(Washington, DC) - U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Queens/L.I.), while managing debate on the House floor yesterday over legislation to condemn Hezbollah's use of human shields (H.Res. 125), responded to critics alleging similar abuses by the Israel Defense Forces. The following are Ackerman’s remarks.

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.

To my good friend from California, as well as my good friend from Ohio, I would address the following observations and concerns. First, I would like to thank each of them for their support for this resolution condemning Hezbollah for their actions.

But I would like to note for the record that there is a tremendous difference between a perpetrator and a victim. A perpetrator is the one who initiates the act. The victim is the one who is victimized by the act. Very often, in an act of violence, murder, mayhem, the victim fights back. The victim has every single right in the world, legally and morally, to defend itself against violence. Some might argue sometimes that in defense of oneself, the victim goes too far. The woman being raped tries to scratch out the eyes of the rapist. Who is to blame her?

I thank my two friends for also pointing out that there is a difference in systems, that there is a difference in moral values between that which the Hezbollah does and the response of the Israelis. I appreciated the fact that the gentleman from Ohio brought in part of a weapon of destruction that was used in self-defense, but I am also happy that we did not bring in gory pictures of Israeli children and women on their way to school or working on farms or in their villages, who every day are subject to attacks and missiles fired by Hezbollah as they go about their daily, innocent lives.

I thank the gentleman from California for calling to the House's attention in so eloquent a way of what is rarely government and governance and society and what Israel is all about, who points out graphically and with the evidence he brought before us the fact that it was an Israeli human rights defender who called out to the Israeli soldiers whose conduct he properly called into question, that they have no right to do that and that there are laws against it.

Where were the Lebanese people calling out to the Hezbollah who invaded their homes and their neighborhoods and took over and used them, sometimes willingly, sometimes not, as human shields, and said to them, we forbid you to do this, it's against our human rights, and it's against our laws? Not once.

I thank the gentleman from California for pointing out the Israeli system of justice, which stands basically equal to ours. We, too, in the pursuit of terrorists and evildoers, as the President would call them, sometimes unfortunately commit acts in that pursuit and in defense of ourselves against the terrorists, where civilians are hurt and civilians do die. But that is not our purpose. When the Hezbollah does that, that is their intention for the civilians to die.

I thank the gentleman from California for pointing out that this went through the Israeli justice system because it is contrary to the laws of the democracy of the democratic State of Israel. It went to the Supreme Court of Israel, and that court found, in full view, because Israeli television shows showed their soldiers doing something wrong, and they were charged, and the court found them guilty, and the court banned it.

People were held responsible in a responsible society. That did not happen with the Hezbollah. That did not happen in Lebanon. It happened in Israel where people paid the price, where the military officers who were in charge of the operation were found guilty.

That is the difference between a democratic, humane society, where there are innocent victims of self-defense, who unfortunately, as individuals within the military, sometimes get carried away. That happens in every army in the history of the world. But holding people responsible for those individual actions is a sign of a true democracy.

That did not happen with the Hezbollah. That did not happen with Lebanon. That is the difference between democratic, humane societies and terrorist organizations.

I thank our two colleagues for bringing this to the attention of the House so that we might highlight the differences between two societies, Hezbollah, governed by terror, whose only purpose is to wreak havoc upon civilian populations, and a democracy like Israel, who responds to terrorism and sometimes have unfortunate incidents for which they hold individuals responsible and who pay the price.” 

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