86R3049 SME-D
By: King of Parker, Goldman, Price, Toth, H.R. No. 16
Miller
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, For more than 3,000 years, Jerusalem has played a
central role in the history and identity of the Jewish people; and
WHEREAS, Jerusalem serves as a cultural and religious
inspiration to people around the world; it is the location of the
holiest site for the Jewish people, the Temple Mount, as well as the
Western Wall, where the faithful come to pray; moreover, the city
holds considerable religious significance for Christians and
Muslims and has been a pilgrimage site for millennia; and
WHEREAS, The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization has passed a series of anti-Israeli
resolutions in recent years regarding Jerusalem, both at the
committee level and by the executive board, the governing body of
UNESCO; these resolutions attempt to erase or minimize the Jewish
and Christian historical and religious ties to Jerusalem, and they
unjustly single out our close ally Israel with false accusations
and criticism; and
WHEREAS, Numerous archaeological excavations have uncovered
antiquities which scientifically reaffirm Jerusalem's historical
significance to Judaism and Christianity; Israel's most
archaeologically excavated site, the City of David, is believed to
be the very site recorded in the Bible upon which King David
established the capital of ancient Israel; international
delegations of archaeologists from the United States, England,
France, and Germany have conducted excavations at the site since
1867, and they have unearthed antiquities from more than 10
different civilizations, including Canaanite, Israelite, Roman,
Byzantine, and Persian societies; current excavations of the City
of David are carried out under the auspices of the Israel
Antiquities Authority and are held to the highest scientific
standards; and
WHEREAS, Significant archeological discoveries unearthed
from the City of David include the Siloam Inscription, which
recounts the preparations made by King Hezekiah of Judah for the
impending Assyrian siege against Jerusalem, consistent with the
biblical account; clay seal impressions bearing the names of two
Judean Government officials who are mentioned in the very same
verse in the Bible; the Pool of Siloam, which served during the
Second Temple period as a ritual bath for Jewish pilgrims ascending
annually to the Temple, which stood atop the Temple Mount; and the
Second Temple Pilgrimage Road, which began at the Pool of Siloam and
served as the main thoroughfare of Second Temple period Jerusalem
and carried hundreds of thousands of people on their annual
pilgrimages to the Temple; located within the City of David, the
Pilgrimage Road stretches nearly 2,000 feet from the Pool of Siloam
to the footsteps of the Western Wall and will be open to visitors
upon completion of the excavation; and
WHEREAS, These discoveries affirm the undeniable truth that
the City of David, the Western Wall, and the Temple Mount are
inextricably linked physically, historically, and symbolically as
the bedrock of the connection between the Jewish people and
Jerusalem and have been for millennia; and
WHEREAS, The Government of Israel has done commendable work
to protect the freedoms of all faiths in Jerusalem and ensure
visitors' access to holy sites so that they may worship freely; any
past, present, or future efforts at UNESCO to delegitimize Israel
through attempts to rewrite and deny the history of Jerusalem
should be condemned, and the United States should continue to work
with allies to prevent UNESCO from passing biased and unjust
anti-Israeli resolutions in the future; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas
Legislature hereby affirm the historical connection of the Jewish
people to the ancient and sacred city of Jerusalem and condemn
efforts at the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization to deny Judaism's millennia-old historical,
religious, and cultural ties to Jerusalem.