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

Attorney General Michael Mukasey
Office of the United States Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20530
Via Fax:

Dear Attorney General Mukasey,

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.