Commending President Obama for calling upon Israel to freeze construction of illegal
settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem. (Introduced in
House)
HRES _____
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. ____
Commending President Obama for calling upon Israel to freeze construction of illegal
settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September ___, 2009
Mr./Ms. ___ (for himself/herself, _____) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
RESOLUTION
Commending President Obama for calling upon Israel to freeze construction of illegal
settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Whereas Israel has held the Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem in belligerent
military occupation since June 1967;
Whereas Israel, as the Occupying Power, has internationally-binding obligations to
Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem living as protected persons under
military occupation, according to the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of
Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention);
Whereas both Israel and the United States are High Contracting Parties to the Fourth
Geneva Convention;
Whereas Article 1 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states “The High Contracting Parties
undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all
circumstances.”;
Whereas Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that “The Occupying Power
shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it
occupies.”;
Whereas Article 1 of UN Security Council Resolution 446, adopted March 22, 1979,
“Determines that the policy and practices of Israel in establishing settlements in the
Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967 have no legal validity and
constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in
the Middle East;”
Whereas Article 3 of UN Security Council Resolution 452, adopted November 2, 1979,
“Calls upon the Government and people of Israel to cease, on an urgent basis, the
establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab territories occupied
since 1967, including Jerusalem;”
Whereas Article 5 of UN Security Council Resolution 465, adopted on March 1, 1980,
“Determines that all measures taken by Israel to change the physical character,
demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the Palestinian and other
Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, or any part thereof, have no
legal validity and that Israel's policy and practices of settling parts of its population and
new immigrants in those territories constitute a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and also
constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in
the Middle East;” and whereas Article 7 of the above-cited resolution “Calls upon all
States not to provide Israel with any assistance to be used specifically in connexion with
settlements in the occupied territories;”
Whereas Article 6 of UN Security Council Resolution 471, adopted on June 5, 1980,
“Reaffirms the overriding necessity to end the prolonged occupation of Arab territories
occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem;”
Whereas a 1979 U.S. Department of State legal opinion found that Israel’s establishment
of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories "is inconsistent with international
law.";
Whereas in Phase I of “A Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State
Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” issued by the U.S. Department of State on
April 30, 2003, the United States recommended that the “GOI [Government of Israel]
immediately dismantles settlement outposts erected since March 2001” and that
“Consistent with the Mitchell Report, GOI freezes all settlement activity (including
natural growth of settlements).”;
Whereas on November 27, 2007, President George W. Bush read a joint understanding at
the Annapolis Conference in which Israel and the Palestinian Authority committed to
“immediately implement their respective obligations under the performance-based road
map to a permanent two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict”;
Whereas on May 27, 2009 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated “With respect to
settlements, the President was very clear when Prime Minister Netanyahu was here. He
wants to see a stop to settlements – not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth
exceptions. We think it is in the best interests of the effort that we are engaged in that
settlement expansion cease. That is our position. That is what we have communicated
very clearly, not only to the Israelis but to the Palestinians and others. And we intend to
press that point.”;
Whereas on June 4, 2009 President Barack Obama stated in Cairo, Egypt that “The
United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This
construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is
time for these settlements to stop.”;
Whereas, as of 2007, Israel had illegally transferred 466,170 of its citizens to settlements
in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem; [Source:
http://fmep.org/settlement_info/settlement-info-and-tables/stats-data/comprehensivesettlement-population-1972-2006]
Whereas as recently as July 19, 2009, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
reaffirmed Israel’s intention to proceed with the expansion of illegal settlements in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories by establishing a new 20-unit settlement housing
complex in East Jerusalem;
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives-(1) commends the efforts of President Barack Obama, Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, and Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George
Mitchell to urge Israel to freeze settlement construction, including socalled “natural growth” ;
(2) finds that Israel’s settlements in the Occupied Palestinians Territories
of the West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegal under the Fourth
Geneva Convention;
(3) urges Israel to comply unconditionally with its obligations agreed to as
part of the “road map” and Annapolis Conference to freeze all
settlement activity;
(4) urges Israel to implement unconditionally the terms of United Nations
Security Council Resolutions 446, 452, 465, and 471.
Attest:
Clerk.