Congressman Eric Cantor Introduces Bill Condemning The Wakf

Here is the text of Representative Cantor's bill, HR 756:

Condemning the Wakf's digging activities at the Temple Mount site and deploring the destruction of artifacts vitally important to Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths. (Introduced in House)

HRES 756 IH
110th CONGRESS
1st Session

H. RES. 756

Condemning the Wakf's digging activities at the Temple Mount site and deploring the destruction of artifacts vitally important to Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 18, 2007

Mr. CANTOR (for himself and Ms. BERKLEY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

RESOLUTION

Condemning the Wakf's digging activities at the Temple Mount site and deploring the destruction of artifacts vitally important to Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths.

Whereas the Temple Mount, located in the ancient city of Jerusalem, Israel, has tremendous religious significance to the world's three major monotheistic religions;

Whereas according to the Jewish faith, the Temple Mount is the location where Abraham was asked to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, in the ultimate test of his commitment to God;

Whereas the Temple Mount was also the site of the First and Second Holy Temples;

Whereas according to Christianity, Jesus was dedicated on the Temple Mount in the Second Temple in accordance with the Law of Moses;

Whereas Jesus referred to the Biblical Temple as His Father's House;

Whereas Muslims believe that Mohammed ascended to heaven from the Temple Mount to make the Night Journey to the Throne of Allah;

Whereas in June 1967, Jerusalem once again became a united city under Israel's sovereignty;

Whereas the State of Israel has been legally responsible for the Temple Mount since 1967 and has been respectful of the religious practices of Jews, Christians, and Muslims at the site;

Whereas Israel maintains overall security control of the site;

Whereas the Wakf, or Islamic Trust, conducts day-to-day administration of the compound;

Whereas Wakf officials have repeatedly denied the existence of the First and Second Jewish Temples;

Whereas the Wakf has a stained history of damaging sensitive Jewish and Christian cultural sites;

Whereas in August 1999 the Wakf dug a large stairway at the Temple Mount leading down to an underground mosque, dumping thousands of tons of archaeologically rich soil into the adjacent Kidron Valley;

Whereas Israel's Supreme Court declared in 1993 that the Wakf had violated Israel's antiquities laws on 35 occasions;

Whereas in the summer of 2007 Wakf officials began some of the most extensive work on the Temple Mount site in more than a decade using tractors and other heavy construction machinery to create a 400-meter-long and 1.5-meter-deep trench to replace electrical cables and water pipes;

Whereas in some areas of the Temple Mount the bedrock is only a half meter deep, endangering structures that have been in place for thousands of years;

Whereas among the antiquities removed include a 7-meter-wide wall widely believed to date back to the Second Temple;

Whereas irresponsible or destructive construction and digging threaten to damage this sacred site; and

Whereas leading Israeli archaeologists have warned of irreversible damage to Jerusalem's holiest artifacts: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives condemns the Wakf's digging activities at the Temple Mount site and deplores the destruction of artifacts vitally important to Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths.

You can hear Congressman Cantor discuss his bill and other issues affecting Israel at a conference call in conjunction with One Jerusalem that he did with bloggers.

You can also become a citizen sponsor of this bill here.

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