[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 83 (Thursday, May 13, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H2303-H2309]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          THE LONG-TERM PROBLEMS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Pocan) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that Members have 5 
legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Wisconsin?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, today's Special Order hour is not just about 
the violence that has occurred in the last week in Israel and 
Palestine. It is not about the activities of the last month, including 
the displacement of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, that have 
been largely overlooked in this region. But, in many ways, it is about 
what has happened over the last year, the last decade, the last several 
decades that has dehumanized and violated the human rights of too many 
people in this important region.
  No one should have to face the reality of missiles shot at them. 
Hamas is causing great danger to the very people it purports to want to 
protect in Gaza by doing so, and those missile attacks should be 
condemned.
  But that doesn't make it a ``both sides'' issue. We must acknowledge 
and condemn the disproportionate discrimination and treatment that 
Palestinians face versus others in this region.
  No one should suffer the loss of life, liberty, or dignity that the 
Palestinian people have suffered under the Netanyahu and previous 
administrations in Israel during the 50-year occupation of the West 
Bank.
  When serious human rights abuses compound, such as the recent attacks 
on places of worship, like the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the forced removal of 
people from their homes, most recently in East Jerusalem, but ongoing 
in the West Bank for way too long, the jailing and military court 
trials for Palestinian children, the dehumanization of the lives of the 
Palestinians by having roads and entrances that are separate for some 
people--which all too often looks like a former South Africa, the 
blockade and open-air prison conditions for the people in Gaza, where 
food and clean water is often scarce.
  When those types of human rights abuses occur, we are not just 
putting the lives of Palestinians and Israelis at risk, but we are also 
putting the United States at greater jeopardy, and eventually, that 
could mean the lives of men and women from the United States getting 
involved in a greater escalation of violence in the region, which none 
of us want to see.
  Today, we want to talk about the very long-term problems that have 
been, for too long, ignored by U.S. policies in the region. 
Fortunately, now more and more Members of Congress

[[Page H2304]]

are wanting to address peace in this region in a more forthright way.
  As human rights giant South African Desmond Tutu said, ``If you are 
neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the 
oppressor.''
  We must treat everyone in Israel and Palestine with equal respect and 
dignity. That is the U.S. policy that we are speaking out for.
  I am pleased to be joined by a number of my colleagues tonight who 
have taken leadership positions in talking about peace in the Middle 
East for all people.
  I now yield to my colleague from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib), the first 
Palestinian American to serve in Congress.
  Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I believe I am actually the second, but I am 
the only Palestinian-American Member of Congress now, and my mere 
existence has disrupted the status quo. This is so personal for me. I 
am a reminder to colleagues that Palestinians do, indeed, exist, that 
we are human, that we are allowed to dream. We are mothers, daughters, 
granddaughters, we are justice seekers and are unapologetic about our 
fight against oppressions of all forms.
  Colleagues, Palestinians aren't going anywhere, no matter how much 
money you send to Israel's apartheid government.
  If we are to make good on our promises to support equal human rights 
for all, it is our duty to end the apartheid system that, for decades, 
has subjected Palestinians to inhumane treatment and racism.
  Reducing Palestinians to live in utter fear and terror of losing a 
child, being indefinitely detained or killed because of who they are, 
and the unequal rights and protections they have, under Israeli law, it 
must end.
  One of Israel's most prominent human rights organizations, B'Tselem, 
has declared Israel an apartheid state. Human Rights Watch recently 
recognized it, too. This is what Palestinians living under Israel's 
oppression have been telling us for decades.

