Why Hoyer believes that “the Arab community” would be responsible, let alone obligated, to “absorb” Palestinians is never explained. Palestinians in Gaza don’t ask for absorption elsewhere; their home is Palestine, not Jordan, Lebanon, or Egypt. They were expelled from what is now Israel and, under international law, are entitled – not to be “absorbed” by other countries – but to return to their homes.
Gary Ackerman (D-NY), who actually traveled to Israel with NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg and police commissioner Ray Kelly (on the Mayor’s private jet) during the Gaza Massacre to show his support for the murder of hundreds of defenseless Palestinians by the Israel military, entered his remarks into the Congressional Record, calling the Goldstone Report “a pompous, tendentious, one-sided political diatribe” that, for all its “facts” and “context” contains “very little truth” and “very little wisdom.” (CR H12244 11/3/09)
Ackerman makes clear his contempt for the authors of the Report by stating, “In the self-righteous fantasyland inhabited by Judge Goldstone and his colleagues, there’s no such thing as terrorism; there’s no such thing as Hamas (and if it does exist, it’s certainly nothing to fear); there’s no such thing as legitimate self-defense; and war is like a sporting event, rather than the most ghastly, destructive, chaotic phenomenon we human beings are capable of creating.” Ackerman himself could benefit from a reality check in the form of testimony by a young Israeli reservist who, upon reflecting on his role as a remote operator of Predator drones conducting airstrikes on civilian centers and residential neighborhoods in Gaza, said the following:
“It feels like hunting season has begun…Sometimes it reminds me of a Play Station game. You hear cheers in the war room after you see on the screens that the missile hit a target, as if it were a soccer game.”
Although Congressional opponents of H.Res.867 were few and far between, a number of courageous Congress members took up the mantle of human rights, international law, and even American legislative process by voicing their dissent and urging their colleagues to side with morality and legality, rather than denial and impunity.
Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison led the opposition, stating that the resolution “should be opposed because it suppresses inquiry, inquiry that is the hallmark of democratic societies” (CR H12234 11/3/09) and asking, “Why are we going to pass a resolution without holding a single hearing? Why is the House voting for a resolution which condemns a report that few Members have fully read?” (CR H12235 11/3/09)
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) addressed Palestinian rocket attack and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, remarking, “The urgency and the gravity of these harsh realities on both sides require that Congress act always with an eye toward peace and reconciliation.” She concluded that supporting H.Res.867 “doesn’t lead us to securing Israeli peace and security nor Palestinian peaceful coexistence and for their citizens a life of respect.” ( CR H12235 11/3/09)
Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) called the resolution “blatantly biased,” stating that it “damages U.S. credibility” and “seeks to hide the ugliness of the Gaza war by covering up violent excesses committed against innocent civilians by both Hamas and the Israeli Defense Forces,” including the use of “American-made white phosphorous shells” in civilian areas and the needless killing of “hundreds of Palestinian women and children and elders.” McCollum also noted that the resolution calls for double standards when evaluating war crimes. “There must be only one standard for respecting human rights,” she said. “A single standard by which we must hold ourselves and our friends and our adversaries accountable. Establishing situational standards for respecting human rights is dishonest and only encourages actions that destroy human dignity and life.” ( CR H12239 11/3/09)
Republican Congressman Jim Moran (R-VA) called the resolution “a deliberate diversion” and challenged Congress “and the committees of jurisdiction to invest their time and resources into more constructive efforts that further the cause of peace.” ( CR H12236 11/3/09)
Rep. John Dingell (D-NY) rose to oppose the resolution by stating, simply, “This is a bad bill. It’s a bad resolution. It is unfair. It is unwise. It contributes nothing to peace. It establishes a bad precedent, and it sets up a set of circumstances where we indicate that we’re going to just arbitrarily reject a U.N. finding and a U.N. resolution and that we’re going to have that as a precedent. This is bad.” Dingell spoke to the universality of international law:
“Neither Israel nor Hamas, nor any other country or other non-state political act is exempt from international human rights laws or free of consequence for violations of them. If nothing else, the Goldstone Report should serve as a document from which Israel and Hamas, and the rest of the international community can use to ensure that future human rights violations do not take place in civilian areas and that their militaries and fighters are actively working toward minimizing civilian casualties in the future.” (CR H12237 11/3/09)
Two of the strongest opponents of the resolution were Brian Baird (D-WA) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH). Baird, in a statement released the night before the vote, stated, “if our own country is truly to stand for human rights and the rule of law, and if facts matter, how can we do other than insist that legitimate questions and evidence are followed by further investigation and, if necessary and warranted, appropriate consequences?” The statement continued:
H.Res. 867 is very serious business. If, as Goldstone asserts and the evidence I have seen supports, there were in fact gross violations of international law and human rights on all sides, we cannot in good conscience support H.Res. 867.
This is about much more than just another imposed political litmus test that we are all too often asked to perform. This is about whether we as individuals and this Congress as an institution find it acceptable to drop white phosphorous on civilian targets, to rocket civilian communities, to destroy hospitals and schools, to use civilians as human shields, to deliberately destroy non-military factories, industries and basic water, electrical and sanitation infrastructure. This is about whether it is acceptable to restrict the movement, opportunities and hopes of more than a million people every single day.”
On the floor of the House, Baird, who has visited Gaza and seen first-hand the affects of Israel’s assault, made one last appeal to his colleagues. “Do not pass this resolution. Support this fine jurist,” he said. “Give justice, true justice, a chance to be heard.” (CR H12237 11/3/09)
Kucinich reprimanded fellow Congress members for their suppression of the truth in supporting H.Res.867, declaring, “Almost as serious as committing war crimes is covering up war crimes, pretending that war crimes were never committed and did not exist,” continuing, “Behind every such deception is the nullification of humanity, the destruction of human dignity, the annihilation of the human spirit, the triumph of Orwellian thinking, the eternal prison of the dark heart of the totalitarian.” The Ohio Representative stated that “if this Congress votes to condemn a report it has not read concerning events it has totally ignored about violations of law of which it is unaware, it will have brought shame to this great institution.” He accused resolution supporters of “tacitly approv[ing] violations of international law and international human rights” and warned that “if we close our eyes to the heartbreak of people on both sides by white-washing a legitimate investigation?” (CR H12237-8 11/3/09)
