Mr. Speaker, I rise today as editorial pages are abuse with discussion about the tragic and sad events in the Middle East, and some people at coffee shops and at street corners around our country are asking some very basic questions about the conflict in that region and why it has reached the place that it has.
I have heard some on this floor raise what are really foundational questions to make it possible to understand the conflict and the challenge facing Israel in their battle against Hamas on one front, Hezbollah on the other front, and their two nation sponsors, Iran and Syria.
One question that frequently gets asked is how come we can't just let diplomacy take hold? And it is true. Whenever there are missiles flying, whenever there are guns ablaze, it is, by very definition, a failure of diplomacy. And it has never been the first choice of either the United States or Israel in that part of the world to choose violence.
If you look through the entire scope of the Israeli lifespan, their entire existence has been marked with them extending their hand and saying yes to proposed diplomatic solutions to the conflict there, and their Arab nations saying no.
In 1947, even before the nation was born, there was the famous partition plan that would have made Israel a fraction of what it is today, surrounded by enemy Arab countries. It was the Arabs that said no, not the Israelis.
Since then, we have had the Oslo Accord, where the Israelis acknowledged the PLO as a partner for peace and were obviously burned; the Wye River Accord; the Camp David Accord with Egypt, which thankfully, still stands today; Camp David II, which was a concession of virtually everything that the Palestinians asked for in exchange for peace, and that was met with violence.
We also should note that when they left Gaza on their southern border, left the parts to the Palestinians, that is the very spot that is now being used to launch missiles, Katusha rockets by the dozens, against their citizens.
When they left Lebanon after occupying it because so many missiles were flying from Lebanon into their northern border, they left to come into compliance with the U.N. resolution and to set up universally and internationally accepted border that now Hezbollah has breached in Lebanon.
So it is true diplomacy is the better option. But in every single circumstance where diplomacy was pursued by the Israelis, with the help of the United States, it has been her terrorist neighbors, her Arab neighbors, who have said diplomacy is not what we want; we want Israel not to exist. And that, by the way, still today is what Hamas has made their creed, Hezbollah has made their mission, supported by Syria and Iran.
We have also heard a couple of times something that I wholeheartedly agree with, that there are many in Lebanon who are completely innocent in this. There are.
Frankly, my good friend, Mr. LaHood, mentioned this during the debate on the floor on the resolution supporting Israel. It is true there is no group more innocent and more persecuted in that part of the world than the Lebanese Christians, who have been persecuted by their fellow Lebanese. There are many people in Lebanon who just want to live and be free, but they have been overrun by Syria and then by Hezbollah.
But you are not an innocent victim of this if you go to bed at night with a Hezbollah rocket tucked under your bed. You are not an innocent victim if you went out and voted for Hezbollah to make them part of your government. You are not an innocent victim when you make Hezbollah part of the ministry in Lebanon. You cannot lay down with dogs and expect not to get up with fleas.
The government of Lebanon has chosen to make partnership with Hezbollah, so when Hezbollah crossed an international border and takes prisoners, when they lob missiles into Haifa, the Lebanese government, unfortunately, has to decide which side they are on, and up to now they have said they are on the side of Hezbollah.
The final thing I have heard is, from time to time, some, and it is even supporters of Israel, say, you know what, this is a difficult time since September 11. Maybe our true concern should not be about what goes on in Israel. Maybe it should be just worrying about the United States and our interests.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, when the United States goes out and fights against terrorism around the world, arguably they have one ally. It is not our feckless friends in Europe. It is not the French. It is not even the British. Our only ally, who every single day is fighting terrorism, is Israel. When they fight against Hezbollah, they are fighting against the organization that was the number one terrorist organization killing Americans before September 11.
That has to be part of our understanding. When Israel's soldiers go and fight and die against terrorists, they are fighting a war for all of us.
So as we watch the newspapers and try to understand what is going on, we have got to understand diplomacy was tried by the Israelis, over and over and over again, and it will be tried again. We have got to understand that those in Lebanon, there are some innocent victims, but there are many people guilty as well. And we have to understand that when Israel fights for its freedom, it fights on behalf of the United States as well.
