III

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 149

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 13, 1996

Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Condemning terror attacks in Israel.

Whereas, on February 25, 1996, two vicious terror attacks in

Jerusalem and Ashkelon killed two American citizens and

25 Israelis, and wounded over 75 more;

Whereas, on February 26, 1996, an Israeli citizen was killed

and 22 Israelis were injured when a terrorist drove a

rental car into a Jerusalem bus stop;
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Whereas, on March 3, 1996, a suicide bus bombing in Jerusalem took the lives of 18 innocent Israelis and other individuals and injured 10 more;

Whereas, on March 4, 1996, yet another heinous explosion by

a suicide bomber in Tel Aviv murdered at least 13 and

wounded 130 more;

Whereas, the Gaza-based Hamas terror group claimed responsibility for the most recent bombings, and the Damascus-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Popular

Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror groups have

claimed responsibility for the majority of terror attacks

since the signing of the Declaration of Principles;

Whereas, these successive incidents represent an unprecedented escalation by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic

Jihad of their terrorist campaign designed to cause maximum carnage against the peaceful civilian population of

Israel, including children, women, and the elderly;

Whereas, these terrorist attacks are aimed not only at innocent Israeli civilians but also at destroying the Middle

East peace process;

Whereas, since the signing of the Declaration of Principles

between Israel and the PLO on September 13, 1993,

nearly 200 people, including 5 American citizens, have

been killed in terrorist acts;

Whereas, the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Palestinian Authority and Yasser Arafat have been ineffective

and unsuccessful in completely rooting out the vicious

terrorist elements from Palestinian controlled areas, calling into question their commitment to the peace process;

Whereas, the vast majority of Palestinian terror suspects

have not been apprehended, or if apprehended, not tried
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or punished, and no terror suspects requested for transfer have been transferred to Israeli authorities by Palestinian authorities in direct contravention of agreements

signed between the PLO and Israel;

Whereas, the Palestinian Authority must now do much more

systematically to end the threat posed by terrorist groups

and take other steps consistent with the Israel-Palestinian Interim Agreement, including the apprehension, trial,

and punishment of those who conduct terrorist acts and

implementation of procedures agreed upon with Israel to

transfer suspected terrorists;

Whereas, the hateful language calling for Israel’s destruction,

that remains an integral part of the Palestinian National

Covenant only serves to incite those opposed to the peace

process;

Whereas, the Palestinian National Covenant has not yet been

amended, despite commitments by the PLO to do so;

Whereas these failures undermine and threaten the peace

process as well as continued United States financial assistance;

Whereas, the Government of Iran continues to provide safe

haven, financial support, and arms to terror groups such

as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, or Hizbollah among others,

and has in no way acted to restrain these groups from

committing acts of terrorism;

Whereas, notwithstanding Syria’s participation in a serious

negotiating process to reach a peace agreement with Israel, Syria continues to provide a safe haven for terrorist

groups opposed to the peace process, permits the arming

of Hizbollah in Lebanon, and has not acted to prevent

these groups from committing acts of terrorism;
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Whereas, failure to act against terrorists by the Palestinian

Authority, Iran, Syria and others only undermines the

credibility of the peace process: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That the Congress—

3 (1) condemns and reviles in the strongest terms

4 the attacks in Jerusalem, Ashkelon, and Tel Aviv;

5 (2) extends condolences to the families of all

6 those killed, and to the Government and all the peo7 ple of the State of Israel;

8 (3) expresses its support and solidarity with the

9 people and Government of the State of Israel;

10 (4) reaffirms its full support for Israel in its ef11 forts to combat terrorism as it attempts to pursue

12 peace with its neighbors in the region;

13 (5) calls upon the Palestinian Authority, the

14 elected Palestinian Council and Chairman Arafat to

15 act swiftly and decisively to apprehend and effec16 tively punish the perpetrators of terror attacks, to

17 prevent such acts of terror in the future, to con18 fiscate all unauthorized weapons and to avoid and

19 condemn all statements and gestures which signal

20 tolerance for such acts and their perpetrators;

21 (6) calls upon Chairman Arafat, the Palestinian

22 Authority and the elected representatives of the Pal23 estinian Council to eliminate the terrorist structure
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1 and terrorist activities of Hamas, Palestinian Is2 lamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of

3 Palestine, and all other terror groups;

4 (7) calls upon Chairman Arafat, the Palestinian

5 Authority and the elected representatives of the Pal6 estinian Council to adopt legislative and executive

7 measures to ban the existence and operations of all

8 terrorist organizations resident in the Palestinian

9 autonomous areas;

10 (8) insists that Chairman Arafat convene the

11 Palestinian National Council, so that the Palestinian

12 National Covenant will be amended of its vile ref13 erences to Israel within sixty days of the Palestinian

14 Council’s inauguration on March 7, 1996;

15 (9) reaffirms its belief that the Palestinian Na16 tional Covenant must be amended in order for the

17 peace process to succeed;

18 (10) calls upon the Palestinian people to sup19 port the deletion of anti-Israel language from the

20 Palestinian National Covenant;

21 (11) calls upon the Palestinian people to ex22 press their revulsion for terrorism against Israel,

23 and condemn and isolate those elements of Palestin24 ian society that employ and support such terrorist

25 acts;
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1 (12) urges all parties to the peace process, in

2 order to retain the credibility of their commitment to

3 peace, to bring to justice the perpetrators of acts of

4 terrorism, and to cease harboring, financing, and

5 arming terror groups in all territories under their

6 control;

7 (13) calls upon those Arab states that have

8 failed to condemn these acts of terrorism to do so

9 immediately and forthrightly, and to support all ef10 forts in the region to combat terrorism;

11 (14) calls upon the international community to

12 cooperate with the United States in isolating states

13 which engage in international terrorism;

14 (15) insists that Iran and Syria cease all sup15 port for all terrorist groups operating in areas under

16 their control and refrain from all activities in opposi17 tion to the Middle East peace process;

18 (16) expresses its intent to reconsider United

19 States assistance to the Palestinian Authority, in

20 consultation with the Administration, in light of the

21 steps that must be taken by the Palestinian Author22 ity against terrorist infrastructures and operations;

23 (17) urges the United States to act decisively

24 and swiftly against those governments who continue
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1 to harbor, arm, or finance terror groups seeking to

2 undermine the peace process; and

3 (18) praises United States efforts to provide Is4 rael with all appropriate anti-terrorism resources to

5 eliminate the tide of terrorist incidents against Is6 rael.

Passed the House of Representatives March 12,

1996.

Attest: ROBIN H. CARLE,

Clerk.