Whereas Hezbollah is a
Lebanon-based radical organization with terrorist cells based in Europe,
Africa, North America, South America, Asia, and elsewhere, receiving financial,
training, weapons, and political and organizational aid from Iran and
Syria;
Whereas Hezbollah has led a
23-year global campaign of terror targeting United States, German, French,
British, Italian, Israeli, Kuwaiti, Saudi Arabian, Argentinean, Thai,
Singaporean, and Russian civilians, among others;
Whereas former Director of
Central Intelligence George Tenet called Hezbollah an organization with
the capability and worldwide presence [equal to] al Queda, equal if not far
more [of a] capable organization . . . [t]hey’re a notch above in many respects
. . . which puts them in a state sponsored category with a potential for
lethality that's quite great
;
Whereas Hezbollah has been
suspected of numerous terrorist acts against United States citizens, including
the suicide truck bombing of the United States Embassy and Marine Barracks in
Beirut, Lebanon, in October 1983, and the Embassy annex in Beirut in September
1984;
Whereas the French unit of
the Multinational Force in Beirut was also targeted in the attack of October
1983, in which 241 United States soldiers and 58 French paratroopers were
killed;
Whereas Hezbollah has
attacked Israeli and Jewish targets in South America in the mid-1990s,
including the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in March 1992, and
the AMIA Jewish Cultural Center in Buenos Aires in July 1994;
Whereas Hezbollah has claimed
responsibility for kidnappings of United States and Israeli civilians and
French, British, German, and Russian diplomats, among others;
Whereas even after the
Government of Israel’s complied with United Nations Security Council Resolution
425 (March 19, 1978) by withdrawing from Lebanon, Hezbollah has continued to
carry out attacks against Israel and its citizens;
Whereas Hezbollah has
expanded its operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, providing training,
financing, and weapons to Palestinian terrorist organizations on the European
Union terrorist list, including the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Hamas, the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine;
Whereas in 2004, Hezbollah
instigated, financed, or played a role in implementing a significant number of
Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israeli targets;
Whereas the European Union
agreed by consensus to classify Hamas as a terrorist organization for purposes
of prohibiting funding from the European Union to Hamas;
Whereas the Syria
Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 2151
note) urges the Government of Lebanon to assert the sovereignty of the Lebanese
state over all of its territory and to evict all terrorist and foreign forces
from southern Lebanon, including Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary
Guards;
Whereas, although the
European Union has included Imad Fayiz Mughniyah, a key operations and
intelligence officer of Hezbollah, on its terrorist list, it has not included
his organization on the list;
Whereas the United States,
Canada, and Australia have all classified Hezbollah as a terrorist organization
and the United Kingdom has placed the Hezbollah External Security Organization
on its terrorist list;
Whereas leaders of Hezbollah
have made statements denouncing any distinction between its political
and military
operations, such as Hezbollah’s representative in the
Lebanese Parliament, Mohammad Raad, who stated in 2001, that Hezbollah
is a military resistance party, and it is our task to fight the occupation of
our land. . . . There is no separation between politics and
resistance.
;
Whereas in a book recently
published by the deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah, Sheikh Naim Qassem,
entitled Hezbollah—the Approach, the Experience, the Future
,
Qassem writes Hezbollah is a jihad organization whose aim, first and
foremost, is jihad against the Zionist enemy, while the political, pure and
sensible effort can serve as a prop and a means of support for
jihad
;
Whereas United Nations
Security Council resolution 1559 (September 2, 2004), jointly sponsored by the
United States and France, calls upon all remaining foreign forces to withdraw
from Lebanon and for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and
non-Lebanese militias;
Whereas in December 2004, the
Department of State placed Al-Manar, Hezbollah's satellite television network,
on the Terrorist Exclusion List, and in December 2004, the French Council of
State banned the broadcasting of Al-Manar in France;
Whereas France, Germany, and
Great Britain, with the support of the High Representative of the European
Union, have created a working group with Iran to discuss regional security
concerns, including the influence of terror perpetuated by Hezbollah and other
extremist organizations; and
Whereas cooperation between
the United States and the European Union regarding efforts to combat
international terrorism is essential to the promotion of global security and
peace: Now, therefore, be it
That the Senate—
(1)
urges the European Union to
classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization for purposes of prohibiting
funding from the European Union to Hezbollah and recognizing it as a threat to
international security;
(2)
condemns the continuous
terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hezbollah;
(3)
condemns Hezbollah's
continuous support of Palestinian terrorist organizations on the European Union
terrorist list, such as the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Hamas, the Palestinian
Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine;
and
(4)
calls on Hezbollah to disarm
and disband its militias in Lebanon, as called for in United Nations Security
Council resolution 1559 (September 2, 2004).