                              {time}  1815

  I have been told by some of my colleagues who dispute the truth about 
segregation, racism, and violence in Israel toward Palestinians that I 
need to know the history.
  What they mean, unintentionally or not, is that Palestinians do not 
have the right to tell the truth about what happened to them during the 
founding of Israel. They, in effect, erase the truth about the ethnic 
cleansing of Palestinians in Israel that some refer to as the Nakba, or 
catastrophe.
  As Palestinians talk about our history, know that many of my Black 
neighbors and indigenous communities may not know what we mean by 
Nakba, but they do understand what it means to be killed, expelled from 
your homeland, made homeless, and stripped of your human rights.
  My ancestors and current family in Palestine deserve the world to 
hear their history without obstruction. They have a right to be able to 
explain to the world that they are still suffering, still being 
dispossessed, still being killed as the world watches and does nothing.
  As Peter Beinart, an American of Jewish faith, writes: ``When you 
tell a people to forget its past, you are not proposing peace. You are 
proposing extinction.''
  The Palestinian story is that of being made a refugee on the lands 
you called home.
  We cannot have an honest conversation about U.S. military support for 
the Israeli Government today without acknowledging that, for 
Palestinians, the catastrophe of displacement and dehumanization in 
their homeland has been ongoing since 1948.
  To read the statements from President Biden, Secretary Blinken, 
General Austin, and leaders of both parties, you would hardly know 
Palestinians existed at all.
  There has been no recognition of the attack on Palestinian families 
being ripped from their homes in East Jerusalem right now or home 
demolitions; no mention of children being detained or murdered; no 
recognition of a sustained campaign of harassment and terror by Israeli 
police against worshipers kneeling down and praying and celebrating 
their holiest days in one of their holiest places; no mention of Al-
Aqsa being surrounded by violence, tear gas, and smoke while people 
pray.
  Can my colleagues imagine if it was their place of worship filled 
with tear gas? Could you pray as stun grenades were tossed into your 
holiest place?
  Above all, there has been absolutely no recognition of Palestinian 
humanity. If our own State Department can't even bring itself to 
acknowledge that the killing of Palestinian children is wrong, well, I 
will say it for the millions of Americans who stand with me against the 
killing of innocent children no matter their ethnicity or faith.
  I weep for all the lives lost under the unbearable status quo, every 
single one, no matter their faith or their background. We all deserve 
freedom, liberty, peace, and justice, and it should never be denied 
because of our faith or ethnic background.
  No child, Palestinian or Israeli or whoever they are, should ever 
have to worry that death will rain from the sky.
  How many of my colleagues are willing to say the same, to stand for 
Palestinian human rights as they do for Israelis?
  There is a crushing dehumanization to how we talk about this terrible 
violence.
  The New York Post reported the Palestinian death toll as Israeli 
casualties.
  ABC says that Israelis are ``killed'' while Palestinians simply 
``die,'' as if by magic, as if they were never human to begin with.
  Help me understand the math. How many Palestinians have to die for 
their lives to matter?
  Life under apartheid strips Palestinians of their human dignity.
  How would you feel if you had to go through dehumanizing checkpoints 
two blocks from your own home to go to the doctor or travel across your 
own land? How would you feel if you had to do it while pregnant, in the 
scorching heat, as soldiers with guns controlled your freedom?
  How would you feel if you lived in Gaza, where your power and water 
might be out for days or weeks at a time, where you were cut off from 
the outside world by an inhumane military blockade?
  Meanwhile, Palestinians' rights to nonviolent resistance have been 
curtailed and even criminalized.
  Our party leaders have spoken forcefully against BDS, calling its 
proponents anti-Semitic, despite the same tactics being critical to 
ending South African apartheid mere decades ago.
  What we are telling Palestinians fighting apartheid is the same thing 
being told to my Black neighbors and Americans throughout America who 
are fighting against police brutality here: There is no form of 
acceptable resistance to state violence.
  As long as the message from Washington is that our military's support 
for Israel is unconditional, Netanyahu's extremist, rightwing 
government will continue to expand settlements, continue to demolish 
homes, and continue to make the prospects for peace impossible.
  Mr. Speaker, 330 of my own colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, 75 
percent of the body here, signed a letter pledging that Israel shall 
never be made to comply with basic human rights laws that other 
countries that receive our military aid must observe.
  When I see the images and videos of destruction and death in 
Palestine, all I hear are the children screaming from pure fear and 
terror.
  I want to read something a mother named Eman in Gaza wrote 2 days 
ago. She said: ``Tonight, I put the kids to sleep in our bedroom. So 
that when we die, we die together and no one would live to mourn the 
loss of one another.''
  That statement broke me a little more because my country's policies 
and funding will deny this mother's right to see her children live 
without fear and to grow old without painful trauma and violence.
  We must condition aid to Israel on compliance with international 
human rights and an end to apartheid. We must, with no hesitation, 
demand that our country recognize that the unconditional support of 
Israel has enabled the erasure of Palestinian life and the denial of 
the rights of millions of refugees, and it emboldens the apartheid 
policies that Human Rights Watch has detailed so thoroughly in their 
recent report.

