Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat Gives UNESCO Ambassadors Tour of the City of
David
Office of Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, today (Tuesday, 21 March 2017), took UNESCO
ambassadors on a tour of the City of David. During the tour, which was
organized by the American Jewish Committee, Mayor Barkat showed the
ambassadors the remains of the Shiloah Pool and numerous archaeological
findings from the City of David, which unambiguously link the Jewish people
to Jerusalem. These findings strongly contradict UNESCO's claims that deny
the historical connection between the Jewish people and the Christian world
to the Land of Israel.

David Be'eri, Director and Founder of the City of David and Carmel Shama
Hacohen, Israel's ambassador to UNESCO, also joined the tour. David was
recently named an Israel Prize laureate.

Mayor Barkat told the ambassadors: "The coin you see in my hands, found in
the City of David excavations, is emblazoned with the inscription - 'For the
Liberation of Zion.'" This coin is one of thousands that we find at our feet
which unequivocally prove the Jewish and Christian roots in Jerusalem,
contrary to the claims made by the latest UNESCO resolution. Today, we work
to fulfill the imperative emblazoned on the coin: Jerusalem, under Israeli
sovereignty, is free and open to people of all religions, beliefs, and
backgrounds."