[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15967]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         PALESTINIAN TERRORISM

  Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, my thoughts and prayers are with the Israeli 
people who are enduring a new escalation of Palestinian terrorism.
  Last Thursday evening, a mother and father were murdered in front of 
their four children ages 9, 7, 4, and 4 months when Hamas terrorists 
opened fire on their car. A few days later, another Jewish family was 
walking in the Old City of Jerusalem after praying at the Western Wall 
when a Palestinian terrorist went on a stabbing attack. He murdered the 
father, along with another courageous man who rushed to the scene to 
the family's aid. Both men leave behind their wives and nine children. 
In addition to the four murdered, many more Israelis have been 
seriously wounded from car-ramming, rock-throwing, and brutal knife and 
screwdriver stabbing attacks in what appears to be a fresh horror--an 
epidemic of low-tech, brutal attacks by militants who are acting on 
their own initiative.
  These attacks have been incubated by the continued incitement and 
glorification of violence by the Palestinian leadership, most recently 
by President Mahmoud Abbas during his address at the United Nations 
General Assembly. He still has yet to categorically condemn these 
attacks. It is long past time for the United States and the 
international community to hold the Palestinians accountable for their 
incitement and support for terrorism, including through the financial 
payment to Palestinian terrorists who are jailed in Israel for 
committing acts of terrorism.
  In yet another stark reminder of how closely our nations are 
connected in this fight, the father murdered last Thursday, Eitam 
Henkin, was a dual Israeli-American citizen. The terrorist who killed 
him did not care, as his sole intent was to kill Jews, not to engage in 
a political process. There is no moral equivalence between Palestinian 
terrorism and the obligation of Israel to act in defense of its people. 
To the Israeli people, especially those who are victims of terrorism 
and their families: I proudly stand in solidarity with you during this 
challenging time.

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