[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10729]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, in light of yet another suicide bombing in 
Israel yesterday, I think it is incumbent that all of us reflect on the 
targeting of innocent civilians in a reign of terror carried out by the 
Palestinian Authority and other organizations under its control. We can 
no longer, if we ever could, stand idly by and allow these suicide 
bombings targeting innocent civilians to take place time and time and 
time again, and every time say that Mr. Arafat has to do more to 
prevent terrorism, Mr. Arafat has to show that he can step up to the 
plate and combat terrorism.
  At what point do we simply say enough is enough and move beyond Mr. 
Arafat? I think that point has come and gone a long time ago.

                              {time}  1445

  President Bush is supposedly going to make a statement within the 
next few days talking about a so-called ``provisional'' Palestinian 
state. I would say to the President and to my colleagues and to 
everyone concerned that there ought to be no declaration of any kind of 
Palestinian state, provisional or otherwise, as long as Palestinians 
continue their reign of terror against innocent civilians. In a 
civilized world, supposedly, there should be no talk of rewarding 
terror with a state, provisional or otherwise.
  When President Bush several months ago said to the world, you are 
either with us or you are with the terrorists, that was very clear. 
Black and white, no shades of gray. And, if it applies to us, it should 
apply to Israel and every other nation on this Earth.
  If we are justified, and we are, going halfway around the world to 
destroy the Taliban in Afghanistan because of terrorist attacks upon 
our Nation, and let me say as a New Yorker and as someone who works in 
Washington, no one feels the pain of those attacks more than I do, if 
we are going halfway around the world to root out terrorism in 
Afghanistan, then Israel should be allowed to do the same thing in her 
own backyard.
  Mr. Arafat has shown that he is a terrorist, that he has never grown 
out of being a terrorist, that he always has been a terrorist, and he 
will continue to be a terrorist. Therefore, I think that this country 
should not talk with him, should not recognize him, should not discuss 
anything with him; and we ought to tell the Palestinians, come back and 
talk to us when you get some responsible leadership. Come back and talk 
to us when there are reforms in your leadership. Come back and talk to 
us when you have a leadership that does not use terror against innocent 
civilians as a negotiating tool.
  This is something that cannot be tolerated. I do not want to hear 
about grievances on both sides or perceived hurts. It is never an 
excuse for terrorism against innocent civilians.
  As to this notion put forward in some of the Palestinians corridors 
that if only Israel would withdraw, everything would be wonderful, 
there would not be a problem, and peace would reign supreme, the fact 
of the matter is that 21 months ago Israel agreed to withdraw. There 
was a plan that was being negotiated which would have given the 
Palestinians a state of their own, on 100 percent of Gaza and 97 
percent of the West Bank, with billions of dollars of aid, a state of 
their own, the end of the occupation. Israel said yes, the United 
States said yes, the Palestinians said no. Yasser Arafat rejected it 
and walked away, did not come forth with a counterproposal, did not 
stay and negotiate a proposal that might be better for him. He said no, 
and unleashed the intifada, unleashed terrorism and unleashed violence. 
That ought not to be rewarded.
  I would hope that we would make it very clear again that the time has 
come to say good-bye to Mr. Arafat. It is not a matter of whether he 
can control the terrorism, whether he wants to do so. He is the 
terrorist. Three-quarters of the terrorist attacks against Israel 
during the past 21 months have come from organizations that he 
controls. The al-Aksa Brigade, the al-Aksa so-called Martyr's Brigades, 
which our State Department has declared as a terrorist organization, is 
under Mr. Arafat's control. They have taken credit for the bombings. 
Tanzeen, 4/17, the Fata Umbrella Group. They have been responsible for 
three-quarters of the bombings.
  So it is time for us to say good-bye to Mr. Arafat. It is time to 
tell the Palestinians, no state, unless you have responsibility, unless 
you show responsible leadership; and it is time for the United States 
to continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Israel in 
fighting the terrorism around the world.

                          ____________________