Kerry on Israel

I wouldn't be a good American citizen if I decided who to vote president for based soley on what I think might possibly perhaps be the best choice where Israel is concerned. It is therefore difficult to comprehend when religious Jews say to me that they are voting for Bush because "he is great for Israel." When I ask how, there isn't much substance in response other than "he just is." If there was any doubt in anyones mind, what John Kerry's record on Israel is (not to mention his 100% pro Israel voting record all his years in the senate), here is an actual speech given by Mr. Kerry on the house floor in 2002 way before he was even a viable candidate for the presidency. If i didn't see the byline, I would think some of these quotes came straight out of an Avi Weiss / Curtis Slewa Dag Hammerskold rally.

"Mr. President, I am proud to be a cosponsor of the resolution introduced by Senators Lieberman and Smith demonstrating our continued solidarity with our ally, Israel, in its efforts to defend itself against terrorism. Suicide bombings and the taking of lives of innocent civilians are terrorist acts by anyone's definition. No moral or political justification exists for the bombing of civilians on buses or in restaurants or at religious celebrations. This resolution makes it clear that we oppose these acts of terrorism and that we recognize and support Israel's right to defend itself against them...
And it is equally important that those Arab states who say they want to work with us in the war on terrorism do all that they can to help bring about an end to all forms of terrorism. They must make it clear that like us, they too oppose suicide bombings and that they expect the leadership of the Palestinian authority to live up to its responsibility to bring them to a halt...
Israel exercised its legitimate right to self-defense when it used force to root out and break up the terrorist networks threatening its own civilians."
- United States Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) on the house floor Thursday, May 2, 2002

Memo to Jay Footlik - Where the heck are you???