Peter Deutsch

Mr. DEUTSCH

Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, I think in the environment we are at we won when we entered the Chamber and I think it is important, and I hope there is a discourse because clearly a number of our colleagues, again less than around 10 percent or so, articulated a position which I am just disappointed, and I think it is by lack of information, it is a lack of thought, lack of really thinking through the actual conditions of what occurred. We would not talk about moral equivalency with the United States war in Afghanistan, and the similarity parallels are very real in terms of what the Israelis are doing, and as we both have said, there should be a Yasser Arafat exemption to the war on terrorism? I would like to follow up though, and really, the issue of the day is should the Israelis continue to negotiate with Yasser Arafat? Is he the negotiating partner to try to get to the resolution of the conflict, and as the gentleman said, not only did the Israelis seize a huge amount of sophisticated weapons in their incursions and suicide belts and other things, but a huge amount of documents, which at this point in time no one is refuting the authenticity. In fact, we met the parents of a soldier who actually downloaded some of the documents and was killed in a subsequent action, and he told his parents about it. So I do not think there was a scam of him telling his parents about what he did. No one at this point is really questioning literally the authenticity of the document that is blown up on this chart and in Yasser Arafat's handwriting, which again no one is questioning at this point in time, is exactly what the gentleman described. It is a request to Yasser Arafat from a senior Fatah activist, Hassan al Sheik, for payments of $2,500 for three known terrorists. I mean, people who are on Israel's most wanted list who the Israelis knew were involved in previous terrorist actions, in fact, through the Israelis, subsequently eliminated, and a request for $2,500. Chairman Arafat, as my colleague had mentioned, says allocate $600 to each of them in his own handwriting directly involved in that payment. There are other documents. This is a longer list of 12 people who were involved in terrorist activities and for this group, I do not see the exact amount, but again, with Arafat's signature, it is a $350 payment for terrorist activities.

Mr. DEUTSCH. I think what is clear is they are what they are.

Mr. DEUTSCH. They are what they are. Arafat, he was not a terrorist 10 years ago or 5 years ago or a year. He is still a terrorist. He was engaged in terrorist activity continuously, and his words might sound nice at this point in time, but it is not ancient history to go back. Here is a document, a request from the Al Aqsa Martyr troops for money to the Palestinian Authority, and as shocking as each of the things are in terms of weapons, in terms of posters for suicide bombers, there is a specific request for 700 shekels, and I am reading it directly, this is for detonators for suicide bombers. We need every week five to nine explosive charges. Five to nine explosive charges every week, 700 shekels per week, directly to the PA by Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, people who are literally perpetrating the suicide bombs.

Mr. DEUTSCH. This is going to be the last document and there is more, but this is dated March 24, 2002, and during the stage of these operations, and this is a copy of minutes of a meeting at the Ramallah headquarters, and Chairman Arafat is in attendance at this meeting along with Hamas, and the statements in the minutes of the meeting in Arabic are such that Chairman Arafat is upset that there was a bombing inside the green line when General Zinni was in Israel, and the inference is they would have preferred the bombing outside the green line and not when General Zinni was in Israel. The Israelis did not write this. No one is questioning the authenticity. This is Arafat inside his own meetings, meeting with Hamas, talking about terrorist activity, not trying to prevent them at any level in any way, and we could ignore this if we want to ignore it, but the weight is so overwhelming at this point that it is unignorable.

