[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 9, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4752-S4753]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 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

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

                              S. Res. 548

       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

[[Page S4753]]

     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.

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