Top archaeologist blasts Israeli inaction as Islam 'takes over' Judaism's holiest site
Pastor Dale Morgan
*
Top archaeologist blasts Israeli inaction as Islam 'takes over'
Judaism's holiest site*
Posted: February 7, 2007
YnetNews
JERUSALEM – The Israeli government is "doing nothing" while the Muslim
custodians of the Temple Mount discard Jewish artifacts and attempt to
turn Judaism's holiest site into an exclusive prayer zone for Islam, a
leading Israeli archeologist charged today.
Hebrew University's Eilat Mazor said the Waqf, the site's Muslim
custodians, "want to turn the whole of the Temple Mount into a mosque
for Muslims only."
"They don't care about the artifacts or heritage on the site," Mazor
told the Israeli news site YnetNews.com.
"The Waqf has acted terribly, taking thousands of tons of artifacts from
the First Temple, the Second Temple, as well as Muslim artifacts, and
throwing them away."
Mazor was referring to Muslim excavations near a new mosque constructed
at the Temple Mount's Solomon's Stables. During the excavations, the
Wafq reportedly disposed truckloads of dirt containing Jewish artifacts
from the First and Second Temple periods. After the media reported this,
Israeli authorities froze the construction permit given to the Wafq.
"There is a total ignorance of history and archeology. Artifacts showing
ancient history are hidden," Mazor said.
Meanwhile, Muslims here this week are protesting work by the Israeli
antiquities authority to repair a ramp near the Temple Mount even though
the work, at the Western Wall plaza, is not taking place on the Mount
and poses no threat to the holy site. Muslim leaders are calling for a
"new intifada" to protest the routine Israeli repair work.
Mazor, a third-generation Israeli Temple Mount archaeologist, is the
discoverer and lead archaeologist of Israel's City of David, believed to
be the palace of the biblical King David, the second leader of a united
Kingdom of Israel, who ruled from around 1005 to 965 B.C.
Mazor slammed the inaction of the Israeli government while Islam "takes
over" the Temple Mount.
"The (Israeli) authorities have failed to deal with this issue. The only
ones paying attention are the police, and they are only interested in
quiet, so they do nothing," Mazor said.
But the Israeli government lately has been active on the issue of the
Temple Mount.
Olmert has given permission for Jordan to build a large minaret adjacent
to a mosque on the Temple Mount to call Muslims to prayer at the holy
site. The minaret will stand at a site on the Mount where Jewish groups
here had petitioned to build a synagogue.
A minaret is a tower usually attached to a mosque from which Muslims are
called to the five Islamic daily prayers.
There are four minarets on the Temple Mount. The new minaret will be the
largest one yet. It will be the first built on the Temple Mount in more
than 600 years and is slated to tower over the walls of Jerusalem's old
city. It will reside next to the Al-Marwani Mosque, located at the site
of Solomon's Stables.
Aryeh Eldad, a Knesset member from Israel's National Union party, last
year drew up plans with Jewish groups to build a synagogue near the
Marwani Mosque. The synagogue was to be built in accordance with rulings
from several prominent rabbis, who said Jews can ascend the Mount at
certain areas.
A top leader of the Waqf said that Olmert's granting of permission to
build the minaret in the synagogue's place "confirms 100-percent the
Haram al-Sharif (Temple Mount) belongs to Muslims."
"This proves Jewish conspiracies for a synagogue will never succeed and
solidifies our presence here. It will make Muslims worldwide more secure
that the Jews will never take over the Haram al-Sharif," the Waqf
official said.
Sources in the Jordanian monarchy and the Waqf said that Olmert earlier
this month gave Jordan's King Abdullah official permission to build the
minaret. The sources said the minaret will rise 130 feet above the
ancient walls of Jerusalem.
A senior Olmert adviser today confirmed that the Israeli prime minister
told Abdullah he will allow the minaret's construction.
The adviser said he could not speak on the record because Israel has
been waiting for an "opportune time" to officially announce permission
for the new minaret.
In October, King Abdullah announced plans to build the fifth minaret,
although at the time the Jordanians reportedly did not have Israel's
permission to commence construction. Abdullah said the minaret would
bear the symbol of the Jordanian monarchy.
The Temple Mount's first minaret was constructed on the southwest corner
in 1278, the second was built in 1297 by order of a Mameluke king, the
third by a governor of Jerusalem in 1329 and the last in 1367.
Prominent Israeli archeologist Gabi Barkai of Tel Aviv University
blasted the new minaret plans.
"I am against any change in the status quo on the Temple Mount. If the
status quo is being changed, then it should not just be the addition of
Muslim structures at the site," Barkai said.
Rabbi Chaim Richman, director of the international department at
Israel's Temple Institute, said that Olmert's decision to allow the
minaret "is repugnant to anyone who knows what it is to be a Jew."
"The decision and Israel's general attitude toward the Temple Mount is
the manifestation of spiritual bankruptcy in the country's leadership.
Olmert is turning his back on our Jewish heritage while the rest of the
world looks at us with amazement at how we can be so insensitive to our
own spiritual legacy."
Al Aqsa mosque built by angels?
The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism. For Muslims, it is
Islam's third holiest site.
The First Jewish Temple was built by King Solomon in the 10th century
B.C. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The Second Temple
was rebuilt in 515 B.C. after Jerusalem was freed from Babylonian
captivity. That temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire in A.D. 70.
Each temple stood for a period of about four centuries.
The Jewish Temple was the center of religious Jewish worship. It housed
the Holy of Holies, which contained the Ark of the Covenant and was said
to be the area upon which God's "presence" dwelt. The Al Aqsa Mosque now
sits on the site.
