HCR228

WHEREAS, following the conclusion of the Second World War, including the Holocaust, the General Assembly of the United Nations passed Resolution 181, which attempted to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict in the British mandate of Palestine by partitioning the territory of Palestine into two states, a Jewish state and an Arab state; and

WHEREAS, based on Resolution 181, the land allocated to the proposed Arab state consisted of all of the highlands, except Jerusalem, plus one third of the coastline, amounting to forty—three per cent of Mandatory Palestine; and

WHEREAS, the land allotted to the proposed Jewish state consisted of the lowland plains, amounting to fifty—six per cent of Mandatory Palestine; and

WHEREAS, the greater Jerusalem area, under the provisions of Resolution 181, was designated to be under international control; and

WHEREAS, the Jewish Agency, as well as the majority of Jewish organizations and individuals accepted the United Nation's proposal, but regional Arab leadership strongly opposed the plan due to concerns about Jewish self-determination and the quantity and quality of land given to the Jews in the proposed plan; and

WHEREAS, shortly after the ratification of Resolution 181, the Arab Higher Committee declared a three-day strike and public protest to begin on December 2, 1947, in protest of the Resolution 181, resulting in what became known as the "Jerusalem

riots," in which for three days, Arabs attacked the commercial center of Jerusalem, burning numerous buildings and shops; and

WHEREAS, the riots of Jerusalem soon evolved into widespread fighting between local, indigenous Arabs and Jews, and;

WHEREAS, the State of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948, and;

WHEREAS, immediately following the State of Israel's establishment, Israel's Arab neighbors — Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon - simultaneously declared war on Israel and launched an all out, omnidirectional attack on the Jewish state, in what has now become known by historians as the 1948 War of Independence; and

WHEREAS, Israel's invaders broadcasted radio messages inciting Palestinian Arabs to join in the fight with invading forces, under the promise that, once defeated, Israel's territories would be given to them; and

WHEREAS, Israel successfully repulsed the invading armies, and the Palestinian Arabs who rose up against Israel were internally displaced, creating a massive refugee crisis; and

WHEREAS, the invading nations who had initially incited the Palestinian Arabs to fight against Israel, later rejected the thousands of refugees who flocked to their borders following the end of the War of Independence; and

WHEREAS, decades of war, conflict, insurgency, and strained diplomatic relations have existed between the State of Israel and her neighboring states since the War of Independence in 1948; and

WHEREAS, the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict and global war on terrorism has discouraged persons worldwide, and especially from the State of Hawaii, from traveling to Jerusalem and other sites revered as holy by many faiths; and

WHEREAS, the mission of the Jerusalem Project is to build The Creator's House, a place of worship in Jerusalem where peacemakers of all nations may gather together in goodwill, forgiveness, and aloha; and

WHEREAS, a delegation representing the Jerusalem Project will soon travel from Honolulu for Damascus, Syria, to increase awareness and promote the construction of The Creator's House; and

WHEREAS, representatives of the Jerusalem Project plan to make presentations to local neighborhood boards, seeking their advice and support; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the Senate concurring, that the Legislature strongly supports the efforts of the Jerusalem Project to facilitate unity and forgiveness through efforts such as The Creator's House, and extends expressions of hope for a continuum of peaceful interaction, cooperation, and dialogue between the peoples and nations of the Middle East; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the President of the United States, the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations, the Prime Minister of the State of Israel, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, and the Director of the Jerusalem Project.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Jerusalem Project

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	228
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII