[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 302 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 302

    Expressing the sense of the Senate in support of Israel and in 
              condemnation of Palestinian terror attacks.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 3, 2015

  Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Ms. Ayotte, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Graham, Mr. 
Bennet, Mr. Kirk, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Cornyn, Mrs. 
Gillibrand, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Toomey, Mr. Portman, and Mr. 
 Heller) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing the sense of the Senate in support of Israel and in 
              condemnation of Palestinian terror attacks.

Whereas Israel is a democratic ally and major strategic partner of the United 
        States, as codified by the United States-Israel Strategic Partnership 
        Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-296), and cooperation between Israel and the 
        United States continues to increase in importance with a swiftly 
        shifting security situation in the Middle East and North Africa;
Whereas Jerusalem is an undivided city, eternal capital of Israel, holiest city 
        for the Jewish people, central to the worship of three monotheistic 
        religions, and unique in the Middle East region as a city of religious 
        tolerance where Israel guarantees access, security, and respect for the 
        three monotheistic religions to worship in peace at holy sites;
Whereas, upon Israel securing control of Jerusalem in 1967, it has maintained a 
        policy of keeping the Haram Al Sharif specifically open for Muslim 
        prayer, welcoming over 3,500,000 regular worshipers annually;
Whereas the Government of Israel upholds the 1994 Treaty of Peace Between the 
        State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, which states in 
        Article Nine that each party ``will provide freedom of access to places 
        of religious and historical significance,'' as well as ``act together to 
        promote interfaith relations among the three monotheistic religions, 
        with the aim of working toward religious understanding, moral 
        commitment, freedom of religious worship, and tolerance and peace'';
Whereas Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), 
        committed in his exchange of letters with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak 
        Rabin on September 9, 1993, that ``the PLO renounces the use of 
        terrorism and other acts of violence and will assume responsibility over 
        all PLO elements and personnel in order to assure their compliance,'' 
        and under the subsequent 1995 Oslo II Accord, the Palestinians pledged 
        to ``abstain from incitement, including hostile propaganda . . . [and 
        to] take legal measures to prevent such incitement by any organizations, 
        groups or individuals within their jurisdiction'';
Whereas the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, wrongly 
        announced during the tenth anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death in 
        November 2014 that Israel has no claim to Jerusalem, that the Temple 
        Mount will not be allowed to be ``contaminated'' by Jews, and that 
        Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount would lead to a ``devastating 
        religious war'';
Whereas President Abbas falsely claimed during his address to the United Nations 
        General Assembly in September 2015 that the Government of Israel has 
        used ``brutal force to impose its plans to undermine the Islamic and 
        Christian sanctities in Jerusalem'' and announced that the Palestinian 
        Authority is no longer bound by the Oslo Accords;
Whereas Israel has in recent weeks been subjected to an alarming wave of 
        terrorism directed against innocent civilians by Palestinians armed with 
        knives, meat cleavers, guns, and cars;
Whereas there have been approximately 69 such attacks since the beginning of 
        October 2015, leaving 11 Israelis dead and another 145 wounded;
Whereas United States citizens have lost their lives as a result of these 
        terrorist attacks, including Richard Lakin and Eitam Henkin;
Whereas these random, gruesome attacks are intended to instill a sense of fear 
        among the people of Israel leading their normal lives, and also 
        destabilize security for both Palestinians and Israelis;
Whereas Israel, Jordan, and the United States have reached an agreement 
        regarding the installation of surveillance cameras on the Temple Mount 
        in accordance with the respective responsibilities of the Israeli 
        authorities and the Jordanian Waqf;
Whereas President Abbas has helped to fuel the current violence in recent weeks 
        by falsely casting Israel as the brutal aggressor in multiple public 
        speeches, refusing to condemn the lethal terror attacks, and failing to 
        acknowledge Israel's right to self-defense;
Whereas President Abbas' statements are part of a pattern of incitement among 
        Palestinian leaders that includes denial of the Jewish heritage of 
        Jerusalem, paying monthly salaries to the families of imprisoned 
        Palestinian terrorists, praising slain terrorists as martyrs, demonizing 
        Jews in official Palestinian Authority media, and encouraging attacks on 
        social media; and
Whereas Palestinian leaders have repeatedly threatened to suspend cooperation 
        and further encouraged violence by blaming Israel for killing 
        Palestinian perpetrators of these heinous crimes: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) condemns these brutal attacks in the harshest terms 
        possible;
            (2) welcomes Israel's commitment to the continued 
        maintenance of the status quo on the Temple Mount;
            (3) urges the President and the international community to 
        join in forcefully condemning these Palestinian terror attacks;
            (4) clarifies that there is no justification for these 
        types of attacks and that there is a direct correlation between 
        the recent upsurge in violence and Arab incitement regarding 
        the Temple Mount;
            (5) stands with the people of Israel during these difficult 
        days;
            (6) supports Israel's right to self-defense and rejects any 
        suggestion of the moral equivalence of Israeli security 
        personnel protecting its citizens from senseless violence and 
        terrorists intent to deliberately take innocent lives;
            (7) supports the agreement reached to install surveillance 
        cameras on the Temple Mount according to the arrangements to be 
        determined between the parties;
            (8) calls upon President Abbas to stop all incitement by 
        Palestinian officials and by Palestinian media, to strongly and 
        unequivocally demand an end to the violence, and to take all 
        steps necessary to halt these attacks;
            (9) expresses support and admiration for individuals and 
        organizations working to encourage cooperation between Israelis 
        and Palestinians;
            (10) encourages President Abbas to continue strengthening 
        and maintaining security cooperation with Israel;
            (11) reiterates that Palestinian political goals will never 
        be achieved through violence; and
            (12) calls on all parties to return to the negotiating 
        table immediately and without preconditions, as direct 
        discussions remain the best avenue to ending the Israeli-
        Palestinian conflict.
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