Sam Gejdenson: “once again the situation in the Middle East has turned from efforts to resolve the conflict peacefully to a new wave of…”

“once again the situation in the Middle East has turned from efforts to resolve the conflict peacefully to a new wave of violence that undermines the basis for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Mr. Speaker, there is no one more supportive of the Middle East Peace Process than I am. I also support efforts to assist the Palestinian peoples, and to facilitate exchanges and other programs to promote reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. The current wave of violence, however, is simply unacceptable. It is undermining the very basis for peace, the notion that Palestinians and Israelis can trust each other and live together. In 1993, a key principle of reconciliation was that the Palestinian leadership renounced violence as a means of achieving their political aims. The last few weeks have proven that the Palestinians have not lived up to this commitment. At Camp David, the Government of Israel and Prime Minister Barak made sweeping proposals that moved the two sides closer than they have ever been in reaching a historic agreement ending the Israeli Palestinian violence. Instead of making a counterproposal to this important move, the Palestinian side has allowed and even promoted, violence on a huge scale. I can only conclude that the Palestinians have decided that they need to resort to violence in order to create more pressure on Israel to make further concessions.”