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Last update - 14:15 05/02/2007
City of David tunnel excavation proceeds without proper permit
By Meron Rapoport, Haaretz Correspondent, and Reuters

The excavation of a tunnel under Jerusalem's City of David has gone on for months without a license from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), as required by law.

In addition, there is no operative plan for developing the site by the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority (INNPPA), which legally administers the area.

Nevertheless, no steps are being taken against the two IAA archaeologists who violated their license; instead, they are being allowed to dig in an area extending another 100 meters, to "explore" the site.
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The archaeologists, Professor Gabi Reich and Eli Shukrun, began the dig in the area of the village of Silwan a few months ago, following the discovery of part of a road that may have been Jerusalem's main street in the Second Temple era. The dig is being financed by Elad, an association that, inter alia, works to settle Jews in East Jerusalem.

Late last year, the archaeologists showed senior government officials a plan to continue tunneling under Silwan to the Old City's Dung Gate, some 600 meters away, and perhaps even as far as the wall around the Temple Mount.

The goal, they said, was to expose the entire length of the Roman road, on the assumption that it originally led from the Silwan spring to the mount. Shukrun told Haaretz last week that the project would take about three years.

This is a very sensitive region for a dig. Should it approach the Temple Mount wall, it will certainly elicit angry reactions from the Muslim Waqf (religious trust), which has repeatedly accused Israel of trying to excavate under the holy places on the mount.

Moreover, most of the excavation site is inhabited by Palestinians, and thus far, no effort has been made to get their permission, as required by law, for digging on and under their property.

But on top of all that, it recently emerged that the dig violates the terms of the license that the archaeologists received in January 2006, and has not been approved by the INNPPA.

Dr. Gideon Avni of the IAA discovered this situation when he visited the dig in December. The current excavation, he wrote the archaeologists, "is not included in any way" on their license application. "Therefore, this is an unlicensed excavation."

At about the same time, Dr. Zvika Tsuk, the INNPPA's chief archaeologist, informed the IAA that the dig had received no permit from his organization. "In 2004, you received a permit, but never submitted a report," he wrote. "In 2005, you received a permit, but never filed a report, and in 2006, you have been digging in the City of David without a permit. I demand that the excavations be halted immediately."

Senior archaeologists told Haaretz that usually, archaeologists who violate the terms of their license are punished by being denied the right to continue excavating. But in this case, the IAA decided to extend Reich and Shukrun's license to dig in Silwan.

IAA spokeswoman Osnat Goaz said that following a "comprehensive inquiry," and in light of "the INNPPA's intention to develop the site being excavated for tourism purposes, the area of the dig was enlarged in the license granted for 2007."

But INNPPA spokesman Moshe Gabay said that there is currently "no operative plan" to develop the area for tourism, nor did the organization approve an expanded dig. Instead, he said, it approved only an "exploratory dig" of 50 to 100 meters, after which a decision will be made.

Hamas: Israel 'playing with fire' by digging near Al-Aqsa mosque
The exiled political leader of Hamas on Sunday condemned excavations by Israeli archaeologists near Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque and warned they were "playing with fire."

"I have a stern warning for the enemy," Khaled Meshal said at a news conference in the Syrian capital.

"Sharon's desecration of the Aqsa sparked the 2000 uprising. The Israeli leadership must learn from this lesson. We have confidence in our people, its masses, all of its groups and military wings," he added.

A Palestinian uprising erupted in September 2000 after a visit, condemned in the Arab world, by then opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the mosque compound in East Jerusalem, which Israel conquered in the 1967 Six Day War.

"Israel knows what its violation of the holy Aqsa will bring. It is playing with fire," Meshal said.

The exiled Hamas leader accused Israel of exploiting internal Palestinian strife, saying, "We are facing a dangerous action. Jerusalem's Muslim and Christian holy sites are dear to all Palestinians. Israel is trying to take advantage of the Palestinian internal conflict to commit its crimes," Meshal said.

The Aqsa and Dome of the Rock mosques sit above the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, in an area referred to by Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as the al-Haram al-Sherif.

The Aqsa Mosque is Islam's third holiest shrine and has been a flashpoint for Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the past.

In the 1980s, Israel uncovered a plot by a group of Jews to blow up Aqsa in the hope that a new Jewish temple could be built at the site.

