House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today during a press conference at Jewish Vocational Service that she respects Israel’s right to defend itself.
“Of course we regret the loss of life and recognize — as we would want to protect our people — Israel’s right to defend its people,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi was at JVS in San Francisco to learn about a job training program that received federal stimulus funds and also to talk about Congress’ job recovery efforts. After a reporter asked her about Gaza and the flotilla raid, she pointed out that June 4 was the 21st anniversary of Tiananmen Square. After decades of pressuring the U.N. Human Rights Council to do something about Tiananmen Square, they have not, she said.
“Yet in a matter of hours, the Human Rights Council was asking for an independent international probe on the flotilla raid,” Pelosi said. “Something is not in balance … It’s bothersome to me that the United Nations would act in the way it did toward Israel when for 21 years I can’t get them to do anything about Tiananmen Square.”
Ultimately, Pelosi said the flotilla raid and subsequent reaction to it is proof that the Middle East desperately needs a solution to the conflict that has plagued the region for so long.
“All of this points to the need for a resolution of the conflict in the Middle East and a two-state solution to secure a Jewish democratic state,” she said.