World

PETERS' PERSPECTIVES

Impressions of Israel from page 26

Iran—a

regime that threatens to wipe
Israel off the map and wishes death
to America—to possess or proliferate
nuclear weapons.

Q. What was the most com-
pelling moment?
A. I was most struck by our visit to
Sderot. After looking over the border
into Gaza, we visited an armor-shield-
ed playground. As a parent, it was dif-
ficult seeing young, innocent children
having to play on slides and swings
encased in a facility constructed with
thick reinforced concrete, to know that
this is the only safe place for children
to play because if they were outside
they would only have eight to 13 sec-
onds to find shelter in case of a rocket
attack.
We met with Tamara, a mother who
has two young children, one of whom
is autistic. She lives in fear every day
for her children's safety and told me
that most of the children in Sderot
suffer from post-traumatic stress dis-
order because of the rocket attacks.
These children — and all children
anywhere in the world — deserve bet-
ter. Parents should not have to worry
that their children, laughing and play-
ing one minute might not make it to
an underground shelter after hearing
sirens seconds later.
Seeing this playground reinforced
for me our need to support Israel and
to eradicate terror and the culture
that breeds it, especially in Gaza. It
strengthened my resolve to support
measures like House Concurrent
Resolution 29, legislation I cospon-
sored to ensure that U.S. and U.N.
funds do not end up in the hands of
Hamas terrorists. We need to make
certain that humanitarian aid is not
used to encourage violence and breed
hatred.

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28

September 24 • 2009

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Q. What angered you most?
A. I was angry to see the textbooks
used in Palestinian schools that bias
children's views and attempt to rewrite
history in the region. Many of these
books are sheer propaganda, teaching
mistrust by reinforcing historic false-
hoods denying the Jewish connection
to the land of Israel.
I even saw a map in the West Bank
that did not include the State of Israel.
This angers me because it is a funda-
mental obstacle to peace if Palestinian
leaders cannot recognize Israel's exis-
tence and, worse yet, teach anti-Israeli
sentiment to their children so that
future generations harbor falsehoods,
hate and prejudice.

Q. Any other thoughts?
A. My time in the West Bank pro-
vided me with greater perspective of
how the settlement issue is affecting
the everyday lives of Israeli citizens.
The time I spent with Jewish families
reinforced the need for us to support
the concept of natural and organic
growth. If families have children, they
should be allowed to build an addition
to their house. When those children
grow up and have homes of their own,
they should be able to live nearby their
relatives. Grandchildren should not be
forced to live away from their grand-
parents.
Settlement construction is a final-
status matter to be discussed by the
Israeli government and Palestinian
Authority officials. Until the parties
resolve those issues I will support
Israelis having the right to build in the
case of natural and organic growth. No
person, Jewish or otherwise, should be
penalized for the birth of a child. As a
father, I know that there is no greater
blessing.

Q. You recently signed a
letter to Saudi's Abdullah
enlisting his leadership
to press the Arab world
into normalizing relations
with Israel. And yet, the
response from the Kingdom,
from the Palestinian
Authority and the rest
of the Arab world — with
the possible exception of
Bahrain — seems to be that
instead of yielding, the
Arab states are digging in
to isolate and choke Israel
even more while expecting
Israel to cede land, cede
control of Jerusalem, basi-
cally cede its very exis-
tence.
A. I received a response from the
Saudi Embassy to that letter and I
found it wholly unacceptable. In its
response, the Saudi government — a
government that claims to be moder-
ate and interested in brokering a peace
agreement — laid all of the fault for the
Arab-Israeli conflict at the feet of Israel.
This is exactly why I and other
members of Congress must continue
our steadfast support for Israel. There
are hostile and undemocratic regimes
in the region and throughout the
world that would like to isolate Israel.
I will not yield in my support for the
State of Israel, a country which reflects
our ideals and values, a lonely democ-
racy in a hostile part of the world. I