[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 24798-24799]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        U.N.'S REPORT ON ISRAEL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, this week at the United Nations 
another assault is being launched on the democratic Jewish State of 
Israel, an assault that the United States must unequivocally oppose and 
defeat.
  Predictably, this assault has its roots in the U.N.'s so-called 
``Human Rights Council,'' an institution that has been hijacked by 
dictatorships and gross human rights violators.
  This past winter, in Operation Cast Lead, Israel defended its 
citizens--and its existence--against the actions of Hamas and other 
violent extremist groups in Gaza. The Human Rights Council responded by 
passing a resolution authorizing a so-called ``fact finding mission'' 
to investigate Operation Cast Lead. This mission's mandate had nothing 
to do with fact finding and everything to do with persecuting Israel 
for defending herself.
  The mandate prejudged Israel's guilt, authorizing the mission to 
investigate only assumed human rights violations by Israel. The mandate 
did not include or even mention the thousands of rocket attacks and 
mortar attacks spanning 8 years by Hamas and other violent extremist 
groups in Gaza against civilian targets in southern Israel.

[[Page 24799]]

  Then, last month this so-called ``fact finding mission'' released its 
report. It's a 575-page collection of distortions and double standards. 
The report made baseless accusations that Israel's military had 
deliberately attacked civilians. The report disregarded extensive 
evidence that violent extremist groups in Gaza used civilians as human 
shields, operating from schools, from mosques, from hospitals. It 
ignored the Israeli military's extraordinary efforts to target its 
operations in order to minimize civilian casualties. It gave a free 
pass to the Iranian and the Syrian regimes, which provide material and 
financial assistance to Hamas and other murderous groups in Gaza.
  Finally, this report recommended further persecution of Israel 
through follow-up action by the U.N. Security Council, the General 
Assembly, the Human Rights Council, and the International Criminal 
Court, among others. In fact, today, the Security Council met at the 
request of the Libyan regime and considered this very biased report.
  Later this week, with the blessing of the U.N. Secretary General, the 
Human Rights Council is expected to hold a special session on this 
report. What will they do? They will pass yet another resolution 
condemning Israel, and only Israel.
  And what has the U.S. done in response to this anti-freedom 
onslaught? While acknowledging that the report and its mandate were 
biased, administration officials still claim that the report raised 
serious issues and should be considered seriously by that rogues 
gallery known as the Human Rights Council. Is this how the United 
States supports Israel and counters the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel 
bias that is present every day at the U.N.?
  We must recognize what is at stake here. If the democratic political 
and military leaders of Israel can be hauled before an unaccountable 
court for defending their nation against violent extremists in Gaza, 
then how long before U.S. officials and those of other NATO countries 
will face the same for defending our Nation against al Qaeda and other 
such threats? Ultimately, this report is an effort by the enemies of 
freedom to deprive democracies of the right of self-defense, making it 
open season for global jihadists to come after Israel or the U.S. and 
other free nations.
  As the leadership of the Simon Wiesenthal Center stated in a recent 
letter to our ambassador, Susan Rice, consideration of this report is a 
prescription for disaster not only for Israel, but for the United 
States and every country that fights violent extremism.
  Mr. Speaker, we must oppose any effort to grant consideration or 
legitimacy in any forum to this irredeemably biased U.N. report. We 
must support the right of Israel, the right of the U.S., the right of 
all democracies to defend ourselves and our citizens.
  Once again, Mr. Speaker, it is time for the U.S. to lead. Thank you, 
Mr. Speaker, for the time.

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