NJ Rep. Chris Smith to Obama: Israel Deserves Unequivocal, Robust, and Vigorous Support

5
>>Follow Matzav On Whatsapp!<<

chris-smith[Video below.] The following statement was made yesterday by Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey, whose district includes Lakewood, NJ. A video of his remarks can be found below. The following is a transcript:

Madam Speaker, I rise today to call on the president to give Israel the unequivocal, robust, and vigorous support it deserves. Since the May 31st Gaza flotilla incident, Israel has been under media attack, and even in the past few days, many articles in major international newspapers take a grossly anti-Israeli slant. Make no mistake about it, the purpose of the flotilla was to provoke an incident, thereby to set up an international media campaign against Israel.

The flotilla was an aggressive and hypocritical attempt to manipulate world public opinion and isolate Israel. Thankfully
it has not worked in the United States, where Rasmussen polling shows that, despite the anti-Israel bias of so much media coverage,
less than 20% of Americans think that the Israeli government is to blame for the deaths that resulted from the incident.

Madam Speaker, the facts on the incident were clear within 48 hours, and it’s high time our government sent a much more
powerful and unambiguous message: that the United States fully supports Israel’s action to intercept the flotilla. The
administration should emphasize that Israel’s action was legal, that it was right, and that the U.S. stands with Israel, without
any ‘ifs,’ or ‘buts,’ or ‘so long as,’ or any other qualifiers.

It’s a matter of record that on May 25th the Israeli government offered to offload, at its port of Ashdod, the humanitarian aid the flotilla carried, and to have UN personnel deliver the aid to Gaza. On that same day, the Israeli government also stated it would not permit the flotilla to break its blockade of Gaza-which is not only legal under international law, but, I believe, it is also just, given the rampant maritime arms smuggling, the 7,000 rocket attacks Hamas has launched on Israel from Gaza since 2005, and the unlimited aid that can flow to Gaza through proper checkpoints.

Madam Speaker, the Turkish group that organized the flotilla has documented ties to Hamas, which the State Department has determined is a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Radicals with ties to other terrorist groups were aboard the ships. The flotilla launch was marked by violent, anti- Semitic rallies. Flotilla participants spoke to Al-Jazeera of martyrdom, and sang intifada
songs. All this shows the grotesque hypocrisy of those who would portray the flotilla’s participants as harmless peace
activists.

Madam Speaker, the response of the Israeli government was extraordinarily restrained and responsible. Israeli troops boarded the ships in the flotilla carrying paint-ball rifles-but when the crew beat them with iron rods, stabbed and lynched them, and threw one of them off the deck, they got the order to defend themselves with their sidearms. This too was right. Every government permits its troops to defend themselves when they are attacked.

I call on President Obama to give Israel our government’s full support and to make unmistakably clear our government’s
position that Israel, in its response to the Gaza flotilla, was fully in the right. Whether or not the Israeli government decides to
adjust the blockade of Gaza, our government must make it perfectly clear to all that we will never permit an anti-Israel media
campaign to isolate America’s most faithful friend in the Middle East.

Click below to watch a video of the remarks:

[media id=804 width=400 height=300]

{Noam Amdurski-Matzav.com Newscenter}


5 COMMENTS

  1. I did write to him. Here is what I wrote: Thank you for standing up for Israel in the Flotilla Affair. Any fair-minded person knows that Israel is in the right, and that Israel is one of USA’s monst important allies-and the most important ally in the Mideast. I am proud to say that I have voted for you each election since I moved to NJ in 1990, and will continue to do so. Congressman Smith-good people like you make me proud to be an American

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here