gelatik
06.05.02, 00:38
U.S. Congressman Criticizes House Vote Supporting Israel
WASHINGTON, May - Democratic Michigan U.S. Congressman David E. Bonior, in
remarks made before the vote in the House of Representatives Friday, May 3,
criticized a resolution proclaiming unbridled solidarity with Israel as being
unbalanced in its approach to the conflict in the Middle East.
Speaking before the legislative body, Bonior pointed out the resolution,
brought at this time, undermines efforts, especially those of U.S. President
George W. Bush’s administration, to bring about conditions for a ceasefire
between the parties.
“This would be wrong at any time, but in light of what has happened in Jenin,
Bethlehem, Ramallah, Haifa, Jerusalem, Netanya - what continues to happen -
this resolution is dangerous,” he stressed.
Bush has remarked that there is a “vision of two states, Palestine and Israel,
living side by side in peace and security” and that a “Palestinian state must
be achieved by negotiating an end to occupation.”
In addition, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell reiterated that the U.S. and
the international community are committed to helping bring about a “just,
comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East.”
However, as Bonior pointed out in his remarks, Congress has chosen to ignore
administration efforts and has chosen another track.
“In supporting this resolution, we are not merely expressing our ‘solidarity’
with Israel, as the resolution’s sponsors would have us believe,” he pointed
out, adding that, “this resolution blindly supports Israel’s actions against
the Palestinians and wholly denies the generations of suffering of the
Palestinian people.”
“Generations of Palestinians and Israelis have suffered in the region. But the
violence of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict cannot be examined or addressed in
isolation of the decades of occupation of millions of Palestinians,” Bonior
continued, “Israeli suffering is something this body has understood and
discusses. But what of the suffering of the Palestinian people?
“What of the history of land confiscation, water rights, torture, settlements,
collective punishment, home demolitions, curfews, administrative detentions and
expulsions?”
Bonior continued pointing out injustices against the Palestinians not addressed
in the resolution, including recent events in Jenin and Israeli efforts at
preventing humanitarian relief from reaching the sick and wounded, as he
reminded fellow House members of the history of the region.
“Rarely is there discussion on this floor of the nearly 420 Palestinian
villages destroyed at the time of Israel’s founding in 1948. Or the 3.8 million
refugees registered by the United Nations and the estimated two million others
not registered,” he stressed.
Pointing failures in agreements reached between Israelis and Palestinian,
Bonior pointed to Israeli failure to live up to those agreements: “And while we
clung to the hope of the peace Oslo would bring, Palestinians saw a remarkable
growth in settlements.”
“When Palestinians are searching through the rubble of their homes and all they
find are the shell casings and shrapnel bearing the ‘made in the USA’ label,
how will this resolution help them to see past that? How will this document
assist us in getting the parties back to the table? The short answer is it
won't,” a clearly irritated Bonior commented.
He concluded by stressing the need for a balanced approach for both parties
involved in the conflict: “We owe it to the generations of Israelis and
Palestinians who want to live a life free of violence and occupation to make
peace a priority again. As Israelis deserve to live with stability and
security, so too Palestinians deserve to live with dignity and justice.”