  I stand before you not only as a Congresswoman for the beautiful 13 
District Strong but also as a proud daughter of Palestinian immigrants 
and the

[[Page H2305]]

granddaughter of a loving Palestinian grandmother living in the 
occupied Palestine.
  You take that and combine it with the fact that I was raised in one 
of the most beautiful, Blackest cities in America, a city where 
movements for civil rights and social justice are birthed, the city of 
Detroit.
  So, I can't stand here silent when injustice exists and where the 
truth is obscured. If there is one thing Detroit instilled in this 
Palestinian girl from Southwest, it is you always speak truth to power 
even if your voice shakes.
  The freedom of Palestinians is connected to the fight against 
oppression all over the world.
  Lastly, to my Sity in Palestine, `` `aqaf huna bsbbik.'' I stand here 
because of you.
  Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her very personal 
words about the situation in Palestine.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. Omar).
  Ms. OMAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I extend my gratitude to Marie Newman for helping lead this important 
discussion, and I thank all the Members who are here and showed up in 
solidarity.
  Mr. Speaker, as someone who has experienced war firsthand, I have a 
deep understanding of the suffering that comes along with it. As a 
child, I lived through a violent civil war that destroyed my home, 
ripped my family apart from each other, and killed many of my family 
and friends.
  I can still remember, at just 8 years old, hiding under the bed, 
hearing bombs go off outside my window, and wondering if we were going 
to be hit next.
  It is trauma I will live with for the rest of my life.
  So, I understand, on a deeply human level, the pain and the anguish 
families are feeling in Palestine and Israel at the moment, and the 
helplessness people feel here in the United States who have family in 
the region, including many of my constituents. And it is for this 
reason that I abhor violence.
  Whether rocket attacks or airstrikes, violence does nothing to make 
people more secure. It only furthers the interests of the powerful 
while costing lives, futures, and families.
  But we must speak out truthfully and forcefully about the seeds of 
this conflict and about what is happening today. The truth is that this 
is not a conflict between two states. This is not a civil war. It is a 
conflict where one country, funded and supported by the United States 
Government, continues an illegal military occupation over another group 
of people.
  This is not my description of it. This is the description of 
conservative Israeli leader Ariel Sharon, who, in 2003, said: ``To hold 
3.5 million Palestinians under occupation is, in my opinion, a very bad 
thing for us and for them.''
  ``It is occupation,'' he said. ``You might not like this word, but it 
is really an occupation.''
  To understand what is taking place at this moment, we must understand 
how it began.
  In 1948, 700,000 Palestinians were forcefully removed and uprooted 
from their homes in what has come to be known as the Nakba, or the 
catastrophe. Seventy-eight percent of their land was taken from them. 
Now, consider that: 78 percent of their land was taken from them.
  Since then, 5.6 million Palestinians have been continually displaced 
from their homes in one of the largest and longest-lasting refugee 
crises in human history.
  For decades, the United States, the United Nations, and many Israelis 
and Palestinians have pushed for a Palestinian state in which the 
Palestinians can enjoy the same rights afforded to their Israeli 
counterparts. But in the past several years, that hope has increasingly 
slipped away.
  The Israeli Government and the far-right ethnonationalist leader 
Benjamin Netanyahu have legally razed Palestinians' ancestral homes, 
leveled entire neighborhoods, and violently suppressed any resistance.
  This is all to make way for illegal Israeli settlement outposts 
designed to displace Palestinians from their homes and prevent a future 
Palestinian state.
  Since 1993, when the first Oslo peace accord was signed, illegal 
settlements have increased by nearly 400,000. And Netanyahu has made 
explicit his goal to annex much of the West Bank, home to over 3 
million Palestinians.