Muslim scholars say the excavations violate Aqsa's sanctity. Israeli officials say the work would not harm the structure of the mosque, which dates from the seventh century
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  1.   Play with fire! 23:41  |  Jon 04/02/07
  2.   Hypocrites 23:58  |  Where`s Waldo 04/02/07
  3.   what a laugh 23:58  |  schafe82 04/02/07
  4.   hey meshal 00:05  |  vik 05/02/07
  5.   Holy Hypocrisy 00:17  |  * BEN JABO 05/02/07
  6.   "Al Aqsa" must be removed, becose it as constructed illeagaly. 01:10  |  Like it is 05/02/07
  7.   The Truth 02:21  |  hallobzeh 05/02/07
  8.   why are jews not allowed to enter the Temple Mount by other jews? 02:24  |  Bill 05/02/07
  9.   Hypocrite!! 02:32  |  Webster 05/02/07
  10.   holy sites 02:34  |  schafe82 05/02/07
  11.   IT IS TIME TO TELL HAMAS THAT IT IS PLAYING WITH FIRE 02:58  |  Meir Weinstein 05/02/07
  12.   Facts on the ground 03:24  |  Rollin 05/02/07
  13.   #9 Holy Site / Dismantling the Mosque 03:32  |  Rollin Again 05/02/07
  14.   Meshal - stop complaining - it`s getting old 03:47  |  Garry Wolf 05/02/07
  15.   we have to be respectful but firm and proceed not back down out 03:54  |  ralph 05/02/07
  16.   must tell hamas they are playing with fire. we must win this 03:55  |  ralph 05/02/07
  17.   Jews have respect for other religious sites 04:04  |  Avrum 05/02/07
  18.   The paradox of Archaeology 04:21  |  Mark Lincoln 05/02/07
  19.   And what have the Palestinians learnt? 04:26  |  Jon 05/02/07
  20.   Meshal: "Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor`s Goods!" 04:29  |  Lavi 05/02/07
  21.   And the Waqf`s reconstruction of Temple Mount? 04:52  |  Archaeology is truth 05/02/07
  22.   Muslim squatters on our Temple Mount 04:54  |  Yakov 05/02/07
  23.   Sunni Hamas is playing with fire by sleeping with Shiite-Iran 04:55  |  Joseph E . 05/02/07
  24.   City of David dig 05:09  |  David G 05/02/07
  25.   Fair and balanced coverage? 05:56  |  KT 05/02/07
  26.   juicy archaeology 06:02  |  nehemia dB 05/02/07
  27.   Maybe it is time for a little reciprocity 06:14  |  nehemia dB 05/02/07
  28.   Judaism`s holiest site? 06:30  |  David K. 05/02/07
  29.   No fact-checking 06:54  |  cab 05/02/07
  30.   Fear of the Truth 07:01  |  Israeli Academic 05/02/07
  31.   wrong. we must act with firm, careful thought and action on our 08:04  |  ralph 05/02/07
  32.   we owe same respect they showed for rachels and josephs tomb! 08:06  |  ralph 05/02/07
  33.   The Govt didn`t stop the Waqf... 08:56  |  David Teich 05/02/07
  34.   Sharon NEVER incited 2000 Intifada. It was already underway! 09:02  |  Robert Blum 05/02/07
  35.   Mashaal`s horrible nightmare. 09:24  |  Nora 05/02/07
  36.   We all play with fire 09:31  |  Stephano 05/02/07
  37.   Intifatha or a Paralyse State ? 09:52  |  Akram Zekaria 05/02/07
  38.   moriya 09:55  |  refael peretz 05/02/07
  39.   Extenuating circumstances 10:25  |  Colin Wright 05/02/07
  40.   Re #34 `...the intifada was already underway` 10:34  |  Colin Wright 05/02/07
  41.   Re: Yakov: Muslim suatters 10:42  |  Jerry 05/02/07
  42.   40: If it was easy, why couldn`t you do it Colin? 10:55  |  David Teich 05/02/07
  43.   Meron Rapoport 10:58  |  Baruch 05/02/07
  44.   The intolerence of Jews 11:29  |  Sameer 05/02/07
  45.   David #28 -- lest you confuse folks 11:50  |  bbl 05/02/07
  46.   The whole article of Mahmoud Benvenisti could be replaced by 1 li 11:51  |  Absolute Sweden 05/02/07
  47.   Colin Wright -- don`t insult the Palestinians 12:01  |  bbl 05/02/07
  48.   Taliban in GAZA 12:34  |  Rich 05/02/07
  49.   Sameer -- learn a little before you post, please 12:44  |  bbl 05/02/07
  50.   Something you all miss!!! 13:07  |  Itsik 05/02/07
  51.   #40 Get your facts straight 13:08  |  D Hirod 05/02/07
  52.   Sameer: Don`t lie (if possible...) 13:37  |  David Teich 05/02/07
  53.   50: Itsik, quit inventing 13:53  |  David Teich 05/02/07
  54.   lies on both sides have to stop 14:27  |  Richard S 05/02/07
  55.   Sameer: you mean sights unseen. 14:42  |  Shlomo 05/02/07
  56.   To Richard NO 54 14:48  |  Abraham 05/02/07
  57.   # 18 Mark Lincoln 14:50  |  Lynn 05/02/07
  58.   Fire is exactly what the provacateurs want 14:55  |  Yaakov Sullivan 05/02/07
  59.   There is nothing wrong whatsoever 15:06  |  Shlomo from Tel-Aviv 05/02/07
  60.   #50 Itzik - lay of the land 15:21  |  Kate 05/02/07
  61.   Israeli Academic, raising an acedemic point 15:25  |  Yaakov Sullivan 05/02/07
  62.   meshal, and what his people hold dear 15:32  |  natan 05/02/07
  63.   Smear #44 15:36  |  natan 05/02/07
  64.   Archeology as Political Weapon 15:36  |  Yaakov Sullivan 05/02/07
  65.   Archaelogy is indeed a science 16:04  |  Ilan 05/02/07
  66.   INTERESTING ARTICLE ! 16:14  |  David 05/02/07
  67.   jews lack courage 16:31  |  Samuel 05/02/07
  68.   #64 Who Digs Israel? 16:49  |  Kate 05/02/07
  69.   Sorry Ariel 16:49  |  Mark Lincoln 05/02/07
  70.   Mea culpa, I worked on this site as an architect... 16:55  |  zmogus 05/02/07
  71.   It is Israels land and Israels call...stop terror if you want