[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 548 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 548

To express the sense of the Senate that Israel has an undeniable right 
  to self-defense, and to condemn the recent destabilizing actions by 
                extremists aboard the ship Mavi Marmara.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 9, 2010

 Mr. Cornyn submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
To express the sense of the Senate that Israel has an undeniable right 
  to self-defense, and to condemn the recent destabilizing actions by 
                extremists aboard the ship Mavi Marmara.

Whereas the State of Israel, since its founding in 1948, has been a strong and 
        steadfast ally of the United States, standing alone in its commitment to 
        democracy, individual liberty, and free-market principles in the Middle 
        East, a region characterized by instability and violence;
Whereas the special bond between the United States and Israel, forged through 
        common values and mutual interests, must never be broken;
Whereas Israel has an undeniable right to defend itself against any threat to 
        its security, as does every nation;
Whereas Hamas is a terrorist group, formally designated as a Foreign Terrorist 
        Organization by the Secretary of State, and similarly designated by the 
        European Union;
Whereas Hamas is committed to the annihilation of Israel and opposes the 
        peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict;
Whereas Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 through violent means and 
        has maintained control ever since;
Whereas Hamas routinely violates the human rights of the residents of Gaza, 
        including attempting to control and intimidate political rivals through 
        extra-judicial killing, torture, severe beatings, maiming, and arbitrary 
        detentions;
Whereas Hamas continues to hold prisoner Israeli Staff Sergeant Gilad Shalit, 
        who was seized on Israeli soil and has been denied basic rights, 
        including contact with the International Red Cross;
Whereas the military build-up of Hamas has been enabled by the smuggling of arms 
        and other materiel into Gaza;
Whereas the Government of Iran has materially aided and supported Hamas by 
        providing extensive funding, weapons, and training;
Whereas, since 2001, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations have 
        fired more than 10,000 rockets and mortars from Gaza into Israel, 
        killing at least 18 Israelis and wounding dozens more;
Whereas approximately 860,000 Israeli civilians, more than 12 percent of 
        Israel's population, reside within range of rockets fired from Gaza and 
        live in fear of attacks;
Whereas, in 2007, the Government of Israel, out of concern for the safety of its 
        citizens, put in place a legitimate and justified blockade of Gaza, 
        which has been effective in reducing the flow of weapons into Gaza and 
        the firing of rockets from Gaza into southern Israel;
Whereas, at the same time, the Government of Egypt imposed a blockade of Gaza 
        from its land border;
Whereas, according to Michael Oren, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, 
        ``If the sea lanes are open to Hamas in Gaza . . . they will acquire 
        thousands of rockets that will threaten every single citizen in the 
        state of Israel and also kill the peace process. . . . Hamas armed with 
        thousands of rockets not only threatens 7,500,000 Israelis but it's the 
        end of the peace process.'';
Whereas the Israeli blockade has not hindered the transfer of approximately 
        1,000,000 tons of humanitarian supplies into Gaza over the last 18 
        months to aid its 1,500,000 residents;
Whereas, on May 28, 2010, the ``Free Gaza'' flotilla, which included the Mavi 
        Marmara and 5 other ships, departed from a port in Turkey and sailed 
        towards Israel's defensive naval blockade of Gaza;
Whereas the sponsor of the flotilla was a Turkish organization, the Humanitarian 
        Relief Foundation;
Whereas the Humanitarian Relief Foundation has aided al Qaeda in the past, 
        ``basically helping al Qaeda when [Osama] bin Laden started to want to 
        target U.S. soil,'' according to statements by a former French 
        counterterrorism official, in a June 2, 2010, Associated Press 
        interview;
Whereas the Humanitarian Relief Foundation has a clear link to Hamas, according 
        to a 2008 order of the Government of Israel, and the Humanitarian Relief 
        Foundation is a member of the Union for Good, a United States-designated 
        terrorist organization created by Hamas leaders in 2000 to help fund 
        Hamas;
Whereas there were at least 5 active terrorist operatives among the passengers 
        on the Mavi Marmara, with affiliations with terrorist groups such as al 
        Qaeda and Hamas, according to the Israel Defense Forces;
Whereas the flotilla's primary aim was to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, 
        under the guise of delivering humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza;
Whereas, on May 27, 2010, while the flotilla was moving towards Gaza, one of its 
        organizers admitted, ``This mission is not about delivering humanitarian 