                              {time}  1830

  On top of that, Palestinian movement, speech, and economic activity 
are severely limited. Palestinians are not allowed to leave the Gaza 
Strip except in extreme cases.
  Medical shortages are rampant. Youth unemployment was already at 40 
percent before the pandemic hit. People who protest, including young 
children, are routinely shot by the IDF soldiers--often killed--with no 
consequences in Israeli courts.
  As a recent report by Human Rights Watch detailed, this can only be 
described as an apartheid.
  All of which brings us to the current crisis. This week, the Israeli 
authorities were planning more forced displacement in Sheikh Jarrah, a 
Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem--home to Palestinian 
refugees who had already been displaced.
  On Thursday, settlers began harassing and attacking Palestinians who 
were breaking their Ramadan fast during a protest vigil in Sheikh 
Jarrah.
  The deputy mayor of Jerusalem joined to mock Palestinians, saying to 
one protestor: ``Did they take the bullet out of your ass?'' ``It is a 
pity it didn't go here,'' pointing to his head.
  Then, on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, Israeli 
military forces stormed al-Aqsa mosque, one of the holiest sites in 
Islam, firing stun grenades, teargas, and rubber bullets. Over 300 
people were injured; 200 of them were hospitalized.
  What happened next is well known: Hamas fired rockets into Israel, 
which has taken the lives of six Israelis. And the Israeli military 
launched air strikes into Gaza, targeting civilian buildings, which 
have already killed 69 people, including 16 children.
  Let me be clear: Every single death in this conflict is a tragedy. 
Every rocket and bomb that targets civilians is a war crime.
  I feel the pain of every child who is forced to hide under their beds 
because they fear for their life, and every parent who deals with that 
anguish. And I wish we, as a nation, treated that pain equally; but 
right now we are not.
  And instead of condemning blatant crimes against humanity and human 
rights abuses, many Members of Congress have instead fallen back on a 
blanketed statement defending Israel's air strikes against civilians 
under the guise of self-defense, without even a mention of the children 
getting killed, much less what happened at al-Aqsa or in Sheikh Jarrah.
  When the 15-member United Nations Security Council proposed a 
resolution this week calling on the Israeli Government to cease 
settlement activities, demolitions and evictions, and urging general 
restraint, the United States reportedly blocked it from happening.
  We are currently blocking the United Nations Security Council from 
calling on ceasefire. And to this day, we, as Members of Congress, have 
not had yet a hearing or a briefing on this conflict or gotten answers 
on whether our weaponry or money is being used to commit human rights 
abuses.
  So I must ask: When we defend the Israeli citizens' right to peace 
and security, how can we at the same time ignore the 5 million 
Palestinians living under occupation?
  When we say that Israel has the right to self-defense, how can we 
ignore the home demolitions, settlement violence, and forced annexation 
of Palestinian land that is happening?
  And how can we say they, themselves, do not have the right to defend 
themselves?
  How can we pay lip service to a Palestinian state, yet do absolutely 
nothing to make that state a reality while the Israeli Government we 
fund tries to make it impossible?
  I will end with this: Today is Eid, the final day of Ramadan, one of 
the joyous days in the Muslim calendar. And while I would rather be 
spending it with my family, I know there are families who are mourning 
the death of their children because of this, and I owe it to them to 
speak out on their behalf.
  So I am here today to stand for our common humanity, to say that 
every child deserves a life free of violence and oppression. Every 
child deserves

[[Page H2306]]

