The Long-Term Problems Between Israel and Palestine

Floor Speech

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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 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.

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