Mr. DEUTSCH. The gentleman is so on point with that comment. That is one of the tragedies going on right now. In fact, one of the tragedies I think as we both saw is as horrific and awful and inhumane the Palestinian attacks on Israelis have been, both Jews and Arabs, and we made a point as we have talked about to visit Arab dictums of terrorist bombings. In fact, the restaurant we talked about in Haifa was owned by an Arab Israeli and about half the victims were Arabs, not Jews, Arabs and Jews. The screws and the nuts and the ball bearings do not discriminate and, too, they are going to maim and kill. The reality of how bad and awful that is, Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority have been as bad and maybe even worse to their own people, indiscriminately killing people in just no type of civil process at all, destruction of an economy, corruption at levels which is untold, probably unmatched almost maybe anywhere in the world the level of corruption, and that in a sense is the entity that the United States is supporting. What we have talked about on this floor previously, there is no, and we use the expression, there is no daylight between any Members of this Congress and the President and the war on terrorism and the efforts in Afghanistan, the efforts to stop terrorists with global reach whether they be in Iraq, in Syria or North Korea. There is no daylight between us, but I think there are many in this Chamber, in this country unfortunately who disagree with some of the President's actions in terms of trying to say, well, Yasser Arafat and these activities really are not as evil as they are. One of the great things about President Reagan was when there was an evil empire he called it an evil empire and the Palestinian Authority is an evil empire, and we can call it white and we can call it black. If we call black, white, it does not make it white, and the same thing by saying, the leadership and these other things, the entity itself is evil, is corrupt beyond comprehension. We both heard stories that I would not say on this floor of some of the activities of the Palestinian Authority in terms of some of the behavior of some of the leaders that were beyond human discussion. Let me follow up, though, just in terms of the Palestinian Authority itself. This is a reprint of a New York Times article April 20, 2002, and they interviewed a printer in the West Bank who had an ongoing contract with the Palestinian Authority to, after every suicide bomber who was killed, to automatically within several hours with information about that suicide bomber print up 1,000 posters to then be put up. This is just a sample form. That is the entity, the glorification of the suicide bomber is what we have seen.

Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, I know our time is running out. I want to give both of us a couple of seconds to close, and the last two charts are directly on point on what the gentleman mentioned. Yasser Arafat in the compound spoke about sending a million, the English translation is as my colleague so ably pointed out, martyrs to Jerusalem. The Arab word is ``shaheed.'' If my colleagues were to ask any Palestinian what shaheed means, they know that it means suicide bombers. It does not mean martyr. It is not an esoteric, theoretical term. It means suicide bombers, and specifically to the people that is what they hear. As shocking as that is, the quote from Chairman Arafat's wife, literally that there would be no greater honor than for her son, if she had a son, to be a martyr, to be a shaheed, to be a suicide bomber. I would close and give the gentleman an opportunity to close and say I wish that we had a discourse this evening with our colleagues who voted against this because I do not think there is any articulated, rational, moral position against the support of Israel that this Congress overwhelmingly and this country has overwhelmingly done. Their fight is our fight. The attacks against them are attacks against us. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. DEUTSCH

Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, this weekend three of my colleagues and I traveled to the State of Israel. We had several purposes for the visit. One was a show of solidarity with the Israeli people in terms of what has been going on. We visited a number of victims of terrorist acts, including American citizens, spent time with some families who had lost loved ones, children, 5-year-olds, 12-year-olds, 15-year-olds, again a number of them American citizens. We met with the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, terrorism experts, the head of intelligence for the Israeli Army, but I think probably the most dramatic part of our visit was a review of a very small collection of arms that was captured during the recent Israeli incursion. One thing that American television press has not given, I think, the American people any sense of is the amount and the type of weapons that the Israelis have seized over the last several weeks during their incursion. It is a staggering amount. It was an amount that if it were placed in this Chamber from floor to ceiling would more than fill this Chamber. The weapons are extensive, mortars, sniper rifles, night vision glasses, machine guns, weapons totally outlawed by the Oslo agreements. But I have a picture here which in some ways is the most disturbing of any of the weapons, if they can be called weapons, that we saw and that have been captured in the incursion. This is a suicide or a murder belt, one of several that we saw and touched and examined. The belt itself is not a makeshift belt. It is a manufactured item. It is clearly manufactured with a certain degree of technology in the sense that it is well-sewn and PVC piping, as you can see, that is stuck inside of a vest. That was one version. There are other versions. But I think the point of looking at them and the impact is this belt and the weapons that I described, and I will show some pictures of some of the other weapons that we saw, this belt was clearly not made to be put in a museum. This belt had one purpose, and that purpose was to kill innocent people. In fact, of the belts that we saw, had those belts not been captured, I think what is clear is that their intended use would have occurred. And if for no other reason than stopping the use of one of those murder weapons, the Israeli incursion is justified. I mentioned the belt again because I think one of the things that the American press has not done enough of is tell this story. These are mortars found, again weapons outlawed under Oslo, weapons that have no use but offensive weapons against Israelis, found in a number of different locations throughout the West Bank, in Ramallah and Jenin, Bethlehem. Again I am just going to go through some of these because these are pictures that have not been on American television up to this point. Besides the weapons themselves, the ammunition, just a small sample of the ammunition from M-16s, from machine guns. In fact, one of the sickest things that we saw was a number of buckshot bullets that we were told the purpose of them, and there is evidence because of the forensic evidence of suicide or murder bombings, is that the buckshot is actually taken out and the little pellets, the ball bearings are then implanted in C-4 to make the weapons more dangerous. Again, these are assault rifles, which also are illegal under the Oslo agreement. These are machine guns and mortars. These are rifles that have been modified for the most horrific use. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Hoeffel), who has taken a leadership role on this issue and shared the experience of a witness in terms of the weapons.

Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's comments. Before I yield to our next speaker, what I would like to do is show a couple of other pictures that have not been in the American press. I talked about the weapons seized in the incursions over the last couple of weeks. There is a very dramatic incident which, unfortunately, the incident was reported, but not the scope I think accurately, and that is the ship Karine A, which Israeli commandos seized. We have read about it, but to view it and really spend at least an hour and a half looking at the weapons and understanding what they were and the actual operation was very significant. These weapons were about $20 million worth of weapons from Iran. They were basically off the factory, off the factory, literally off the factory, bated with serial numbers and dates. First of all, 90 percent of the weapons were outside of the Oslo Agreement, maybe 95. They were weapons not for a police force, but for an army. Beyond mortars. In fact, they included rockets with explosive charges tied to those rockets. The equivalent of American TOW missiles, which are devices used to attack tanks, to be able to steer the tanks after they have been shot, sophisticated tank mines that were made out of plastic so they could not be detected by metal detectors. This is a picture of just some of the mortars. Again, if one was to fill, it would be about half of this room, the amount of weapons that were on that ship. One of the most disturbing things, and again, the Karine A incident, our Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has publicly talked about the direct connection with Chairman Arafat in terms of purchasing those weapons and being involved in the shipping of those weapons. Effectively at this point, Chairman Arafat does not deny that he tried to get the weapons in. At this point it is not a debatable point about his personal involvement in bringing in just these extensive, very extensive weapons from Iran. But one of the other pictures which just gives us a sense of what this whole operation, the Karine A, was about, this is one of the containers that all of the weapons were in. All of the weapons on the ship were placed in some very sophisticated water-tight containers. In fact, some of the weapons were modified, some of the larger mortars, or mortar launchers were actually modified so that they could actually fit inside of those containers which are very sophisticated containers. Just a part of the sophistication, which we can see sort of on top, is there was a part of the container that actually had a balance between air pressure and water to literally place the containers at a certain depth in the Mediterranean Sea. I mean, this is a well thought-out military action. In fact, there were buoys with each of the containers so that they could be picked up by Palestinian Authority operatives in the Mediterranean Sea. It is a sense of the scope of what the Israelis are facing. Mr. Speaker, I yield now to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence), who I have listened to his words and I do not believe there is a Member, of the 435 Members in this Chamber, who has spoken more passionately and more effectively about the issues that America and Israel are facing in the Middle East, or who has been stronger and more forceful with his words.

Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, before the gentleman yields back, I know the gentleman has some very strong words, and the first picture I had up was the murder belts that we reviewed. If the gentleman could just describe them in his own words, I think that is helpful to people.

