inhabitants defiantly refused to leave.
On some basic level you forfeit your right to be called
civilians when you freely elect members of a terrorist
organization as statesmen, invite them to dinner with blood
on their hands, and allow them to set up shop in your living
room as their base of operations. At that point you begin to
look a lot more like conscripted soldiers than innocent
civilians. And you have wittingly made yourself targets.
It also calls your parenting skills into serious question.
In the U.S. if a parent is found to have locked his or her
child in a parked car on a summer day with the windows
closed, a social worker takes the children away from the
demonstrably unfit parent. In Gaza, parents who place their
children in the direct line of fire are rewarded with an
interview on MSNBC, where they can call Israel a genocidal
murderer.
He says it is just a warmup for Jew hatred that pervades the
Charter's Article 7, and then he quotes:
Hamas is one of the links in the Chain of Jihad in the
confrontation with the Zionist invasion. It links up with the
setting out of Martyr Izz-a-din al-Qassam and his brothers in
the Muslim Brotherhood who fought the Holy War in 1936; it
further relates to another link of the Palestinian Jihad and
the Jihad and efforts of the Muslim Brothers during the 1948
war, and to the Jihad operations of the Muslim Brothers in
1968 and thereafter. But even if the links have become
distant from each other, and even if the obstacles erected by
those who revolved in the Zionist orbit, aiming at
obstructing the road before the Jihad fighters, have rendered
the pursuance of Jihad impossible, nevertheless, the Hamas
has been looking forward to implement Allah's promise,
whatever time it takes. The prophet, prayer and peace be upon
him, said: The time will not come until Muslims will fight
the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks
and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding
behind me, come on and kill him. This will not apply to the
Gharqad, which is a Jewish tree.
Anyway, Andrew McCarthy said:
This is what Palestinians voted for. The highlighted
section of Article 7 comes straight from Islamic scripture,
from the authoritative Bukhari and Muslim collections of
hadith (the sayings and doings of the prophet Mohammed). It
foretells an eternal struggle until the end of time, when,
with Allah's intercession, the rocks and trees will help
Muslims battalions find and kill every remaining Jew.
Mr. Speaker, this is a dangerous time. Prime Minister Netanyahu seeks
the help of his former ally, the United States, not the stabbing in the
back by the ally, the United States. I have asked my office to try to
set up an appointment with Prime Minister Netanyahu if he would see me
this weekend. I know the Sabbath is coming up, but I would find a
commercial way to fly in there because I believe in the Israeli people
and their ability to keep me safe despite the efforts of the United
States in consoling their enemy.
Just as my friend Dana Rohrabacher came to me several years ago and
said, look, the U.S. State Department is saying we cannot go into
northern Iraq, the Kurdish area, for more than just maybe a meal
because if we do, they won't protect us. They say it is too dangerous.
Well, it was the safest area in Iraq, and the Kurdish people were
begging for our help. Well, we went in. We were protected 3 days, and I
know and I would put my life in the hands of the Israelis. I trust them
and I wish the rest of the United States would trust them despite this
administration.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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