[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 9163]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     YOM YERUSHALAYIM-JERUSALEM DAY

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                           HON. LOIS FRANKEL

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 28, 2014

  Ms. FRANKEL of Florida. Mr. Speaker, across South Florida, and indeed 
around the world, Jews are celebrating Yom Yerushalayim--Jerusalem Day. 
It was 47 years ago today that Israel liberated its capital city of 
Jerusalem during the Six-Day War, allowing Jews for the first time in 
decades to visit Judaism's holiest site, the Western Wall.
  Israel immediately abolished the discriminatory laws that had 
previously prevented Jews from entering the Old City and implemented 
safeguards to ensure Jerusalem serve as a protected place for 
reflection and prayer for members of all religions. According to the 
State Department's annual report on International Religious Freedoms, 
``[Israel's] 1967 Protection of Holy Sites Law safeguards the holy 
sites of all religious groups within the country and in Jerusalem.''
  Today, Jerusalem has become more than a religious haven. It is a 
large and expansive city where ancient holy sites are accented by 
modern innovations. Over four million tourists came to Jerusalem last 
year alone to witness the city's beauty, enjoy the cuisine, and connect 
to the land.
  Jerusalem has been the heart of the Jewish people for thousands of 
years. Even through centuries of exile, Jerusalem remained the focal 
point of Jewish aspiration, with Jews praying towards the direction of 
the Western Wall regardless of where they stand geographically in the 
world.
  That is why Israel's founding Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion said in 
1947, ``No city in the world, not even Athens or Rome, ever played as 
great a role in the life of a nation for so long a time, as Jerusalem 
has done in the life of the Jewish people.''

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