Mr. DEUTSCH. Again, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments of the gentleman from Indiana. I really have learned a lot from the several statements he has made over the last couple of weeks. Those of us who left to go on this trip literally left as soon as we took the vote last Thursday in support of Israel, in solidarity with Israel, but also specifically in understanding what the Israeli government is doing in terms of its military operation. As the gentleman will recall, and as people watching might very well recall, it was a debate in this Chamber. It was an overwhelming support. Over 90 percent or about 90 percent of the Members that voted, voted in support of that effort. I can tell the Members a couple of things. First off, we delivered copies of that resolution to victims in hospitals, to the Prime Minister, to families who had lost loved ones. I can tell Members that it meant a great deal to them that they are not alone, that there is a connection between the United States and the people of the United States and the people of Israel; that we should do as much as we can do to make that real, because unfortunately, they do feel alone. I sat through really the entire debate last Thursday, and again, generally we do not sit through entire debates, but I wanted to hear my colleagues who were speaking against the resolution. It was a disturbing afternoon. One of the things that we have talked about is I would welcome any of my colleagues in a discourse, because as the gentleman knows, our debates are not really debates, they are statements. They are very difficult. In this setting we can have discourse. I would hope that any of those colleagues would join us this evening and enter into a discourse about some of the statements that they made. I would also offer to those colleagues, and we have done it before in this Chamber, an Oxford-style debate for them in a discourse way to try to defend some of those positions. Some of those positions, again, I found disturbing, shocking, and ignorant. I will mention one, and there is no reason to mention a Member's name. One of the Members in this Chamber actually stood at this podium and put up two pictures of two young girls, a young girl who was a suicide bomber about 19 years old and a young girl who was killed by that suicide bomber. We saw the supermarket where that incident occurred. I cannot think of many sicker, more immoral comparisons than was delivered right at this podium less than a week ago. I would ask my colleague just to share thoughts that he had during that debate, as well.

Mr. DEUTSCH. I would also mention, Mr. Speaker, just in terms of the discourse that occurred, on more than one occasion last Thursday people mentioned the Israeli occupation, almost inferring that it was a justification for acts of violence. Obviously, it could never be a justification for the killing of innocents. The last incident before this one that occurred was literally a 5-year-old girl was shot, murdered, hiding underneath her bed. I think one of the facts that are important, that people should understand, is that the Israeli government offered to end the occupation. That is what the Camp David Accord was about, where the Israeli government effectively offered to give back 98 percent of the West Bank and Gaza, offered to end the occupation. So it is this demented sort of perspective that if the occupation causes frustration and violence, well, the Israeli government was willing to end the occupation, so then why did they not accept it? It ends up bringing some of those issues in. I know the gentleman from New York (Mr. Weiner) has some very important statements, but I wanted to give the gentleman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Mr. Hoeffel) an opportunity to talk, because he was with some of those people who we passed on that resolution to. If he could just describe the interaction, knowing that the United States Congress had passed that resolution, and literally giving it to people, if he can share in his own words. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Hoeffel).

Mr. DEUTSCH. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Weiner), who I know over the weekend wanted to join us, but in fact had activities in his own community showing solidarity and support for the State of Israel, and has worked as hard as any Member in this Chamber for peace in the Middle East.

Mr. DEUTSCH. The gentleman had so many incredible insights in that statement. I would like to really follow up on a couple of them. One, the difference between Anwar Sadat and Yasser Arafat. Anwar Sadat not only came to Jerusalem as a peacemaker, but got on Egyptian television and told his people why it was in their interest to have peace with Israel, and basically led them and educated them about that. Yasser Arafat, I am going to read this quote that he basically said today, right now. This is the quote. ``But we ask Allah to grant us martyrdom. To Jerusalem we march, martyrs by the million.'' This is the English translation from al Jazeera, but the word martyr is shaheed. And the true translation that every Palestinian understands by that word is suicide bomber. Literally suicide bomber. It is the equivalent of what we would say kamikaze, and we know what a kamikaze means. Shaheed, the Palestinians know what it means. So he said to Jerusalem we march. Suicide bombers by the millions. To Jerusalem we march. Suicide bombers by the millions. When Yasser Arafat left his compound on May 3, it really is not martyrs in the millions, the true translation as Palestinians said the words and understand the words, suicide bombers in the millions. This is just another comment. Let me see if I can find it.

