Israel archaeologists fear damage at Jerusalem dig
Pastor Dale Morgan
Israel archaeologists fear damage at Jerusalem dig*
Archaeologists says priceless relics could be damaged by mechanical
digger being used by Muslim caretakers to carve out utility trench at
one of capital's holiest shrines
Reuters
Published: 08.29.07, 16:01 / Israel Jewish Scene
Israeli archaeologists said on Wednesday they fear priceless relics
could be damaged by a mechanical digger being used by Muslim caretakers
to carve out a utility trench at one of Jerusalem's holiest shrines.
The work is being carried out on the plaza revered by Muslims as
al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and by Jews as the Temple Mount.
Holy Site
Archeologists: Waqf damaging Temple Mount remains / Yaakov Lappin
Senior archeologist says Waqf wants to turn whole of Temple Mount into
exclusive mosque for Muslims
"It is appalling that in one of the most important archaeological sites
in the country, heavy machinery is used in a barbaric way to dig a ditch
120 meters long and 1.5 meters deep," said Gabriel Barkay, an
archaeologist at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv.
He and other members of the Israeli-based Committee Against the
Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount, have criticized Israel's
Antiquities Authority for allowing the Waqf, the Muslim caretakers of
the site, to conduct the work.
Dalit Menzin, a spokeswoman for the Antiquities Authority, an Israeli
government agency, declined to comment.
Sheikh Abdel al-Azeem Salhab, president of the Waqf Council, which is
charged with day-to-day administration of the compound, denied the
digging would cause any archaeological damage.
Pottery shards
The trench is being dug to replace decades-old electric wiring at the
complex, which now houses the al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock Mosques and
was the site during biblical times of two Jewish Temples.
The future of the compound, on land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle
East war, is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"I assure you that the area where the electrical cables are being
extended was excavated in the past and there is nothing of value in it
that can be damaged or destroyed," Salhab said.
Barkay said earth from the trench contained pottery shards dating to
the Byzantine period. He cautioned that more relics still underground
could be harmed.
Christian, Muslim and Jewish heritage could "fall victim to this
heinous act", Barkay said.
The site is in East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in a move that is
not recognized internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the
capital of the state they hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In Febuary, an Israeli dig intended to salvage ancient artifacts before
construction of a new walkway leading to the holy complex sparked
worldwide protests by Muslims who said they feared the two mosques would
be damaged.
Israel's Jerusalem municipality denied any harm would come to the
shrines but scrapped its original construction plan and ordered a
committee to prepare new blueprints and hold public hearings on the
project.