Mr. President, much has been said about the terrorist group ISIS in recent days -- and rightfully so. ISIS is a vile mob of fanatics whose butchery knows no bounds. I'm confident that President Obama's targeted action will degrade and destroy this menace. Once again, I'm not talking about the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. I'm talking about Hamas. Hamas and ISIS are both vicious, corrupt, hateful, evil groups. And both are extreme. Yet, for some reason, Hamas' brutality doesn't elicit the same horror from the international community as ISIS. How can that be? One of the few differences between these two terrorist organizations is that Hamas has a narrow, ghastly focus -- the destruction of Israel. Consider its actions over the past several months: Hamas raided its own limited supplies for housing and general infrastructure, intended to repair the destruction that occurred during the last conflict they initiated. But Hamas instead used the stolen materials to build tunnels to hide and infiltrate Israel -- infiltrating to kill, maim, kidnap and murder the innocent. These depraved agitators launched thousands of rockets into Israel, hoping to inflict death and destruction. Their rockets had no aiming capabilities -- they fired indiscriminately, not caring whether they hit a child, a family or anyone. It begs the question: without specific targets, why fire the rockets into Israel? We know why -- provocation. Hamas knew Israel would be forced to defend itself. And of course, that's what the Israelis did. Israel responded as any nation would to such attacks, by trying to protect its people. And what did Hamas do? It had such little regard for the people of Gaza that they used their own as human shields. Because you see, Mr. President, Hamas used Palestinians as shields to carry out a sinister ploy, hoping they and their apologists could dupe the world into blaming Israel. As columnist David Brooks said two months ago on PBS' NewsHour, referring to Hamas: "It's a rare moment in military history where a party rejects a cease-fire in order to get more of their own people killed. But that's part of the strategy." When Hamas wasn't scheming for more Palestinian fatalities to pin on Israel, it was carrying out public executions of Gaza residents. Here is an article from The Wall Street Journal, dated August 22nd: "Hamas executed 18 people on Friday, some of them in the streets of Gaza City in the middle of the day, after accusing them of collaborating with Israel, according to media linked to the Islamist group, which rules the Gaza Strip. "In one instance, about 20 militants dressed in black and with their faces covered brought six of the condemned men, their heads covered with cloth bags, to an alley near the Great Omari Mosque in Gaza City after midday prayers, witnesses said. A militant shot the men in the head one at a time with a pistol, after which he sprayed them with automatic rifle fire, the witnesses said. The bodies were loaded into government ambulances and taken away." These are the fanatics that Israel faces every day -- a terrorist organization as violent and extreme as any other on the face of this planet. There are those who refuse to condemn Hamas as they would ISIS. The hypocrisy is stunning. Those who reject tyranny, corruption and terrorism should denounce Hamas. All those who honor peace and sovereignty should stand for Israel. I stand with Israel. The United States of America stands with Israel. President Barack Obama and Congress continue to affirm America's unshakeable bond with Israel, and our strong support for the security and safety of its people. For my part, I will continue to do all I can to support Israel's right to self-defense. I expect that my colleagues will join me in always supporting the State of Israel and condemning Hamas for the terrorist organization that it is.
But there is another evil organization in the world today that, like ISIS, has zero regard for humanity; they are kidnappers and executioners; they are violent extremists who murder innocent civilians; they are terrorists who cower behind women and children, using them as human shields; they are saboteurs of peace and provocateurs of bloody conflict who will not stop until their enemies are annihilated.
Full text of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's speech
מערכת ישראל היום
מערכת "ישראל היום“ מפיקה ומעדכנת תכנים חדשותיים, מבזקים ופרשנויות לאורך כל שעות היממה. התוכן נערך בקפדנות, נבדק עובדתית ומוגש לציבור מתוך האמונה שהקוראים ראויים לעיתונות טובה יותר - אמינה, אובייקטיבית ועניינית.
