Ritchie Torres: “Earlier in the week, a public official posted on Twitter the following image of a map where the State of Israel is…”

“Earlier in the week, a public official posted on Twitter the following image of a map where the State of Israel is nowhere to be found. There is nothing accidental about the omission. Wiping Israel off the map is the objective of the BDS movement. Notice the image includes flowers to symbolize peace, as though peace meant the destruction of Israel itself. When most Americans speak of peace, we mean the peaceful coexistence of an Israeli state and Palestinian state, not the existence of one to the exclusion of the other. Most Americans are anguished by the trauma of Israelis seeking refuge in bomb shelters in the face of relentless rocket fire. And most Americans are anguished by the deep suffering and death toll of Palestinians who live under the repressive rule of Hamas and who have fallen victim to the wretchedness of war. The rapid-fire rhetoric that we have seen directed at Israel is so hyperbolic, so vitriolic, that it inflames rather than informs. It delegitimizes Israel rather than deescalates the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Those propagating hate are not part of the solution, but part of the problem. Hate never brings peace. It never has. It never will. You can either promote hate or you can promote peace, but you cannot advance both. Let us not be fooled by the pretense of peace. Let us find the wisdom to tell the difference between genuine peace and hate hidden under the guise of peace. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.…”