advocates for their humanity, for their safety, and for their security. 
And it should not be controversial to say the same for Palestinian 
children.
  Eid Mubarak.
  Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Omar for those words.
  As we speak, it was just announced a little while ago that the 
Israeli military was going into Gaza. It is not clear if it is going 
after rocket attacks or Hamas leaders or what is happening. But that is 
happening at this very moment.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. 
McCollum), a senior, a very powerful Member of this Congress, the chair 
of the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on Appropriations, and 
a lifelong advocate for equality for Palestinians and for Israelis.
  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Mr. Pocan, for his 
kind remarks and for being one of the organizers for tonight's Special 
Order.
  Tonight, I am here to condemn violence. I am here to speak out in 
support of human rights, political rights, and peace. For days, Hamas 
and extremists in Gaza have been firing rockets into Israel that have 
caused death, destruction, and fear among Israeli citizens.
  I condemn Hamas' actions. These attacks must stop.
  For 54 years, Israel has been enforcing a brutal military occupation 
in the West Bank that has terrorized Palestinian families. And I 
condemn Israeli's occupation of Palestine. Israel's occupation must 
end.
  What we are witnessing in Israel, East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West 
Bank are the bitter fruits of discrimination that has empowered Jewish 
extremists and Palestinian extremists. People seeking justice, 
equality, and peace, and opportunity are sidelined, silenced, and 
dismissed.
  We are witnessing the all too familiar cycle of violence between 
Israel and Hamas. And, today, we are witnessing Israeli cities at war. 
Israeli citizens are attacking each other. Israeli citizens, who are 
Jewish and Palestinian, are fighting each other. Adding to this hatred 
is Israel's nation-state law and other structural policies of 
discrimination that treat Palestinians as second-class citizens.
  Now, I want to be clear. Israel has the right to have their security, 
and it must be able to defend itself against rockets. But Palestinians 
have universally recognized human rights, rights that are not 
recognized under Israeli military occupation.
  Palestinians have become people without a nation. Palestinians have 
no government to defend them when they seek justice when their children 
are abused or tortured by Israeli military security forces. Palestinian 
families cannot defend themselves when Israeli bulldozers destroy their 
homes and turn their land over to Jewish settlers.
  Israel is an ally of the United States, and Congress supports Israel 
by providing military aid. And I vote for that aid package. The Iron 
Dome missile defense system that is stopping Hamas rockets is funded 
out of the Committee on Appropriations' Defense Subcommittee, which I 
chair. And I support funding for Iron Dome and it will be in the bill 
that I write this year.
  However, Congress sends $3.8 billion to Israel in the form of 
military aid to be unrestricted and unconditioned. No limits. 
Proponents of this unrestricted aid to Israel wrote to the Committee on 
Appropriations: ``U.S. support of Israel makes the region safer and 
bolsters diplomatic efforts at achieving a negotiated two-state 
solution, resulting in peace and prosperity for both Israelis and 
Palestinians.''
  To those who support that statement, here are the facts: There are no 
diplomatic efforts to achieve a two-state solution. The Prime Minister 
of Israel has repeatedly stated he is committed to annexing Palestinian 
lands. There is no peace for Palestinians in East Jerusalem or the West 
Bank. There is an Israeli military occupation that abuses and tortures 
Palestinian children, demolishes Palestinian homes, and steals 
Palestinian land.
  The unrestricted, unconditioned $3.8 billion in annual U.S. military 
aid enables--it gives a green light to Israel's occupation of Palestine 
because there is no accountability and there is no oversight by 
Congress. This must change. Not one dollar of U.S. aid to Israel should 
go towards the military detention of Palestinian children, the 
annexation of Palestinian lands, or the destruction of Palestinian 
homes.
  I support everyone's universal human rights, including Palestinian 
rights, to live in freedom; to live with equality, with security, with 
opportunity. I want peace for the people of Israel and the people of 
Palestine, and I am willing to do my part to work for justice.
  Rockets fired from Gaza must stop. The eviction of Palestinian 
families from East Jerusalem must stop. The burning of synagogues and 
Arab businesses must stop. And the rightwing extremists that chant 
``Burn the Arabs,'' well, that must stop, too.
  There is enough hate and there is enough blame to go around. And this 
conflict will not end until there is responsible leadership on both 
sides. Peace will not take root until the United States stands up for 
human rights and security for all people, and that includes human 
rights and security for the Palestinian people.
  The Biden administration must work for peace and direct some tough 
love to the Israeli Government and to the Palestinian Authority. End 
the violence. End the discrimination. End the occupation. Israel 
deserves security, and Palestinians deserve self-determination and 
freedom.
  Tonight, no child should go to bed under the constant fear of 
violence. We should all want every Israeli and every Palestinian child 
to live with peace, opportunity, hope for the future. And that is what 
I am working to achieve with my colleagues.
  Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative McCollum very much for 
those words.
  Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has 26 minutes remaining.
  Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts 
(Ms. Pressley), my colleague.
  Ms. PRESSLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the deep trauma 
and loss of life perpetuated by systems of oppression here in the 
United States and globally.
  Many times I have stood at this dais and affirmed that our destinies 
are tied. That was clear when protestors took to the streets in the 
face of police murders, seeking to build a nation where Black lives 
matter.
  That was clear when our democracy and our lives were put at risk by 
violent white supremacists, who shattered glass and broke doors while 
wearing anti-Semitic phrases on their chests, carrying the Confederate 
flag, erecting a noose on the west lawn.
  That was clear when students protesting to end poverty and oppression 
in the streets of Bogota were shot dead.
  That was clear when families kneeling during this holy month at the 
third holiest site in Islam were met with teargas, rubber bullets, and 
hand grenades.
  Our destinies are tied. As a Black woman in America, I am no stranger 
to police brutality and State-sanctioned violence. We have been 
criminalized for the very way we show up in the world.
  Last summer, when Black Lives Matter protestors took to the streets 
to demand justice, they were met with force. They faced teargas, rubber 
bullets, and a militarized police, just as our Palestinian brothers and 
sisters are facing in Jerusalem today.
  Palestinians are being told the same thing as Black folks in America: 
There is no acceptable form of resistance.
  We are bearing witness to egregious human rights violations. The 
pain, trauma, and terror the Palestinians are facing is not just the 
result of this week's escalation, but the consequence of years of 
military occupation.
  In Sheikh Jarrah, the Israeli Government is violently dispossessing 
yet another neighborhood of Palestinian families from homes they have 
lived in for decades.
  We cannot stand idly and complicitly by and allow the occupation and 
oppression of the Palestinian people to continue. We cannot remain 
silent when our government sends $3.8 billion of military aid to Israel 
that is used to demolish Palestinian homes, imprison Palestinian 
children, and displace Palestinian families.
  A budget is a reflection of our values. I am committed to ensuring 
that our government does not fund state violence in any form anywhere.
  Many say that ``conditioning aid'' is not a phrase that I should 
utter here,

[[Page H2307]]

but let me be clear: No matter the context, American Government dollars 
always come with conditions.
  The questions at hand are: Should our taxpayer dollars create 
conditions for justice, healing, and repair? Or should those dollars 
create conditions for oppression and apartheid?