The temple served as the primary location for the offering of sacrifices
and was the main gathering place in Israel during Jewish holidays.
The Temple Mount compound has remained a focal point for Jewish services
over the millennia. Prayers for a return to Jerusalem have been uttered
by Jews since the Second Temple was destroyed, according to Jewish
tradition. Jews worldwide pray facing toward the Western Wall, a portion
of an outer courtyard of the Temple left intact.
The Al Aqsa Mosque was constructed around A.D. 709 to serve as a shrine
near another shrine, the Dome of the Rock, which was built by an Islamic
caliph. Al Aqsa was meant to mark the place where Muslims came to
believe Muhammad, the founder of Islam, ascended to heaven.
Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Quran. Islamic tradition states
Muhammad took a journey in a single night from "a sacred mosque" –
believed to be in Mecca in southern Saudi Arabia – to "the farthest
mosque," and from a rock there ascended to heaven. The farthest mosque
later became associated with Jerusalem.
Most Waqf officials deny the Jewish temples ever existed in spite of
what many call overwhelming archaeological evidence, including the
discovery of Temple-era artifacts linked to worship, tunnels that snake
under the Temple Mount and over 100 ritual immersion pools believed to
have been used by Jewish priests to cleanse themselves before services.
The cleansing process is detailed in the Torah.
According to the website of the Palestinian Authority's Office for
Religious Affairs, the Temple Mount is Muslim property. The site claims
the Western Wall, which it refers to as the Al-Boraq Wall, previously
was a docking station for horses. It states Muhammed tied his horse,
named Boraq, to the wall before ascending to heaven.
Kamal Hatib, vice-chairman of the Islamic Movement, which will take part
in the podium installation ceremonies, claimed the Al-Aqsa Mosque was
built by angels and that a Jewish Temple may have existed, but not in
Jerusalem. The Movement, which works closely with the Waqf, is the
Muslim group in Israel most identified with the Temple Mount.
"When the First Temple was built by Solomon – God bless him – Al Aqsa
was already built. We don't believe that a prophet like Solomon would
have built the Temple at a place where a mosque existed," said Hatib.
"And all the historical and archaeological facts deny any relation
between the temples and the location of Al Aqsa," he continued. "We must
know that Jerusalem was occupied and that people left many things, coins
and other things everywhere. This does not mean in any way that there is
a link between the people who left these things and the place where
these things were left."
Al Aqsa official: Jewish temples existed
Last June, a former senior leader of the Waqf contradicted his
colleagues by saying he has come to believe the first and second Jewish
Temples existed and stood at the current location of the Al Aqsa Mosque.
The leader, who was dismissed from his Waqf position after he quietly
made his beliefs known, said Al Aqsa custodians passed down stories for
centuries from generation to generation indicating the mosque was built
at the site of the former Jewish temples.
He said the Muslim world's widespread denial of the existence of the
Jewish temples is political in nature and is not rooted in facts.
"Prophet Solomon built his famous Temple at the same place that later
the Al Aqsa Mosque was built. It cannot be a coincidence that these
different holy sites were built at the same place. The Jewish Temple
Mount existed," said the former senior Waqf leader, speaking from an
apartment in an obscure alley in Jerusalem's Old City.
The former leader, who is well known to Al Aqsa scholars and Waqf
officials, spoke on condition his name be withheld, claiming an
on-the-record interview would endanger his life.
He said that "true" Islamic tradition relates the Jewish temples once
stood at the site of the Al Aqsa Mosque.
"[The existence of the Jewish Temple at the site is obvious] according
to studies, researches and archaeological signs that we were also
exposed to. But especially according to the history that passed from one
generation to another – we believe Al Aqsa was built on the same place
were the Temple of the Jews – the first monotheistic religion – existed."
He cited samples of some stories he said were related orally by Islamic
leaders:
"We learned that the Christians, especially those who believed that
Jesus was crucified by the Jews, used to throw their garbage at the
Temple Mount site. They used to throw the pieces of cotton and other
material Christian women used in cleaning the blood of their monthly
cycle. Doing so, they believed that they were humiliating, insulting and
harming the Jews at their holiest site. This way they are hurting them
like Jews hurt Christians when crucifying Jesus.
"It is known also that most of the first guards of Al Aqsa when it was
built were Jews. The Muslims knew at that time that they could not find
any more loyal and faithful than the Jews to guard the mosque and its
compound. They knew that the Jews have a special relation with this place."
Temple Mount: No-prayer zone
Currently, even though the Jewish state controls Jerusalem, the Waqf
serve as the custodians of the Temple Mount under a deal made with the
Israeli government that restricts non-Muslim prayer at the site.
The Temple Mount was opened to the general public until September 2000,
when the Palestinians started their intifada by throwing stones at
Jewish worshipers after then-candidate for prime minister Ariel Sharon
visited the area.
Following the onset of violence, the new Sharon government closed the
Mount to non-Muslims, using checkpoints to control all pedestrian
traffic for fear of further clashes with the Palestinians.
The Temple Mount was reopened to non-Muslims in August 2003. It still is
open but only Sundays through Thursdays, 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 12:30
p.m. to 1:30 p.m., and not on any Christian, Jewish or Muslim holidays
or other days considered "sensitive" by the Waqf.
During "open" days, Jews and Christian are allowed to ascend the Mount,
usually through organized tours and only if they conform first to a
strict set of guidelines, which includes demands that they not pray or
bring any "holy objects" to the site. Visitors are banned from entering
any of the mosques without direct Waqf permission. Rules are enforced by
Waqf agents, who watch tours closely and alert nearby Israeli police to
any breaking of their guidelines.