Mr. DEUTSCH. This is from the New York Times, April 15. This is from Chairman Arafat's wife. And I think it is so strange to us that a mother could say this, but this is what Yasser Arafat and his wife are teaching. ``If she had a son, there would be no greater honor than to sacrifice him for the Palestinian cause. `Would you expect me or my children to be less patriotic and more eager to live than my countrymen and their father, we who are seeking martyrdom?' '' And, again, martyrdom means being a suicide bomber, a mother of a leader of a group. And I question whether or not he is a leader because one of the things that is interesting in your comments and one of the things of visiting and talking to people in Israel, is that as evil and as awful and as horrific as Yasser Arafat has been to Israelis, he has been as bad to his own people. They have indiscriminately killed Palestinians. They have destroyed an economy. There is no freedom. There is fear. The demolishment. And it is a people that does have a future. But it does not have a future with Yasser Arafat. One of the other things, and again, the gentleman went through a number of points that I hopefully will be able to find all the corresponding charts. I think I have it. This is our friends, the Saudis. One of the things about the Israeli incursion was that not only did they find this incredible stash of weapons, but an incredible sort of stash of documents, some of which have been released publicly at this point in time. And unfortunately, again, it is an issue where the press really has not, I think, talked about them specifically. And I welcome people trying to understand and literally read the documents. Here is the ad that was put in a Palestinian newspaper asking for people because the Saudi committee for support of the Intifada was giving the equivalent of 5,000 American dollars per family, per suicide bomber. And literally an ad in the Palestinian newspaper, Alhayat Al Jadideh, and literally just asking them to come to a certain location for information and a number of beneficiaries and to come and sign up, prove that you are a suicide bomber and you will get $5,000 from the Saudis. Saudi Committee for the Support of the Intifada, which the interior minister of the Saudi government is the head of that committee. Now, the Saudi government then sent a letter to that particular organization and the letter says, ``I remind you that the house rules of the Saudi Committee for the Support of the Intifada prohibits publication of the name of the committee.'' So they are not allowed to publicize the fact that the Saudis are paying for it. Included in the documents are a list of suicide bombers, literally a list which people at this point is not on the Internet, but is available in the public domain, that the Saudi government pay the $5,000 American literally to people who were suicide bombers. So I agree with the gentleman completely. Is that moderates? Is that who we can expect? The one mistake I think in terms of the war on terrorism that the administration is making is this attempt to make something that is not. I think the proofs are the facts that the Saudis unfortunately are really not our allies in this war against global terrorism by their actions and by their specific deeds. What I would like to do quickly in the last minutes is really just put up on the easel again some of the extensive evidence tying Chairman Arafat specifically to the terrorist actions. There has been an attempt by the President to also make a Yasar Arafat exemption to the war on terrorism, and it is a sad and, I think, tragic mistake of the administration. The facts are the facts. The truth is the truth. These are one of several documents. At this point the Palestinian authorities are no longer inferring, as originally they did, that the documents are hoaxes. These were found by soldiers in the hard drives of Arafat's compound; and in fact, I spoke with the parents of a soldier who, in fact, was one of the soldiers that did, that was killed, and in the interim, the parents before, because it was in a different incursion, he was in Ramallah, he ended up being killed in Jenin, actually called his parents and explained to them what he did and by his own words told me what their son told him. In fact, he actually got these specific documents and the young man, 20-year-old young man, that died. This particular document, which at this point again, there is no question about its authenticity. It is signed by Chairman Arafat, his signature, and specifically, it is a request by a senior Fatah activist in the West Bank for $2,500 for three known terrorists, terrorists that were on the Israeli's most wanted list. In fact, the Israelis were assassinated because of specific direct involvement with terrorism, and Chairman Arafat signs and approves those payments. He does the same in this chart for a list of 12 known terrorists and again his signature, which at this point is no longer refuted in terms of his direct involvement in terms of terrorist acts. In some ways this is one of the most disturbing documents found. It is a list of expenditures by Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a martyr group, a list of their specific needs; and as incredible as it is, we meet every week five to nine, explosive targets. The squads in the various areas, five to nine explosive charges for suicide bombs, for murder bombers, written by Al Aqsa, to the Palestinian Authority, in their office was found and the calculation of how much they were going to pay them. It is just not credible that they were not involved in direct bombings, suicide bombings. Here is a copy of minutes of a meeting from March 24, 2002, of the Palestinian Authority. Hamas members were there at the time. So again it is not credible to say that Chairman Arafat obviously was at this meeting, but specifically talking about minutes from the meeting, talking about the decisions of where to bomb and why it was not a good time to bomb because or where outside the green line or inside the green line. General Zinni was there. I am going to close because our hour is just about up, and there are more things that I can mention or show, but I think that in closing Israel's war is America's war. Israel does not want to be in Bethlehem or Nablus or Jenin anymore than America wants to be in Afghanistan. They are there because they have to be there. They have no choice. I will not show a chart of it, but Israel is about \1/60\th the size of the United States in population. When 50 Israelis are killed, it is the equivalent of 9-11. So just yesterday it was almost the equivalent of one-third of 9-11. We know how America responded on 9-11, as we should and as we did and as we are doing. We cannot ask anything less of the Israelis.