                              {time}  1845

  Now, while I hold due space for the storied history and the unique 
lived experiences on the ground globally, there is a through line here.
  And whether we are talking about the militarization of our 
communities or weapons of war, the question is the same. If our budgets 
are a statement of our values, what do we value? Whose lives do we 
value? We have seen footage of Israeli and Palestinian children huddled 
fearfully while rockets blanket their homeland. No child should live in 
fear. No child should grow up in the midst of a conflict that robs them 
of a childhood. And Palestinian children do not have the same 
protections afforded to them.
  Without the U.S. exerting pressure on Israel to deescalate, the 
explosive situation in Jerusalem is igniting further violence not just 
in the city, but beyond. It is clear there is a grave asymmetry of 
power here. Palestinians do not have a sovereign state and the 
protections that come with it.
  Following forceful violence against the Palestinians simply seeking 
to remain in their family homes, militant groups in Gaza have launched 
rockets at Israeli cities, resulting in seven deaths, including a 
child. In response, the Israeli military has launched severe attacks on 
Gaza, killing 83 people, 17 of whom are children. This is devastating.
  The destinies of the Israeli and Palestinian people are tied. Our 
outrage at the pain, violence, and oppression they face must be clear 
and unapologetic. Equal outrage for violence perpetrated against all 
people, and moral clarity when state-sanctioned violence is claiming 
the lives of innocent mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons.
  From Jerusalem to Boston, from Randolph to Gaza, from Colombia to 
Yemen, our destinies are tied, and everyone deserves to live from fear 
and to know peace.
  Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for those remarks.
  Mr. Speaker, I am going to ask the rest of my colleagues if we can 
try to keep it to 3 to 4 minutes each. The good news is there are many 
people who are very passionate about human rights in the Mid-East, the 
problem is we have an hour total, and I would appreciate that 
consideration.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Ocasio-
Cortez).
  Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, I know this has been a very difficult 
week for us as a global community, as communities that are concerned 
for human rights, all human rights in general, and in particular, the 
rights of Palestinians and Israelis alike that have been impacted by 
the fear and violence of this week.
  Now, what I think is, you know, important is that--I will start with 
a story. As a little girl, my family comes from the island of Puerto 
Rico, and I grew up visiting my family on the island of Vieques, 
communities on the island of Vieques, where the United States bombed 
its own territories, its own communities.
  And I would go to sleep as a little girl to the sound of U.S. bombs 
detonating. Practice is what it was called at the time. Practice. And 
when I saw those air strikes that are supported with U.S. funds, I 
could not help but wonder if our communities were practice for this.
  This is our business because we are playing a role in it. And the 
United States must acknowledge its role in the injustice and human 
rights violations of Palestinians. This is not about both sides. This 
is about an imbalance of power.
  When I first got here in 2019, the Israeli Government refused to 
admit two Members of the United States Congress, Rashida Tlaib and 
Ilhan Omar, into the country. They banned Members of this very body 
because of who they were. They said it was a sign of weakness.
  We have to have the courage to name our contributions, and sometimes 
I can't help but wonder if the reason we don't do that, if we are 
scared to stand up to the incarceration of children in Palestine, is 
because maybe it will force us to confront the incarceration of 
children here on our border.
  If by standing up to the injustices there, it will prompt us to stand 
up to the injustices here. We have a responsibility. And if we have 
historically said and committed to a role as an honest broker, then we 
must fulfill that role. That means we have to be honest with ourselves, 
with what our aid supports. We have to be honest and ask ourselves 
questions like why we are using our veto power on the U.N. Security 
Council in preventing statements from being released about concerns for 
this violence alike.
  The President and many other figures this week stated that Israel has 
a right to self-defense, and this is a sentiment that is echoed across 
this body. But do Palestinians have a right to survive? Do we believe 
that? And, if so, we have a responsibility to that as well.
  Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for those words.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Ms. Bush).
  Ms. BUSH. Mr. Speaker, St. Louis and I rise in solidarity with the 
Palestinian people and in memory of our brother, Bassem Masri, a 
Ferguson activist who was with us on the front lines of our uprising 
for justice following the police murder of Michael Brown, Jr.
  Bassem was a St. Louis Palestinian. Bassem also lived in Jerusalem, 
Palestine. Bassem was one of us. He showed up ready. As a Palestinian, 
he was ready to resist, to rebel, to rise up with us as our St. Louis 
community mourned Mike Brown, Jr.'s state-sanctioned murder, and as we 
demanded an end to the militarized police occupation of our 
communities.
  Palestinians know what state violence, militarized policing, and 
occupation of their communities looks like, and they have lived that 
reality of having to go through checkpoints while trying to live their 
lives. They know this reality and the reality of so much more.
  So when heavily militarized police forces showed up in Ferguson in 
2014, Bassem and so many others of our St. Louis Palestinian community, 
our Palestinian siblings showed up, too.

