[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 15039]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




REGARDING PRESIDENT OBAMA'S ADDRESS TO THE MUSLIM AND ARAB WORLDS FROM 
                              CAIRO, EGYPT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. DAN BOREN

                              of oklahoma

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 12, 2009

  Mr. BOREN. Madam Speaker, President Obama made some very important 
points in his address last week in Cairo, Egypt. It is important that 
he spoke directly to the Muslim and Arab worlds and stated as fact that 
6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. The President should be 
applauded for making clear that threatening Israel is wrong and that 
anti-Semitism, which remains prevalent in the Arab media, is ignorant, 
hateful and wrong.
  Unfortunately, the President's speech left an impression that Israel 
was founded in response to anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. While these 
reasons were necessary for the creation of an Israeli state, a Jewish 
bond to the land of Israel is deeply rooted in history.
  Many in the Muslim and Arab worlds deny that a Jewish connection to 
the land of Israel and Jerusalem exists. For example, at the Camp David 
meetings conducted by President Clinton, Yasser Arafat denied that the 
Jewish Temple was located in Jerusalem. However, a Jewish connection to 
Jerusalem and to the land of Israel reaches far back into ancient 
history and precedes the Holocaust. This bond is not 60 years old; it 
is more than 3,000 years old, pre-dating Islam and even Christianity.
  President Obama is to be congratulated for reaching out to the Muslim 
and Arab worlds. As we do so, it is imperative that we stand with 
Israel. Only then will we achieve peace and stability in this troubled 
region of the world.