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AFFIRMING THE HISTORICAL CONNECTION OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE TO THE ANCIENT AND SACRED CITY OF JERUSALEM AND CONDEMNING EFFORTS AT THE UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (UNESCO) TO DENY JUDAISM'S MILLENNIA-OLD HISTORICAL, RELIGIOUS, AND CULTURAL TIES TO JERUSALEM.
Whereas, Israel has been granted her lands under and through the world's oldest deed, as enshrined in the Bible, a tome of scripture recording the acts and intent of God Almighty and held sacred by humanity. The claim and presence of the Jewish people in Israel and their capital city, Jerusalem, has remained constant for over 3000 years and this fact has played a central role in the history and identity of the Jewish people; and
Whereas, Jerusalem is the location of the holiest site for the Jewish people, the Temple Mount, as well as the Western Wall, where Jews from across the world come to pray; and
Whereas, Jerusalem has been a Christian pilgrimage site for over two thousand years and holds considerable religious significance for Christians; and
Whereas, Jerusalem is home to the third holiest site in Islam, and holds considerable religious significance for Muslims; and
Whereas, Jerusalem serves as a cultural and religious inspiration to billions of people around the world; and
Whereas, the legal basis for the reestablishment of the Jewish National Home in the Land of Israel and the eventual declaration of Israel's independence as the modern Jewish State was a binding instrument of international law enacted in the San Remo Resolution on April 25, 1920, by the principal allied powers and associated counties, which was subsequently affirmed by the United States Congress; and
Whereas, none of the national and political rights thereby recognized as inhering in the Jewish People have ever been revoked, nullified, or superseded by a subsequent legally valid and binding document of international law; and
Whereas, Article 80 of the United Nations charter recognized the continued inviolable validity of the rights granted to states or peoples which already existed under international instruments, including the binding act of international law enacted in the San Remo Resolution; and
Whereas, the San Remo Resolution legally predicated the eventual declaration of the modern State of Israel's independence as the Jewish National Home in the Land of Israel, including Jerusalem; and
Whereas, the modern State of Israel declared its independence and self-governance on May 14, 1948, thereby exercising its God-given and legal right to reestablish the Jewish National Home as an independent State in the Land of Israel; and
Whereas, territories legally designated for the Jewish National Home under international law that were belligerently conquered by Jordan and Egypt in the war that ensued the modern State of Israel's declaration of independence never belonged to either Jordan or Egypt under international law, nor were they ever under their recognized sovereignty; and
Whereas, the State of Israel has appropriately and necessarily exercised its God-given and legal right to declare the reunified city of Jerusalem to be the eternal and indivisible capital of the Jewish National Home, thereby ensuring the protection of religious freedom for worshipers of all faiths under Israeli sovereignty; and
Whereas, numerous archaeological excavations, such as those taking place in the City of David, Israel's most archaeologically excavated site, have uncovered a myriad of antiquities which scientifically reaffirm Jerusalem's historical significance to Judaism and Christianity; and
Whereas, the City of David is the archaeological site of ancient Jerusalem and is believed to be the very site recorded in the Bible upon which King David established the capital of ancient Israel; and
Whereas, the ancient Second Temple Pilgrimage Road (1st century CE) presently being excavated in the City of David, stretching more than 600 meters from the Pool of Siloam to the footsteps of the Western Wall, will be open to visitors of all faiths and backgrounds 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 together physically, historically, and symbolically as the bedrock of the connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem and have been for millennia; and
Whereas, the United States, Guatemala, and several other ally countries are to be commended for having moved or soon moving their embassies to Jerusalem accordingly; and
Whereas, it is therefore historically and legally wrong to characterize the State of Israel as territorially illegitimate, colonial in nature, or an occupier of the lands of another nation; and
Whereas, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has nevertheless passed a series of anti-Israeli resolutions in recent years misrepresenting facts about Jerusalem in an attempt to disregard and deny Jewish and Christian connections to Jerusalem, and unjustly delegitimize Israel with false accusations and undue criticism; and
Whereas, anti-Semitic forces in the region and around the world have persisted in efforts to deny and undermine the rights, and indeed the very existence, of the Jewish National Home, since the time of its legal reestablishment under international law, through the Modern State of Israel's declaration of independence, and until the present day; and
Whereas, promoting the common misrepresentation of the Jewish State of Israel as an occupier in the Land of Israel has become the primary anti-Semitic canard of the present generation, inherently accusing the Jewish People of territorial thievery and lending directly to the anti-Semitic delegitimization and demonization of, and application of double-standards to, the Jewish State of Israel; and
Whereas, those anti-Semitic forces have used the lie of occupation as pretense for attacking the State of Israel through means of political and economic warfare, having harmed the legitimacy of international law, corrupted the function of international institutions such as the United Nations and its functionaries, such as UNESCO, and correspondingly launched a campaign, lead by a variety of groups funded by various governments, known as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) that promotes discriminatory activities intended to inflict harm upon, or otherwise limit commercial, political, and cultural relations with Israelis, their trade partners, and supporters; and
Whereas, efforts to promote national-origin discrimination and inflict economic harm against Israel's trade partners, in particular, weakens our own state's ability to conduct business and harms our vital economic, employment, and public policy interests as well; and
Whereas, it is the belief of the General Assembly that the Government of Israel has done an excellent job protecting the freedoms of all faiths in Jerusalem including Jews, Christians, and Muslims, ensuring their access to holy sites so that they may worship freely. The General Assembly openly condemns any past, present, or future efforts at UNESCO to delegitimize Israel through attempts to rewrite and deny the history of Jerusalem; and
Whereas, the General Assembly supports the Jewish State of Israel in asserting its God given and legal rights to its sovereignty and self-defense upon the entirety of its lands and territories and recognize Jerusalem as its eternal and indivisible capital; and
Whereas, the General Assembly encourages the United States to continue working with allies to prevent UNESCO from passing biased and unjust anti-Israeli resolutions in the future. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, 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 (UNESCO) to deny Judaism's millennia-old historical, religious, and cultural ties to Jerusalem.
This web page was last updated on January 22, 2019 at 1:01 PM