[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 13435-13436]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 HAMAS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2013, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. 
Franks) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I would now yield to the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I want to thank my good friend for yielding 
and thank him for his leadership and his very eloquent remarks just a 
few moments ago on Hamas terrorism and the fact that we need to do much 
more than we have, to try to mitigate, end, and disarm this 
organization that is committed to the demise of the State of Israel.
  Hamas, Mr. Speaker, as we all know, is a terrorist organization, and 
as Netanyahu put it so well, it is like al Qaeda, and it is just like 
Boko Haram. They kill people, they murder, they rape, they abduct, and 
they do all

[[Page 13436]]

kinds of terrible terrorist activities in order to promote their ends.
  Yesterday, Khaled Mashal, leader of Hamas, spoke to Charlie Rose, who 
asked: Do you want to coexist with the State of Israel? The Hamas 
leader said in a completely matter-of-fact manner, ``No.''
  It is clear, Mr. Speaker, that Hamas doesn't want peace, 
reconciliation, or coexistence. Hamas seeks only the total demise of 
Israel.
  I would like to quote, Mr. Speaker, briefly from the Hamas Charter, 
and I encourage Members of this body, Americans, and people around the 
world to read the Hamas Charter.
  Article 13 says:

       Initiatives and so-called peaceful solutions and 
     international conferences are in contradiction to the 
     principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement. There is no 
     solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. 
     Initiatives, proposals, and international conferences are all 
     a waste of time and vain endeavors.

  It gets even worse, Mr. Speaker. Article 20 obscenely compares 
Israeli society with Nazism. Article 28 charges so-called Zionism with 
massive conspiracy which ``aims at undermining societies, destroying 
values, corrupting consciences, deteriorating character, and 
annihilating Islam.''
  Article 32 charges that the plan of the so-called Zionist is embodied 
in one of the greatest libels of all human history, the ``Protocols of 
the Elders of Zion.''
  All of this, Mr. Speaker, recalls Natan Sharansky's ``3-D test of 
anti-Semitism,'' which he called demonization, double standards, and 
delegitimization.
  Sharansky twice testified in hearings that I chaired on combating 
anti-Semitism and proposed what he called the simple test to help us 
distinguish legitimate criticism of Israel from anti-Semitism.
  As he put it, the three Ds are, again, demonization--he said:

       When Israel's actions are blown out of all sensible 
     proportion; when comparisons are made between Israelis and 
     Nazis, this is anti-Semitism, not legitimate criticism of 
     Israel.

  Second, the double standard:

       When criticism of Israel is applied selectively, when 
     Israel is singled out by the United Nations for human rights 
     abuses while the behavior of known and major abusers, such as 
     China, Iran, Cuba, and Syria is ignored, this is anti-
     Semitism.

  The third D, delegitimization, as he puts it:

       When Israel's fundamental right to exist is denied--alone 
     among all peoples in the world--this, too, is anti-Semitism.

  This, too, is exactly what Hamas is engaged in. From its origins to 
the present day, the Hamas movement has been poisoned by anti-Semitism, 
and the murderous nature of this evil has not diminished. It has got 
worse. Jews today continue to die because of it.
  Five IDF soldiers were killed yesterday, 48 have died since July 8, 
and of course, we are deeply saddened by these deaths, as well as all 
who have died in the conflict, and we must not forget that it is anti-
Semitic hatred that is driving this conflict and causing all of these 
deaths.
  Today, Mr. Speaker, I call on President Obama to give Israel our 
government's full support and to make unmistakably clear our 
government's position that Israel, in response to Hamas' unprovoked 
attacks, is fully in the right to defend itself, including to search 
out and destroy Hamas terror tunnels and those who launch rockets at 
Israel.
  Again, I thank my good friend, Mr. Franks, for his leadership and, 
again, for his strong and eloquent statement earlier on, during the 
Special Order on Hamas.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. Speaker, I just would suggest to you that, in the time that I 
have been in Congress--nearly 12 years now, about 12 years--I do not 
know of a greater defender of humanity and truth and just the kind of 
principle that made America what we are than one Congressman Chris 
Smith, and I just consider it a privilege for the time that I have been 
able to serve with him.
  Mr. Speaker, 30 years ago, Soviet Marshal Ogarkov announced that 
Flight 007 of Korean Airlines had been terminated, that the Soviets had 
shot down a civilian airliner killing all 269 passengers aboard.
  President Reagan immediately addressed the entire Nation about the 
tragedy and resolutely called for justice and for action. He then 
proceeded to accelerate work on America's missile defense system. He 
worked with Congress on the Reagan defense buildup, he built 
relationships with European allies and enforced strong sanctions that 
ultimately bankrupt and brought down the once-unshakeable Soviet Union.
  Mr. Speaker, last week, another civilian airliner, flight MH17, with 
298 innocent people aboard, was also shot down and this time by 
Russian-backed separatists.
  On that same day in which the conflict in Israel also escalated to 
new heights, The New York Times reported President Obama's schedule as, 
``a cheeseburger with fries at the Charcoal Pit in Delaware, a speech 
about infrastructure, and two splashy fundraisers in New York City.''
  Mr. Speaker, where would America be today if we had elected Barack 
Obama in 1980? Where will this President's leadership take us tomorrow?
  With that question, I yield back the balance of my time.

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