[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1127 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                         June 18, 2008.
Whereas a free press and the right of free expression are both fundamental, 
        universal human rights and are essential to making governments 
        accountable to the people from whom their powers are derived;
Whereas the nations of the Middle East, with Israel being the sole exception, 
        suffer profound deficits when compared to the global community with 
        regard to both measures of human development and measures of human 
        freedom and dignity;
Whereas the Middle East is a region of vital national security interest to the 
        United States and the twin deficits in human development and human 
        freedom negatively affect United States efforts to help resolve the 
        Arab-Israeli conflict and to stabilize the region for the benefit of 
        all;
Whereas overt censorship, intimidation, harassment through the civil courts, 
        assaults by government agents on journalists and political activists, 
        arbitrary press, and emergency laws, and extra-legal restrictions on the 
        kinds of topics which may be addressed are endemic practices in the 
        Middle East, though varying in degree and extent in the different Arab 
        countries;
Whereas many of the countries engaged most actively in efforts to stifle public 
        debate, suppress political discussion, and impose capricious limits on 
        thought and expression are among the largest recipients of United States 
        foreign assistance, potentially giving the mistaken impression that the 
        United States endorses or condones the restrictive policies of the 
        recipient countries;
Whereas Holocaust denial regularly appears throughout the Middle East in 
        speeches and pronouncements by public figures, in articles and columns 
        by journalists and in the resolutions of professional organizations;
Whereas continued anti-Semitic incitement invites violent action and creates an 
        environment conducive to, and accepting of, terrorism;
Whereas the extensive restrictions on speech and expression in the Arab world 
        are uniquely counterposed by the space left open by Arab governments for 
        grotesque anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial, incitement to violence, and 
        glorification of terrorism;
Whereas the exception from censorship and restrictions on expression for certain 
        kinds of hate speech are not only exploited by government proxies, but 
        often even by Arab governments themselves, including states that 
        nominally prohibit racial, religious, or ethnic hate speech;
Whereas in the Middle East, where the press is generally not free, where there 
        are rules for what can and cannot be said, the persistent promulgation 
        of hate-speech indicates an obvious and dangerous form of state 
        endorsement;
Whereas numerous government-owned, government-sanctioned, or government-
        controlled publishing houses throughout the region promulgate stories of 
        imaginary Israeli massacres, Jewish blood libels, and alleged Israeli 
        medical experiments on Palestinian children, and produce Arabic 
        translations of anti-Semitic tracts such as ``The Protocols of the 
        Elders of Zion'' and ``Mein Kampf''; and
Whereas many of the same Arab governments to which the United States has turned 
        for assistance in ending the Arab-Israeli conflict are themselves 
        responsible for using their government-owned, government-sanctioned, or 
        government-controlled publishing houses and media to engage in anti-
        Semitic incitement to violence and Holocaust denial: Now, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) strongly condemns the endemic restrictions on freedom of the 
        press and expression in the Arab world and the concurrent and widespread 
        presence of anti-Semitic material, Holocaust denial, and incitement to 
        violence in the Arab media and press;
            (2) deplores the methods and practices utilized by the governments 
        in the Middle East to exert control over the press, and on public 
        expression, including--
                    (A) overt censorship;
                    (B) intimidation and harassment of reporters, editors, and 
                publishers by government agents, and through manipulation of the 
                civil courts;
                    (C) assaults by government agents on journalists and 
                political activists;
                    (D) arbitrarily enforced press and emergency laws; and
                    (E) extra-legal restrictions on the kinds of topics which 
                may be addressed either in public or in private;
            (3) expresses deep concern that some Arab governments, including 
        some that are involved in multilateral efforts to resolve the Israeli-
        Palestinian conflict, use their government-owned, government-sanctioned, 
        or government-controlled publishing houses and media to promulgate 
        insidious, incendiary, and poisonous speech regarding Israel and the 
        Jewish people that makes United States efforts to help resolve the Arab-
        Israeli conflict all the more difficult;
            (4) affirms the unshakable belief of the American people in the 
        universal right of all persons to freely and peaceably express 
        themselves, to publish and advocate for their nonviolent beliefs, and to 
        petition their government for redress of their grievances;
            (5) calls on the President to--
                    (A) raise the issue of the lack of media freedom in the 
                Middle East and the proliferation of anti-Semitic incitement in 
                all appropriate bilateral and multilateral fora;
                    (B) take into account the compliance of governments 
                throughout the region with international norms and obligations 
                regarding media freedom and anti-Semitic incitement when 
                determining the provision of United States assistance to those 
                governments; and
                    (C) utilize the existing public diplomacy apparatus, 
                professional development, and democratization programs to focus 
                on the issues of media freedom and anti-Semitic incitement; and
            (6) calls on United States allies and governments throughout the 
        Middle East to publicly repudiate purveyors of anti-Semitic incitement.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.