[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 10335]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           STANDING BY ISRAEL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Last week's interdiction by the Israeli Navy of a small 
flotilla of ships trying to run the blockade on Hamas-controlled Gaza 
ignited a firestorm around the world.
  Foreign commentators, who look askance at the Jewish state in the 
best of times, condemned the raid in the strongest of terms, attempting 
to cast it as another example of Israel's supposed slide toward South 
African-style apartheid or even fascism.
  Here and in Israel, itself, the reaction reflected a deeper 
understanding of the broad spectrum of threats confronting Israel. The 
execution of the raid, itself, was criticized in some quarters, but 
there remains a fundamental understanding of the underlying conditions 
that gave rise to Israel's blockade of Gaza and a realization that 
those conditions persist and that, as long as Gaza remains under the 
control of Hamas, there can be no lasting peace between Israel and the 
Palestinians.
  Hamas leaders and their masters in Tehran and Damascus have 
repeatedly refused to renounce terror, to abide by agreements signed by 
the Palestinian Authority and Israel and to recognize Israel's right to 
exist. They have used Gaza's impoverished population as human shields 
in their war of attrition with Israel and have subordinated their 
people's needs to the quest for rockets and other weapons. Two days 
ago, Israeli forces intercepted an armed squad of five terrorists who 
were wearing diving suits and who were apparently on their way to 
attack Israeli targets.
  Madam Speaker, there can be no doubt that these are dangerous times 
for Israel and that America must stand by the Middle East's only 
democracy in its quest for peace and security.
  Despite four rounds of U.N. sanctions, including today's passage of 
tighter finance curbs and an expanded arms embargo, Iran has not been 
deterred in its quest to develop nuclear weapons. While this latest 
round of sanctions is a welcomed step, there is deep skepticism that 
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the hard-line clerics who rule Iran 
can be dissuaded from their present course. An Iran armed with the bomb 
would be a catastrophe, destabilizing the Middle East and triggering an 
arms race in the region.
  President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have done a great 
service to Israel, to the greater Middle East, and to the cause of 
international peace and security through their efforts to forge a 
consensus in the Security Council, and I offer them my personal thanks. 
Yet, even as we applaud today's sanctions vote, we must redouble our 
efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and I look 
forward to further diplomatic and unilateral initiatives to convince 
Tehran that the costs of continuing on this reckless path are greater 
than any perceived benefit.
  Hezbollah, the Shiite militia cum political party created in Lebanon 
by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1983, has rearmed in the aftermath of 
the 2006 war with Israel. Its arsenal of short-range missiles has 
reportedly been augmented by longer range Scuds, which can reach 
targets throughout Israel. The Scuds, believed to be supplied by Syria, 
augment Hezbollah's existing stockpile of up to 40,000 rockets stored 
in underground bunkers in southern Lebanon.
  Turkey, which had been Israel's strongest Muslim majority ally and an 
important mediator between Jerusalem and Arab capitals, has, in recent 
months, become deeply hostile to Israel. In addition to hosting the 
organizers of the Gaza flotilla, Turkey has said it would reduce 
military and trade ties, and it has put off discussions of energy 
projects, including natural gas and freshwater shipments. Last year, 
Prime Minister Erdogan accused Israel of being a greater violator of 
human rights than Sudan, and today, Turkey was one of only two votes 
against new rounds of sanctions against Iran in the Security Council.
  Most worrisome in the long term is the broad-based international 
campaign to delegitimize Israel. University campuses have been divided 
by divestment campaigns. There have been academic and economic boycotts 
of Israel in Europe, and many Israelis are wary of traveling to several 
European countries.
  The great majority of the world's people alive today were not born 
until well after World War II and did not bear witness to the 
Holocaust. They did not watch as thousands of Jewish refugees, 
desperate to start new lives in Palestine after the war, were forcibly 
prevented from entering the country by Britain. They did not witness 
the miracle of Israel's birth in 1948 and the immediate invasion of the 
new state by five Arab armies.
  For more than six decades, this country has stood by Israel. We have 
admired its pluck, its ingenuity, and its dedication to democratic 
principles in spite of all of the threats it faces. While there has 
always been a strategic dimension to the U.S.-Israel alliance, the 
relationship has really been rooted in our shared values.
  Madam Speaker, 17 years ago, on the occasion of the signing of the 
Oslo Accords, late Prime Minister Rabin spoke movingly of his journey.
  He said, ``We have come from Jerusalem, the ancient and eternal 
capital of the Jewish people. We have come from an anguished and 
grieving land. We have come from a people, a home, a family, that has 
not known a single year--not a single month--in which mothers have not 
wept for their sons. We have come to try and put an end to the 
hostilities so that our children and our children's children will no 
longer have to experience the painful cost of war, violence, and 
terror.
  ``We have come to secure their lives and to ease the sorrow and the 
painful memories of the past--to hope and pray for peace.''
  We share the prime minister's sorrow, and to the people of Israel, we 
say, America is with you.

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