REMARKS BY RANKING MEMBER ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN

SPECIAL ORDER ON THE UN’S GOLDSTONE REPORT ON ISRAEL’S CONDUCT OF OPERATION CAST LEAD

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 14, 2009

 

[Mr./Madam] Speaker, this week at the United Nations, another assault is being launched on the democratic, Jewish State of Israel – an assault that the United States must unequivocally oppose and defeat.

Predictably, this assault has its roots in the UN’s so-called “Human Rights Council,” an institution hijacked by dictatorships and gross human rights violators.

This past winter, in Operation Cast Lead, Israel defended its citizens – and its existence – against the threat posed by Hamas and other violent extremist groups in Gaza.

The Human Rights Council responded by passing a resolution authorizing a so-called “fact-finding mission” to investigate Operation Cast Lead.

This mission’s mandate had nothing to do with fact-finding, and everything to do with persecuting Israel for defending itself.

The mandate prejudged Israel’s guilt, authorizing the mission to investigate only assumed human rights violations by Israel.

The mandate did not include, or even mention, the thousands of rocket and mortar attacks, spanning eight years, by Hamas and other violent extremist groups in Gaza, against civilian targets in southern Israel.

Then, last month, the “fact-finding mission” released its report – a 575-page collection of distortions and double-standards. 

The report made baseless accusations that Israel’s military had deliberately attacked civilians.

The report disregarded extensive evidence that violent extremist groups in Gaza used civilians as human shields, operating from schools, mosques, and hospitals

It ignored the Israeli military’s extraordinary efforts to target its operations in order to minimize civilian casualties.
 

It gave a free pass to the Iranian and Syrian regimes, which provide material and financial assistance to Hamas and other murderous groups in Gaza.

Finally, this report recommended further persecution of Israel through follow-up action by the UN Security Council, the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, and the International Criminal Court, among others.  

In fact, today, the Security Council met at the request of the Libyan regime, and considered this biased report.

Later this week, with the blessing of the UN Secretary-General, the Human Rights Council is expected to hold a special session on this report – and pass yet another resolution condemning Israel and only Israel.

And what has the U.S. done in response to this anti-freedom onslaught?

While acknowledging that the report and its mandate were biased, Administration officials still claimed that the report raised “serious issues” and should be “considered seriously” – by that rogues’ gallery known as the Human Rights Council.

Is this how the United States supports Israel and counters the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel bias that is present every day at the UN?

We must recognize what is at stake here.

If the democratic political and military leaders of Israel can be hauled before an unaccountable court for defending their nation against violent extremists in Gaza, then how long before U.S. officials and those of other NATO countries will face the same for defending our nation against al-Qaeda and other such threats?

Ultimately, this report is an effort by the enemies of freedom to deprive democracies of the right to self-defense, making it open season for global jihadists to come after Israel, the U.S., and other free nations.

As the leadership of the Simon Wiesenthal Center stated in a recent letter to Ambassador Susan Rice, consideration of this report “is a prescription for disaster, not only for Israel, but for the United States and every country” that fights violent extremism.

[Mr./Madam] Speaker, we must oppose any efforts to grant consideration or legitimacy – in any forum – to this irredeemably biased UN report.

We must support the right of Israel, the U.S., and all democracies to defend ourselves and our citizens.

Once again, [Mr/Madam] Speaker, it is time for the U.S. to lead.