STATE OF OKLAHOMA

1st Session of the 54th Legislature (2013)

HOUSE
RESOLUTION 1005	By:	Wesselhoft

AS INTRODUCED

A House Resolution supporting the Nation of Israel; commending Israel for her contribution to mankind and for her cordial and beneficial relationship with the United States; congratulating Israel on the sixty-fifth anniversary of its founding; and directing distribution.

WHEREAS, the land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people.  Here their spiritual, religious, and national identity was formed.  Here they achieved independence and created a culture of national and universal significance.  Here they wrote and gave the Bible to the world; and
WHEREAS, Israel has been granted her lands under and through the oldest recorded deed, as recorded in the Old Testament, a tome of scripture held sacred and revered by Jews and Christians alike as presenting the acts and words of God; and
WHEREAS, the claim and presence of the Jewish people in Israel has remained constant throughout the past 4,000 years of history; and 
WHEREAS, exiled from Israel, the Jewish people remained faithful to Israel in all the countries of their dispersion, never ceasing to pray and hope for their return and the restoration of their national freedom; and
WHEREAS, the Jewish people historically have been a persecuted people from the ancient time of Moses, culminating in the twentieth century Nazi Holocaust which engulfed millions of Jews in Europe, and proving anew the urgency of the reestablishment of the Jewish state, which would solve the problem of Jewish homelessness by opening the gates to all Jews and lifting the Jewish people to equality in the family of nations; and
WHEREAS, the legal basis for the establishment of the modern state of Israel was a binding resolution under international law, which was unanimously adopted by the League of Nations in 1922 and subsequently affirmed by both houses of the United States Congress; and
WHEREAS, this resolution affirmed the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in the historical region of the Land of Israel, including the areas of Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem; and
WHEREAS, Article 80 of the United Nations charter recognizes the continued validity of the rights granted to states or peoples which already existed under international instruments, and, therefore, the 1922 League of Nations resolution remains valid, and the 650,000 Jews currently residing in the areas of Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem reside there legitimately; and
WHEREAS, in November 1947, a great travesty was righted when the United Nations voted to partition Palestine and create a Jewish state; and 
WHEREAS, under the leadership of David Ben Gurion, the Nation of Israel was established on May 14, 1948, and has had to defend herself and her right to exist since her founding; and 
WHEREAS, Israel declared her independence and self-governance with the goal of establishing her God-given and legally recognized lands as a homeland for the Jewish people; and
WHEREAS, the United States, having been the first nation to recognize Israel as an independent nation and as Israel’s principal ally, has enjoyed a close and mutually beneficial relationship with Israel and her people; and
WHEREAS, Israel is the greatest friend and ally of the United States in the Middle East and the values of our two nations are so intertwined that it is virtually impossible to separate one from the other; and
WHEREAS, the struggle to remain a strong country, whole, complete and free from partition and free from terrorism and oppression continues today; and
 WHEREAS, there are those in the Middle East who have continually sought to destroy Israel, from the time of her inception as a state, and those enemies of Israel also hate, and seek to destroy, the United States; and
WHEREAS, Israel declares that she will be open to the immigration of Jews from all countries of their dispersion; will promote the development of the country for the benefit of all her inhabitants; will be based on the precepts of liberty, justice, and peace taught by the Hebrew prophets; will uphold the full social and political equality of all her citizens, without distinction of race, creed, or sex; will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education, and culture; and will safeguard the sanctity and inviolability of the shrines and holy places of all religions; and
WHEREAS, the State of Oklahoma and Israel have enjoyed cordial and mutually beneficial relations since 1948, a friendship that continues to strengthen with each passing year; and 
WHEREAS, Israel is the only democratic state in the region and this year marks the sixty-fifth anniversary of the founding of this nation.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 1ST SESSION OF THE 54TH OKLAHOMA LEGISLATURE:
THAT the Oklahoma House of Representatives does hereby declare that it stands with Israel and the Jewish people in their right to live in freedom, free of terrorism in the safe and secure borders of their forefathers.
THAT the Oklahoma House of Representatives does hereby commend Israel for her contribution to humankind, particularly in the fields of science and medicine and further calls on the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to continue to bless Israel.
THAT the House of Representatives commends Israel for her cordial and mutually beneficial relationship with the State of Oklahoma and support Israel in her legal, historical, moral, and God-given right of self-governance and self-defense upon the entirety of her own lands, recognizing that Israel is neither an attacking force nor an occupier of the lands of others, and that peace can be afforded the region only through a whole and united Israel. 
THAT the Oklahoma House of Representatives does hereby congratulate the Nation of Israel on the occasion of the sixty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the nation.
THAT a copy of this resolution be distributed to Israeli Air Force Major Avi Fadida, Meir Shlomo, Ambassador and Consul General of Israel to the Southwest, the Chabbad Jewish Center, the Emanuel Synagogue, the Jewish Federation-Greater Oklahoma, Temple B'nai Israel, Hillel Jewish Student Center, Kehilat ROSH Pinah and the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C.

54-1-5277	AM	02/07/13