  I remember sitting in a circle on the grass near where Michael Brown, 
Jr., was murdered, and I remember them describing to us what to do when 
militarized law enforcement shot us with rubber bullets or when they 
tear-gassed us. I remember learning that the same equipment that they 
use to brutalize us is the same equipment that we can send to the 
Israel military to police and brutalize Palestinians.
  I remember Bassem putting his life on the line with us. I remember 
him live-streaming for the whole world to see our struggle. I remember 
our solidarity. And I remember the harassment, the extortion, the 
brutalization he faced for resisting with us.
  That harassment, that extortion, that brutalization by heavily-armed 
militarized presence in our community, that is what we fund when our 
government sends our tax dollars to the Israeli military.
  St. Louis sent me here to save lives. Bassem's loved ones in his 
community, our St. Louis community, sent me here to save lives. That 
means we oppose our money going to fund militarized policing, 
occupation and systems of violent oppression and trauma.
  We are anti-war. We are anti-occupation. We are anti-apartheid. 
Period.
  If this body is looking for something productive to do with $3 
million, instead of funding a military that polices and kills 
Palestinians, I have some communities in St. Louis City and in St. 
Louis County where that money can go, where we desperately need 
investment, where we are hurting, where we need help. Let us prioritize 
funding there. Prioritize funding life, not destruction.
  So, today, we remember Bassem. We remember his resistance in the face 
of militarized police occupation as a St. Louisan and as a Palestinian.
  We lost him to a health crisis, but we remember his words today. 
Until all our children are safe, we will continue to fight for our 
rights in Palestine and in Ferguson. We stand with you in solidarity.
  Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time we have 
remaining?

[[Page H2308]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has 13 minutes remaining.
  Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. 
Schakowsky), a great colleague and mentor of mine.
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I am horrified and saddened by the ongoing escalation of 
violence in Gaza and in Israel.
  We have now seen over 1,800 rockets being fired indiscriminately at 
Israel's citizens, who are now fleeing for their lives. Yes, I believe 
that Israel does have a right to defend herself.
  Now, 103 Palestinians and seven Israelis are dead, including 
children. It is so painful. The cycle of violence that we see over and 
over again. Yes, I believe Israel does have the right to defend 
herself. But in the end, there are no winners.
  The United States can play a role. The Biden administration has 
dispatched the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, his name is Hady 
Amr, to Israel, and his job is to deal with the situation in Israel and 
Palestine. I am hopeful that we will see a deescalation and a 
ceasefire. But a return to status quo is simply not enough.
  Earlier this week, prior to the attacks, I was deeply disturbed by 
the intentional and the intended evacuation of Palestinian families, 
some of whom have been in their homes for decades. The Biden 
administration, through its National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, 
has also conveyed its consternation, its concern, about the evictions, 
and has called and has urged the administration to remain heavily 
involved, to address the root causes of this violence, including 
ongoing evictions, displacement, and occupation, as it works to secure 
a ceasefire.
  The violence must end now, and we must work to enable dialogue that 
can lead to a just, safe, and secure future for both Israelis and 
Palestinians.
  Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for those words.

