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Wednesday, July 30, 2008
U.S. Neutrality Act Violated by Gaza Boat Organizers Shurat HaDin Warns California AG

U.S. Neutrality Act Violated by Gaza Boat Organizers Shurat HaDin Warns
California AG
30 July 2008

CONTACT: Nitsana Darshan-Leitner 917.519.9340

Sacramento: In an urgent letter dispatched to The Hon. Edmond G. Brown,
Attorney General of the State of California, Shurat HaDin director Nitsana
Darshan-Leitner warns the AG that the International Solidarity Movement
(ISM), and others, have conspired to violate the U.S. Neutrality Act, 18
U.S.C. § 960, within the boundaries of his state.

Attorney Darshan-Leitner writes in her letter that the organizers of the
"Gaza Boat" program have violated the Neutrality Act by illegally raising
money in California to bankroll two boats which they plan to sail into Gaza
on August 5. The boats are reportedly leaving Piraeus, Greece with ISM
members on board on August 1. Based on prior experience, serious concerns
that the boats will be carrying weapons, explosives and contraband have been
raised by security experts.

The U.S. Neutrality Act that is codified in section 960 of title 18 of the
U.S. Code, stating:

"Whoever, within the United States, knowingly begins or sets on foot or
provides or prepares a means for or furnishes the money for, or takes part
in, any military or naval expedition or enterprise to be carried on from
thence against the territory or dominion of any foreign prince or state, or
of any colony, district, or people with whom the United States is at peace,
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or
both."

According to the project website as archived by Google on July 24, 2008 -
The Carter Center of former US President Jimmy Carter and the Archbishop
Desmond Tutu have both endorsed the project (
www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=40027 ). According to news reports, the Carter
Center was also involved in the funding of the project.

Shurat HaDin's letter charges that the organizers have openly solicited
support for the hostile expedition against a friendly nation in violation of
the U.S. Neutrality Act and urges the attorney general of California and the
Federal Bureau of Investigations to launch a full inquiry into the funding
of the flotilla and to prosecute all those involved to the full extent of
the law should the allegation prove true.

The folllowing is the text of Shurat HaDin's Letter to Attorney General
Brown:

==================

Attorney General Edmund G. Brown
Office of Attorney General
California Department of Justice
P.O. Box 944255 Sacramento, CA 94244-2550
Via Fax:

Dear Attorney General Brown,

Re: Conspiracy to Violate the U.S. Neutrality Act, 18 U.S.C. § 960

Dear Attorney General

I am writing to bring to your attention to a serious matter regarding what
might be an ongoing conspiracy to
violate the U.S. Neutrality Act, 18 U.S.C. § 960, and an attempt to aid &
abet the Palestinian terrorist organization
Hamas which is occurring within your jurisdiction with the support and under
the direction of an organization
known as "The Free Gaza Movement," located at 405 Vista Heights Road, El
Cerrito, California 94530.

The Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas is currently designated as a
Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.
S. government. In June 2007, Hamas ousted Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas's Fatah party from the Gaza
Strip and subsequently took power where it has engaged in a relentless
campaign to obtain weapons and
explosives and to terrorize both Israelis and moderate Palestinians. As a
result of constant rocket attacks from
Gaza on Israel's coastal cities, on September 19, 2007 the Israeli
government declared that "Hamas is a terrorist
organization that has taken control of the Gaza Strip and turned it into
hostile territory." Similarly, Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice affirmed "Hamas is indeed a hostile entity. It's a
hostile entity to the United States as
well."

In an effort to prevent Hamas from obtaining any additional military
equipment and to impose economic pressure
on the Hamas leadership in Gaza, the Israeli Security Cabinet imposed a
series of sanctions on the Gaza Strip
including a coastal blockade that is being implemented by the Israeli navy.
The naval blockade is particularly
important in light of previous attempts by the Iranian government to
transfer weapons to Palestinian militants at
sea such as occurred in January 2002 when the Israeli navy seized the
"Karine A" ship that was loaded with 50
tons of Iranian supplied weaponry.

There are several provisions within the agreements signed by Israel and the
Palestinian Authority that grant
Israel the right to implement a naval blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Specifically, the September 28, 1995 Israeli-
Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip that was
signed in Washington D.C. states in
Article XIV that Israel has "the responsibility for defense against external
threats, including . for defense against
external threats from the sea and from the air." Moreover, in Article XIV
of the Interim Agreement titled "Security
along the Coastline to the Sea of Gaza" Israel and the Palestinian Authority
agreed that foreign vessels would
"not approach closer than 12 nautical miles from the coast" unless
specifically authorized pursuant to jointly
agreed regulations and that in the absence of such conditions all foreign
vessels would be required to dock at
Israeli approved ports. (Because there are no international ports open to
foreign vessels in Gaza at this time, it
is currently illegal for foreign vessels to attempt to dock in Gaza without
explicit Israeli authorization.) Finally, in a
letter to Prime Minister Sharon on April 14, 2004 shortly before Israel's
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip President
Bush confirmed "[t]he United States understands that after Israel withdraws
from Gaza and/or parts of the West
Bank, and pending agreements on other arrangements, existing arrangements
regarding control of airspace,
territorial waters, and land passages of the West Bank and Gaza will
continue."

Nevertheless, despite the clear unequivocal policy of the United
States to support Israel's right to control the
security of the territorial waters around Gaza and to isolate Hamas from
external support, the extremist Free
Gaza Movement is attempting to undermine the foreign policy of both the
United States and Israel by raising
money to violate the Interim Agreement regarding foreign vessels and to
undermine Israel's sovereign authority.
On The Free Gaza Movement website located at www.freegaza.org requests are
being made to finance a "Break
the Siege ship" that is tentatively set to sail in August 2008 (See also
http://freegaza.org/pages/joinIn.
html#aboard). According to information on its website the ship "will sail
directly to Gaza without going through
Israeli territory and without seeking permission from Israeli authorities."
However, because Israel has exclusive
security authority over foreign vessels that are attempting to dock in Gaza,
The Free Gaza Movement is openly
soliciting support in this country for a hostile expedition against a
friendly nation in violation of the U.S. Neutrality
Act that is codified in section 960 of title 18 of the U.S. Code. This law
states:

Whoever, within the United States, knowingly begins or sets on foot or
provides or prepares a means for or
furnishes the money for, or takes part in, any military or naval expedition
or enterprise to be carried on from
thence against the territory or dominion of any foreign prince or state, or
of any colony, district, or people with
whom the United States is at peace, shall be fined under this title or
imprisoned not more than three years, or
both.

As such, the actions of The Free Gaza Movement are nothing short of
an attempt to violate the laws of State
of Israel and to engage in conduct that has the effect of undermining the
national security of a U.S. ally.
Consequently, I respectfully request that your office take all necessary and
appropriate actions to uphold the
laws of the United States, to investigate those that are organizing and
funding this illegal effort and to enjoin any
unlawful activity on the part of The Free Gaza Movement.

Thank you,

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Esq.

1.917.519.9340

info@israellawcenter.org

www.israellawcenter.org

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