        supplies, it's about breaking Israel's siege on 1,500,000 
        Palestinians,'' according to news reports;
Whereas, based on interviews with Mavi Marmara passengers after the incident, 
        the actual intention of passengers on the Mavi Marmara had been to 
        achieve ``martyrdom'' at the hands of the Israel Defense Forces;
Whereas Saleh Al-Azraq, a journalist who was aboard the ship, recounted that, 
        ``The moment the ship set sail, the cries of `Allahu Akbar' began . . . 
        It made you feel as if you were going on an Islamic conquest or raid,'' 
        according to an interview recorded on Al-Hiwar TV on June 4, 2010;
Whereas Hussein Orush, a Humanitarian Relief Foundation official, read from the 
        diary of a dead Mavi Marmara passenger: ``The last lines he wrote before 
        the attack were: `Only a short time left before martyrdom. This is the 
        most important stage of my life. Nothing is more beautiful than 
        martyrdom, except for one's love for one's mother. But I don't know what 
        is sweeter--my mother or martyrdom.''', and also stated, ``All the 
        passengers on board the ship were ready for this outcome. Everybody 
        wanted and was ready to become a martyr. . . . Our goal was to reach 
        Gaza or to die trying. All the ship's passengers were ready for this. 
        IHH was ready for this too.'', according to an interview recorded on Al-
        Jazeera TV on June 5, 2010;
Whereas Ali Haider Banjinin, another dead Mavi Marmara passenger, told his 
        family before departing on the flotilla, ``I am going to be a martyr, I 
        dreamed about it,'' according to news reports in Turkey;
Whereas Ali Ekber Yaratilmis, another dead Mavi Marmara passenger, ``always 
        wanted to become a Martyr,'' one of his friends told Al-Hayat Al-Jadida 
        newspaper in an interview on June 3, 2010;
Whereas one female passenger on the deck of the Mavi Marmara stated, ``Right now 
        we face one of two happy endings: either martyrdom or reaching Gaza,'' 
        according to Al Jazeera footage taken prior to the incident;
Whereas the Government of Israel had extended a reasonable offer to transfer the 
        flotilla's humanitarian cargo to Gaza;
Whereas the Mavi Marmara and the other ships of the flotilla ignored repeated 
        Israeli calls to turn around or be peacefully escorted to an Israeli 
        port outside of Gaza;
Whereas, on May 31, 2010, the Israeli Navy intercepted the Mavi Marmara 75 miles 
        west of Haifa, Israel, in an effort to maintain the integrity of the 
        blockade and prevent potential smuggling of arms and other materiel into 
        the hands of Hamas;
Whereas, upon the boarding of the Mavi Marmara by the Israeli Navy, the Mavi 
        Marmara's passengers brutally and violently attacked the members of the 
        Israeli Navy with knives, clubs, pipes, and other weapons, injuring 
        several of them;
Whereas the members of the Israeli Navy, under attack and in grave danger, 
        reacted in self-defense and used lethal force against their attackers on 
        the Mavi Marmara, shooting and killing 9 of them;
Whereas the incident has fomented unwarranted international criticism of Israel 
        and its blockade of Gaza;
Whereas, in the time since the attack, the United Nations has unjustly 
        criticized the actions of the Government of Israel and called for an 
        investigation of such actions; and
Whereas the actions of the United Nations are undermining Israel's inherent 
        right to self-defense, compromising its sovereignty, and helping to 
        legitimize Hamas: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate--
            (1) that Israel has an inherent and undeniable right to 
        defend itself against any threat to the safety of its citizens;
            (2) to reaffirm that the United States stands with Israel 
        in pursuit of shared security goals, including the security of 
        Israel;
            (3) to condemn the violent attack and provocation by 
        extremists aboard the Mavi Marmara, who created a highly 
        destabilizing incident in a region that cannot afford further 
        instability;
            (4) to condemn any future such attempts to break the 
        Israeli blockade of Gaza for the purpose of creating or 
        provoking violent confrontation or otherwise undermining the 
        security of Israel;
            (5) to condemn Hamas for its failure to recognize the right 
        of Israel to exist, its human rights abuses against the 
        residents of Gaza, and its continued rejection of a 
        constructive path to peace for the Israeli and Palestinian 
        people;
            (6) to condemn the Government of Iran for its role, past 
        and present, in directly supporting Hamas and undermining the 
        security of Israel;
            (7) to encourage the Government of Turkey to recognize the 
        importance of continued strong relations with Israel and the 
        necessity of closely scrutinizing organizations with potential 
        ties to terrorist groups; and
            (8) to express profound disappointment with the 
        counterproductive actions of the United Nations regarding this 
        incident.
                                 <all>