2017-2018 Bill 4794: Jerusalem - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 122nd Session, 2017-2018 3 4 H. 4794 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 Concurrent Resolution 9 Sponsors: Reps. Clemmons, Bernstein, Alexander, Allison, Anderson, Anthony, Arrington, Atkinson, 10 Atwater, Bales, Ballentine, Bamberg, Bannister, Bennett, Blackwell, Bowers, Bradley, Brawley, Brown, 11 Bryant, Burns, Caskey, Chumley, Clary, Clyburn, CobbHunter, Cogswell, Cole, Collins, Crawford, 12 Crosby, Daning, Davis, Delleney, Dillard, Douglas, Duckworth, Elliott, Erickson, Felder, Finlay, Forrest, 13 Forrester, Fry, Funderburk, Gagnon, Gilliard, Govan, Hamilton, Hardee, Hart, Hayes, Henderson, 14 HendersonMyers, Henegan, Herbkersman, Hewitt, Hill, Hiott, Hixon, Hosey, Howard, Huggins, 15 Jefferson, Johnson, Jordan, King, Kirby, Knight, Loftis, Long, Lowe, Lucas, Mace, Mack, Magnuson, 16 Martin, McCoy, McCravy, McEachern, McGinnis, McKnight, D.C. Moss, V.S. Moss, Murphy, 17 B. Newton, W. Newton, Norrell, Ott, Parks, Pendarvis, Pitts, Pope, Putnam, Ridgeway, M. Rivers, 18 S. Rivers, RobinsonSimpson, Rutherford, Sandifer, Simrill, G.M. Smith, G.R. Smith, J.E. Smith, Sottile, 19 Spires, Stavrinakis, Stringer, Tallon, Taylor, Thayer, Thigpen, Toole, Trantham, Weeks, West, Wheeler, 20 White, Whitmire, Williams, Willis, Young and Yow 21 Document Path: l:\council\bills\nbd\11217cz18.docx 22 23 Introduced in the House on January 31, 2018 24 Introduced in the Senate on February 1, 2018 25 Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary 26 27 Summary: Jerusalem 28 29 30 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 31 32 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 33 1/31/2018 House Introduced, adopted, sent to Senate ( House Journalpage 69) 34 2/1/2018 Senate Introduced ( Senate Journalpage 5) 35 2/1/2018 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary ( Senate Journalpage 5) 36 37 View the latest legislative information at the website 38 39 40 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 41 42 1/31/2018 43 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 10 11 AFFIRMING THE HISTORICAL CONNECTION OF THE 12 JEWISH PEOPLE TO THE ANCIENT AND SACRED CITY OF 13 JERUSALEM AND CONDEMNING EFFORTS AT THE 14 UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND 15 CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (UNESCO) TO DENY 16 JUDAISM’S MILLENNIAOLD HISTORICAL, RELIGIOUS, 17 AND CULTURAL TIES TO JERUSALEM. 18 19 Whereas, for over 3,000 years, Jerusalem has played a central role 20 in the history and identity of the Jewish people; and 21 22 Whereas, Jerusalem is the location of the holiest site for the Jewish 23 people, the Temple Mount, as well as the Western Wall, where 24 Jews from across the world come to pray; and 25 26 Whereas, Jerusalem has been a Christian pilgrimage site for over 27 2,000 years, and holds considerable religious significance for 28 Christians; and 29 30 Whereas, Jerusalem is home to the third holiest site in Islam, and 31 holds considerable religious significance for Muslims; and 32 33 Whereas, Jerusalem serves as a cultural and religious inspiration to 34 billions of people around the world; and 35 36 Whereas the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural 37 Organization (UNESCO) has passed a series of antiIsraeli 38 resolutions in recent years regarding Jerusalem, both at the 39 committee level and by the executive board, the governing body of 40 UNESCO; and 41

[4794] 2 1 Whereas, these biased resolutions are attempts to erase or 2 minimize the Jewish as well as Christian historical and religious 3 ties to Jerusalem, and unjustly single out our close ally Israel with 4 false accusations and criticism; and 5 6 Whereas, numerous archaeological excavations, such as those 7 taking place in the City of David, Israel’s most archaeologically 8 excavated site, have uncovered a myriad of antiquities which 9 scientifically reaffirm Jerusalem’s historical significance to 10 Judaism and Christianity; and 11 12 Whereas, the City of David is the archaeological site of ancient 13 Jerusalem, and is believed to be the very site recorded in the Bible 14 upon which King David established the capital of ancient Israel; 15 and 16 17 Whereas, since 1867, there have been archaeological excavations 18 at the site of the City of David, including international delegations 19 of archaeologists from the United States, England, France, and 20 Germany; and 21 22 Whereas, these excavations have unearthed antiquities from over 23 ten different civilizations, including Canaanite, Israelite, Roman, 24 Byzantine, and Persian civilizations; and 25 26 Whereas, the current excavations of the City of David are carried 27 out under the auspices of the Israel Antiquities Authority and are 28 held to the highest scientific standards; and 29 30 Whereas, among the most significant archaeological discoveries 31 unearthed from the City of David include the Siloam Inscription, 32 which recounts the preparations made by King Hezekiah of Judah 33 for the impending Assyrian siege against Jerusalem, consistent 34 with the Biblical account; clay seal impressions bearing the names 35 of two Judean Government officials who are mentioned in the very 36 same verse in the Bible; the Pool of Siloam, which served during 37 the Second Temple period as a ritual bath for the hundreds of 38 thousands of Jewish pilgrims ascending annually to the Temple, 39 which stood atop the Temple Mount; and the Second Temple 40 Pilgrimage Road, which began at the Pool of Siloam and served as 41 the main thoroughfare of the Second Temple period Jerusalem 42 which carried hundreds of thousands of people on their annual 43 pilgrimages to the Temple; and

[4794] 3 1 2 Whereas, the Pilgrimage Road located within the City of David, 3 which stretches 600 meters from the Pool of Siloam to the 4 footsteps of the Western Wall, will be open to visitors upon 5 completion of the excavation; and 6 7 Whereas, these discoveries affirm the undeniable truth that the 8 City of David, the Western Wall, and the Temple Mount are 9 inextricably linked together physically, historically, and 10 symbolically as the bedrock of the connection between the Jewish 11 people and Jerusalem and have been for millennia; and 12 13 Whereas, it is the belief of the General Assembly that the 14 Government of Israel has done an excellent job protecting the 15 freedoms of all faiths in Jerusalem including Jews, Christians, and 16 Muslims, ensuring their access to holy sites so that they may 17 worship freely. The General Assembly openly condemns any past, 18 present, or future efforts at UNESCO to delegitimize Israel 19 through attempts to rewrite and deny the history of Jerusalem; and 20 21 Whereas, the General Assembly encourages the United States to 22 continue working with allies to prevent UNESCO from passing 23 biased and unjust antiIsraeli resolutions in the future. Now, 24 therefore, 25 26 Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate 27 concurring: 28 29 That the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, 30 affirm the historical connection of the Jewish people to the ancient 31 and sacred city of Jerusalem and condemn efforts at the United 32 Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization 33 (UNESCO) to deny Judaism’s millennia-old historical, religious, 34 and cultural ties to Jerusalem. 35 XX 36

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