IV

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 133

Expressing the sense of Congress relating to remarks by the President of

Syria concerning Israel.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 15, 2001

Mr. FLAKE (for himself, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. CANTOR, and Mr. WEXLER) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the

Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress relating to remarks by

the President of Syria concerning Israel.

Whereas on March 27, 2001, at the first regular Arab summit gathering in more than 10 years, President Bashar

al-Assad used his speech to lash out at Israel;

Whereas on March 28, 2001, the New York Times reported,

‘‘In electing Mr. Sharon to be their leader, President

Assad said, Israelis had chosen a man who hated anything to do with Arabs and had dedicated his career to

killing them.’’;

Whereas President Assad additionally said, ‘‘We say that the

head of the government is a racist, it’s a racist government, a racist army and security force,’’ he said, adding
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•HCON 133 IH

that by extension, ‘‘It is a racist society and it is even

more racist than the Nazis.’’;

Whereas on March 28, 2001, State Department spokesman

Richard Boucher described President Assad’s remarks as,

‘‘absolutely wrong . . . totally unacceptable and inappropriate.’’;

Whereas on March 29, 2001, the Bush administration’s top

Middle East diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State Edward Walker, responding to Assad’s remarks stated, ‘‘His

statement at the Arab League was unacceptable, particularly his reference to Zionism as racism.’’;

Whereas on May 5, 2001, in his welcoming speech to Pope

John Paul II, upon the Pope’s arrival in Damascus,

President Assad said, ‘‘They, Israelis, try to kill all the

principles of divine faiths with the same mentality of betraying Jesus Christ and torturing Him, and in the same

way that they tried to commit treachery against Prophet

Mohammad.’’;

Whereas on May 6, 2001, at the Umayyad Mosque, Muhammad Ziyadah, Syria’s minister of religious affairs, said,

‘‘We must be fully aware of what the enemies of God and

malicious Zionism conspire to commit against Christianity and Islam.’’;

Whereas on May 7, 2001, State Department spokesman

Richard Boucher condemned President Assad’s remarks,

‘‘Our view is that these comments are as regrettable as

they are unacceptable. There’s no place from anyone or

from any side for statements that inflame religious passions and hatred.’’; and

Whereas it is only through constructive diplomacy, and not

through hateful, counterproductive speech, that peace can
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possibly be achieved in the Middle East: Now, therefore,

be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That, the Congress—

3 (1) condemns Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

4 for his inflammatory remarks on March 27, 2001,

5 and May 5, 2001;

6 (2) expresses its solidarity with the state and

7 people of Israel at this time of crisis;

8 (3) calls upon President Assad and the Syrian

9 Government to refrain from any future inflam10 matory remarks;

11 (4) commends the Administration for its swift

12 response to President Assad’s remarks; and

13 (5) urges the Administration to emphasize to

14 Syrian Government officials the concerns of the

15 United States about the negative impact such re16 marks make on Middle East peace negotiations.

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