Mr. DEUTSCH

Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to read the resolution, because what the resolution does is it speaks truth to power. Some of my colleagues who have spoken against the resolution I do not believe have read it, because there is nothing that is factually inaccurate in this resolution. It talks about, unfortunately, what is going on in Israel today. There is no Yasir Arafat exemption to the war on terrorism. What is going on today in fact is terrorist actions; and when those bombs are going off, whether it is in a Cafe in Haifa or Jerusalem or Natanya, they are not just trying to kill Jews. In fact, some Arabs have been killed, many Arabs have been killed by terrorist acts themselves. But in essence it is terrorist action against America. We need to pass this resolution. There are other issues we can talk about at another time. I urge my colleagues to read the resolution. As my good friend and colleague from California on the other aisle, who has been as concerned as any Member in this Chamber of the plight of the Palestinian people, and I praise him for his commitment to vote yes, I urge my friends and my colleagues on this side of the aisle to join with him and let there be no votes against this resolution, even with the objections that people have to the fact that some things are left out.

Mr. DEUTSCH

Mr. DEUTSCH. If I can just add, I think one of the important things to note from an historical basis is that at no time during that 1,800- year exodus was there not a Jewish presence in the area of Palestine or what has become the modern state of Israel.

Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, again, I appreciate this. I know in the last hour several additional colleagues have joined us, and I look forward to hearing from them over the next hour. One colleague who has been very patient is one of the most knowledgeable Members in the Congress on the Mideast, again someone who has been active in Middle Eastern issues and concern far before he entered the Congress, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Weiner).

Mr. DEUTSCH

Mr. DEUTSCH. I did not want to mention which member of my family, but it was as close as your mother as well. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Rothman).

Mr. DEUTSCH. If the gentleman would try to wrap up, we will have some more time. I know there are a couple of other gentlemen.

Mr. DEUTSCH. Absolutely correct. I think it is important just in terms of the issue of why is Israel there as a modern state. I keep referring to it as the modern state of Israel. The British in 1922 actually divided the mandate that they had along the Jordan River, so there is a line straight from the Jordan River. On the eastern side, they created trans-Jordan, and on the western side, Palestine. Now, trans-Jordan has become modern-day Jordan, and Palestine, let me shift the map and get to what really is the next map, was a partition plan of the United Nations in 1947. I think this is also a significant map for people to understand and actually to look at, as well. It is significant for a number of reasons. It is significant because, first of all, the Jews that lived in Israel at the time accepted that map. The Arabs that lived in Palestine did not. In fact, in 1947 or 1948 when the British withdrew from Palestine and Israel declared independence 54 years ago, five surrounding Arab countries and their armies, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq, invaded. The Israelis were outnumbered five to one at that point in time, basically with no outside direct support, and the United States obviously, as most people know, recognized Israel as soon as it declared its existence, but this boundary was accepted by the Jews in the state of Israel. In terms of the five countries that invaded and the Arabs that lived in Palestine, they did not accept the partition. Let me just follow up with another map, which is a map of Israel today. The significant part of this map, in a sense, is from the last map to this map is four wars: 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973. The areas in the West Bank and Gaza and the Golan Heights were acquired by Israel in 1967. Again, the history of that point in time I think is also very significant. It is significant because it was not a war that Israel sought, it was a war of defense. I think what is also significant, just to understand the context, the historical context, is that the area of the West Bank and Gaza, which effectively, I think, all parties now understand will in fact become a Palestinian state at some point in time, when those areas were controlled by Jordan and Egypt, neither Jordan nor Egypt wanted there to be a Palestinian state. There could have been a Palestinian state at any point in time between 1948 and 1967 if Jordan, Egypt, or the Palestinians in that area would have agreed to a Palestinian state living side by side with the state of Israel at that point in time. A significant thing happened in 1974, and really, under the American auspices, the American involvement, in terms of the peace process that really began in 1974. But the real significant event in modern times, or prior to this year, is 1977 when Anwar Sadat visited Jerusalem and made a clear show to the Israeli people of his commitment towards peace. If there were any two peoples who were as diametrically opposed, who had fought very vicious, competitive wars with each other, the Egyptians and the Israelis were those two people. As we know, under the guidance of President Jimmy Carter, Sadat and Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the Egyptian treaty at Camp David in 1979. Just moving forward past 1979, I think there are some interesting dates. As opposed to Anwar Sadat, Chairman Arafat's actions in 1982, because of terrorist attacks on Israel at that time, Israel invaded southern Lebanon. In fact, what happened was Arafat ended up getting expelled from southern Lebanon to Tunisia. The Israeli troops remained in the security zone for a period of time. In 1991, as the chart points out, Chairman Arafat supported Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War. In 1994, another positive step occurred in that King Hussein and Prime Minister Rabin signed the Israel-Jordan peace treaty with President Clinton. In 1997, the Hebron Accords were signed; in 1999, the Wye River Accords; and in 2000, the Camp David attempt by President Clinton had its auspices. Again, as we know, the offer that was on the table of 97 percent of the West Bank, parts of Jerusalem, significant parts of Jerusalem, an independent Palestinian state, was rejected by Chairman Arafat. I give this as a historical background, and I look forward to my colleagues' statements. So I would yield first to my colleague sharing the time who has taken a leadership roll and serves on the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston).

Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, I join with a group of colleagues, and I hope and expect more to join us as the evening progresses, to talk a little bit about the conflict in the Middle East, but also to talk about the Middle East and talk about the state of Israel. In Israel today, it is Israel Independence Day, the 54th anniversary of the modern state of Israel. I am joined this evening on the Republican side. Sharing the time with me is the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston), as well as a number of colleagues, Democrats and Republicans. I mentioned the 54th anniversary of the creation of the modern state of Israel, and there is a time line that is relevant that hopefully all Americans have a perspective of, because I think the time line gives us a sense of the issues that Israel is dealing with today. There has been continuous Jewish occupation in the land of Israel from historical times, from the start of the common era, from the time of Jesus. In 1917, though, in terms of the modern state of Israel, the Balfour Declaration by Great Britain was issued. As this map shows, it was a mandate that the League of Nations had given to the British empire at that time. Saudi Arabia did not exist. I think one of the best charts that I have seen, presented by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Rothman) when we did a special order last week, was talking about the years the different countries were created. Saudi Arabia was a group of nomadic tribes at this time, and Egypt did not exist as a modern country. It was part of the British mandate. Iraq was part of the British mandate. Syria was part of the French mandate.

Mr. DEUTSCH. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia.

Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time for one second, I am going to grab a chart, if I can, which is showing the numbers. Actually in the month of March alone it was not 50. It was 150 Israelis that got killed. So in fact, in the month of March, just this past month Israel sustained the equivalent of three 9/11s, and I think if we can just imagine what the United States, God forbid, that would have occurred to us, what we would do, I think the world has seen what we did with one 9/11.

Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, I think we have a lot of Members here this evening. I think what I would like to do, normally in special orders we do not limit time, but maybe if we could limit time to 5 minutes per Member and have a discourse. If I could yield to the senior Member in this Chamber right now, one of the senior members on the Committee on International Relations, and there is no gentleman who is a more significant leader in terms of his record, in terms of peace in the Middle East, the gentleman from California (Mr. Berman).

Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, this is actually a list of weapons that were uncovered or captured by the Israelis since April 1 in their incursions into places like Jenin and Ramallah, and it is an amazing list from April 1. Weapons obviously in violation of Oslo agreements and sniper weapons, telescopic rifle weapons, bomb factories, things that there were agreements not to have, to prevent from having, and in fact, the question which is really raised is why did the Israelis even incur the incursions into these areas. The Israelis, I do not think, want to be there anymore than the Americans want to be in Afghanistan.