                              {time}  1900

  Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Garcia).
  Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Pocan for 
yielding.
  To Members of the body, the occupation must end, and there must be a 
just solution for both peoples. We cannot keep turning a blind eye to 
the practices that rob people of their generational homes or detaining 
children. Israeli and Palestinian families want to raise their children 
in safety and in peace, and we have got to take firm, diplomatic steps 
to support those goals.
  While the evictions in west Jerusalem and the hostilities around Al 
Aqsa Mosque seem to have provoked the latest escalation in violence. We 
have got to take a hard look at how the situation has changed in recent 
years. The Biden administration must reverse Trump's detrimental 
actions and take steps to ensure that U.S. aid to Israel cannot be used 
for the seizure or destruction of Palestinian homes. We have also got 
to continue humanitarian aid to Palestinian territories.
  The use of war-grade weapons and the killing of civilians must stop. 
I have always strongly supported a rights-based approach and a two-
state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the current 
situation makes it more crucial than ever to pursue viable pathways 
toward equality, self-determination, and peace.
  I sincerely thank Mr. Pocan and the Progressive Caucus for putting 
this Special Order hour together. I hope and pray that the death and 
self-destruction will end and that we may work toward a peaceful 
solution centered on the humanity and the rights of all involved.
  Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for those words.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the State of Indiana (Mr. 
Carson). He is extremely patient because he has been here nearly an 
hour to speak.
  Mr. CARSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in solidarity with the 
Palestinian people as they face grave injustices, violence, and 
certainly abuse. I join the countless people around the world, Mr. 
Speaker, who are vehemently opposed to the planned, forced evictions of 
Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah and saddened by the escalating violence 
that threatens Israelis and Palestinians alike.
  We must condemn all forms of violence and mourn the loss of both 
Palestinian lives and Israeli lives.
  I stand here today as one of the three Muslims serving in Congress on 
Eid day, heartbroken to see the attacks on the worshippers at the Al-
Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites of Islam in our holiest month of 
the year by the Israeli Government.
  For decades, Israel has violated international law and basic human 
rights through its systematic displacement of Palestinians. For too 
long, America has looked the other way as Israel has engaged in this 
horrific campaign against Palestinians.
  Israel is our security partner. In fact, the U.S. alone gives Israel 
billions of dollars per year. But we must make sure that our taxpayer 
dollars are not being used to fund human rights violations.
  Enough is enough.
  America has a moral obligation to use our influence to protect the 
victims of human rights violations including the Palestinian people. We 
must work to strengthen our work to bring peace to this region. This is 
our moral responsibility to do the right thing. It is not about Jews 
versus Muslims or Israel versus its neighbors. It is about right versus 
wrong.
  Let me be clear: Israel's decade of forced displacement is wrong. 
That is why we are working hard in Congress to make things right. Our 
American Government must enforce international law and our own 
foundational principles, and our allies, like Israel, must be held 
accountable for human rights violations.
  Now, we are going to keep working hard in Congress to pass much-
needed legislation that achieves accountability, equality, and justice 
for all.
  America is great and powerful--probably the greatest nation in 
recorded history. But America is complex. It is a complicated work in 
progress. For centuries she has engaged in and enabled the mistreatment 
of countless people from the slavery enshrined in its Constitution 
against Africans to the taking of land from Native Americans, or the 
shameful support of dictators beyond our shores. But today we face an 
inflection point, a reckoning of whether we will stand up for the 
values we claim to cherish or if we will turn a blind eye to repeated 
violations of human rights.
  We cannot turn our backs now. We must recognize that this is an 
international struggle and stick by the words of Dr. King when he said 
that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
  I am thankful for Dr. King and for the long list of great Americans 
who have helped bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice. We 
stand on the shoulders and march in their footsteps as we advance their 
legacy and boldly stand up to protect the human rights of the 
Palestinian people. By working together, we can ensure that America 
uses her power for good in Palestine and around the world.
  Let's keep up this momentum. Let's help secure justice for the 
Palestinian people. Let's work for peace. Let's never give up.
  Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his words.
  I know we are short on time.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Castro).
  Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with grave concern 
about the ongoing violence in Israel and Palestine. The events of the 
last week and the deaths of so many Israeli and Palestinian civilians, 
including many children, are heartbreaking. My condolences to their 
families and my thoughts are with those in Israel and Gaza who continue 
to live in fear.
  Rocket attacks by Hamas and other militant groups that intentionally 
target civilians are, of course, reprehensible, and I condemn them 
unequivocally. The escalation of violence is not in the interest of 
Israelis or Palestinians, but only extremists who thrive on conflict. 
The Biden administration needs to call on the Israeli Government to 
agree to a cease-fire and put pressure on Hamas to do the same.

  I have consistently supported security assistance to Israel and voted 
to fund the Iron Dome, which is saving

[[Page H2309]]

lives as we speak. Yet Israel's disproportionate response to Hamas' 
attacks, destroying entire buildings and public spaces, is exacerbating 
this horrible cycle of violence. These air strikes, which have already 
resulted in the deaths of civilians and at least 38 women and children, 
must stop. We need a cease-fire now, and the United States must help 
bring one about.
  Beyond stopping the immediate violence, the United States must also 
urge Israel to support the creation of a Palestinian state--the only 
way to end this cycle of violence for good. The status quo of 
occupation and creeping de facto annexation is unjust and not 
sustainable. The forced evictions of Palestinian families in east 
Jerusalem are wrong, and it is not the first time that events like we 
saw last week in Sheikh Jarrah have happened.
  I will wrap up by saying that I hope and pray for peace. I want to 
thank my colleague, Rashida Tlaib. I think part of what has been 
missing in Congress is hearing Palestinian voices.
  Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________