[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11088]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  H. RES. 268--U.S. SUPPORT FOR A NEGOTIATED SOLUTION TO THE ISRAELI-
                          PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. STEVE ISRAEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 13, 2011

  Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a cosponsor of H. Res. 268. 
This resolution reaffirms the United States' support for a negotiated 
solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
  For those who say the path to peace in the Middle East is easy, let 
them consider the path I recently had to take just to fly to Israel. In 
May, I traveled with other members of this body on a bipartisan 
Congressional delegation to the Middle East. Our trip was scheduled to 
take us from the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, across Kuwait and Iraq and 
into Israel. However, before our plane was able to take off the 
Kuwaitis denied us overflight rights because our destination was 
Israel. After lengthy negotiations, our pilots were given permission to 
fly over Kuwaiti airspace, but as our plane neared the Iraqi border the 
government of Iraq denied our request to enter their airspace, again 
because our destination was Israel. We were forced to circle for 90 
minutes while we once again negotiated with a government for whom the 
United States has spilled both blood and treasure. Finally, the Iraqis 
gave us permission to fly over their country only if we agreed to land 
in Jordan before flying on to Israel. Our plane landed in Amman, taxied 
to the end of the runway, and then took off for a seven minute flight 
to Israel. Apparently, American service members can die in Iraq, 
American taxpayer dollars can be spent on Iraq, but an American 
Congressional delegation on a U.S. military aircraft cannot fly over 
Iraq en route to Israel. So, when Israel's neighbors demand that Israel 
make difficult concessions as a precursor to peace negotiations, we 
should keep in mind the behavior of these neighbors and their refusal 
to accept Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state.
  Now the Palestinians are threatening to seek a unilateral declaration 
of statehood through the United Nations. President Obama has already 
stated that the United States will veto any unilateral declaration at 
the UN, so the Palestinians' continued push for a UN vote in September 
is nothing but an attempt to delegitimize the state of Israel. Today, 
the House of Representatives can reinforce our nation's support for 
Israel and support for a negotiated peace.
  Israel has shown it is ready to take risks for peace. If the 
Palestinians want a state that is formally recognized by the 
international community they should sit down with the Israelis and 
negotiate.

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