On July 29, 2014 Senator Harry Reid asked for and was granted permission to address the United States Senate regarding Israel’s right to self defense against the ultra violent extremist terrorist organization Hamas:
“Mr. President, this resolution is sponsored by me, the Republican leader, Senator Menendez, Senator Corker, and others.
I want the record to reflect that Senator McConnell and I have talked about this personally and we have agreed, without any hesitation, about this legislation.
I have always been a supporter of the United Nations my whole career.
What I saw last week disgusted me. As the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva voted to adopt a resolution accusing Israel of human rights violations in the ongoing Gaza conflict, the resolution was so incredibly one-sided and anti-Israel biased that it makes zero–none–mention of Hamas and the atrocities Hamas has committed by indiscriminately barraging Israel and using Palestinian civilians as human shields.
Hamas perpetrated this conflict. They wantonly fire rockets, and they don’t care where the rockets go. Hamas has fired almost 3,000 missiles during a 3-week conflict.
In fact, the very day the U.N. Human Rights Council exonerated Hamas, it fired dozens of rockets into Israel the same day.
These aren’t firecrackers. These are very violent, powerful weapons. They have a number of rockets. It is estimated they have 10,000 of them.
They have something called WS-1E. It is a Chinese rocket, but they got the blueprints–Iran did from the Chinese–and, of course, they shipped these surreptitiously into Gaza. They will travel some 30 miles and they carry about 40 pounds of explosives.
They have another one called the Fajr-5. This is an Iranian rocket. It is the most prestigious weapon of Hamas.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard gave Hamas the technology to manufacture those. They carry a warhead of 400 pounds. They will travel about 55 miles. I repeat, these aren’t firecrackers.
They have another missile in their arsenal. It is called a Khaibar M-302. It is a Syrian-made missile with a range of some 12 miles. They carry a 300-pound warhead and, of course, it goes far enough that they believe that with the Fajr and this one, Tel Aviv is within their sights.
The one they have the most of is called the Qassam-1 manufactured in Gaza, with no guidance system, a 3-mile distance, and a 10-pound warhead; the Qassam-2 has 9-mile distance and a 20-pound warhead.
They have something called a Grads. They have lots of weapons–lots of them–and they indiscriminately fire into Israel. These aren’t grenade launchers; these are missiles, huge weapons. These rockets are professionally engineered from Iran, Syria, and other countries. They are smuggled into Gaza. They manufacture a few of their own, as I have indicated. These are serious weapons of war.
Hamas also continues to try to construct and use its sophisticated tunnels into Israel, which as one Member of Hamas recently bragged, allow Hamas fighters to invade Israel and kill Israelis.
Hamas’s responsibility in the Gaza clash is a fact, but the U.N. Human Rights Council didn’t make a single mention of this terrorist organization”, said Reid.
Source: Congressional Record http://thomas.loc.gov/
See related videos; Hamas using human shields http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Oqo_wmuGo
See video: 60 seconds on how Hamas uses human beings as shields in war http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcrWy3PT6zc
Today Harry Reid is the Majority Leader in the U.S. Senate, as such he is one of the most powerful and influential member of Congress.