[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 170 (Monday, November 18, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6595-S6596]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Gaza
Mr. HELMY. Madam President, I come to the floor today as a New
Jerseyan, as the only Arab American serving in the U.S. Senate, and as
a human being utterly devastated--broken, even--by the unfathomable
scale of human suffering taking place right now in Gaza and the West
Bank as a direct consequence of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
This war has already claimed an estimated 44,000 lives across Gaza
and the West Bank. Almost half of those killed by the bombshells and
bullets of this war have been women and children--teens, toddlers,
infants. That is not to mention the millions more who have been
displaced from their homes by this conflict and threatened by famine
and illness.
According to current estimates, every hour, this conflict claims the
lives of 15 innocent people--every single hour. It is reported that
fully rebuilding Gaza and the West Bank after the war could take at
least 200 years or more--literal centuries from now, well beyond our
lifetimes.
It should not matter what one's politics are, what one's religion is,
what one's nationality is, or one's ethnicity. These facts should shock
our conscience to the very core. On our watch, right before our eyes,
we are witnessing one of the most rapid decimations of human life in
recent history.
Now, let me be clear about a couple of things. I have always and
continue to firmly, unquestionably support Israel's right to exist and
defend itself against all forms of terrorism and those who sponsor
terrorism. I vehemently condemn Hamas and the barbaric attack against
Israel and its civilians on October 7, 2023, when 1,200 innocent
Israelis lost their lives--a dark day in history during which Hamas
also took hundreds of innocent hostages, including U.S. citizens. One
of those hostages is New Jersey resident Edan Alexander--a 20-year-old
Tenafly High School graduate who should be immediately returned home
safely along with all remaining hostages.
Again, all human beings, regardless of political persuasion or
ideology, should be devastated by the widespread loss of human life and
human suffering on all sides, but I have some real, some hard questions
about what is causing the scale of suffering in Gaza and the West Bank
and why we are seemingly unable to alleviate it in any significant way.
These questions are not abstract. They stem from what I have seen and
heard with my own eyes and ears during a recent official trip to Jordan
to assess the state of humanitarian assistance in Gaza, the West Bank,
and Lebanon.
What I saw was this: There is a de facto blockade of even the most
basic aid supplies getting through the Kerem Shalom crossing, the only
viable point of entrance for aid to Gaza and the West Bank. This
blockade has severely restricted the amount of aid to make it to the
desperate Palestinians, whose lives literally depend on it. Just today,
it was reported that nearly 100 trucks transporting lifesaving aid were
violently looted at gunpoint, adding yet another unique challenge to
getting aid to civilians.
The effects of this chokepoint have resulted in other absurd
outcomes. I recently toured warehouses, including one that U.S.
Secretary of State Blinken toured himself, stocked to the very brim,
practically overflowing with lifesaving aid supplies. This blockade has
prevented the safe transport of those supplies into Gaza and the West
Bank, where just miles away women, children, and families are literally
starving. These are pallets, upon pallets of food, medication, pillows,
latrines, and winterized tents to keep families warm as winter sets in,
all of it just sitting there because of a manmade blockade.
What I heard was this: I met with medical surgeons and doctors of the
Jordanian Armed Forces serving in Gaza who recounted harrowing stories
of amputations on children, futile attempts to keep the malnourished
alive, and operations in makeshift tents under live fire and drone
strikes. These frontline providers--heroes--told me that a number of
partially operational hospitals are resorting to using everyday
materials like sewing thread for clothes to stitch up patients after
surgeries because they have run out of appropriate medical supplies.
That should appall every one of us.
Israel's recent passage of two laws to totally ban UNRWA from
operating anywhere in Palestine has, of course, threatened to make the
problem even worse. It is irrefutable that UNRWA is the primary, on-
the-ground provider of aid, food, and other essential services to the
people of Gaza and the West Bank. Shutting down UNRWA at this time is
shutting down the very nerve center of humanitarian aid and assistance
within Palestine.
These insights have left me with many questions: Do these actions
intent on limiting aid into Gaza and the West Bank, taken under the
pretense of security operations, comply with international humanitarian
laws and norms? Are these the actions we should expect from one of our
closest democratic allies in the world? Perhaps these are questions for
people far more versed in the matters of war and legal compliance than
I, but Members of this body should be asking these same questions. Many
are, and I thank them for their bold leadership.
And what exactly are we doing to ensure that our closest ally in the
Middle East is living up to the humanitarian principles and human
rights that we claim to embrace and enforce around the world?
My conversations with Americans of all walks have revealed a deep
desire for the United States to take a more aggressive role in
protecting innocent civilians suffering from the brunt of this war, and
on occasion, we have done that. I thank the Biden administration for
their efforts thus far to alleviate the chokepoints and expand the flow
of aid into the region.
I also think it is important that the administration agreed with the
U.N. Security Council's statement that ``UNRWA remains the backbone of
all humanitarian response in Gaza'' and that ``no organization can
replace or substitute UNRWA's capacity and mandate to serve Palestinian
refugees and civilians in urgent need of lifesaving humanitarian
assistance.'' However, so much more needs to and must be done.
As we enter a new Congress and a new administration takes office next
year, the U.S. Government will and should continue debating the
enormously complex policy and geopolitical issues that are at stake in
the Middle East, but I am not here to opine on the Gordian knot of
Middle East policy nor do I pretend to have cure-all solutions to the
problems that have been plaguing the region for many decades.
I traveled through several States over the last 2 months and spoke
with many students--Arab and Muslim Americans and many others--who are
deeply concerned with the crisis. The
[[Page S6596]]
conversations were thoughtful and reflected the complexity of the
situation. One can call terrorism what it is--terrorism. One can stand
up and support Israel and the Jewish people worldwide, and yet one can
speak to the truth that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West
Bank is simply unacceptable.
When I asked a young man what he hoped to see, he said to me, simply:
I want to see the world say and show that the life of a Palestinian
child is just as valuable as the life of a child anywhere else in the
world.
I simply will conclude where I began. My fervent plea is for all of
us in this body and in our country to see what is happening in the
Middle East through the lens of our humanity, first and foremost. No
human should be worth less than another based on which side of a
checkpoint or crossing they may live on.
Perhaps, just perhaps, if we keep the principle at the center of our
approach, we can do better by the innocent people of Gaza and the West
Bank who so desperately demand and need our humanity.
I yield the floor.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. HELMY. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. CASSIDY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Butler). Without objection, it is so
ordered.