Subscribe to Print Edition | Tue., January 22, 2008 Shvat 15, 5768 | | Israel Time: 09:22 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Rosner's Domain
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Advertising
Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File
Last update - 10:26 11/02/2007
Digs, lies and the Mugrabi bridge
By Nadav Shragai

The people who came up with the plan to build the Mugrabi bridge may soon find out that the unfounded hysterical Muslim campaign "to rescue the endangered al-Aqsa Mosque" is the least of their problems.

Shortcuts in plans sometimes turn out to be very expensive and may even prolong the process. The plan to build the new Mugrabi bridge should have been presented to the public properly, as part of a detailed urban plan, which allows for reservations and changes to be submitted. This is required by law as well as by reason. After all, this is a controversial, significant change of landscape in a unique spot facing the Temple Mount and its walls. Even those who support the plan say it is the lesser evil. Clearly the plan would never have materialized had the Mugrabi ramp not collapsed. But it is not at all clear whether the option of renovating the old ramp had been considered with sufficient thought and creativity.

Still, one good thing did happen. The Mugrabi bridge plan exposes the great Muslim denial - the denial of the Jewish bond to Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and the Temple. Dr. Yitzhak Reiter described the whole story in his study, From Jerusalem to Mecca and Back - a must for anyone wishing to understand the roots of Muslim behavior, even in the Mugrabi bridge affair - but his work remained, regrettably, an academic study, failing to prompt an appropriate public relations campaign on Israel's part. Now the public is receiving another demonstration.
Advertisement
Who among us knows, for example, that the al-Aqsa Mosque, which according to contemporary studies was built some 1,400 years ago, is now claimed to have been built at the time of the world's creation, during the days of Adam or Abraham? And who is aware of the fact that increasing numbers of Muslim academics and religious leaders claim it existed even before Jesus and Moses and that Islam preceded Judaism in Jerusalem?

Today, thousands of Islamic rulings, publications and sources deny the Jewish roots in Jerusalem and its holy places. They claim that the Temple didn't even exist in Jerusalem but was located in Nablus or Yemen. An Islamic legal pronouncement (fatwa) on the Jerusalem Waqf (Muslim religious trust) Web site says King Solomon and King Herod did not build the Temple at all, but merely refurbished an existing structure that had been there from the days of Adam. Today, many Muslims call the Temple "the greatest fraud crime in history" and many Muslim adjudicators attach the world "so-called" to the word "temple."

On the southern Islamic movement's Web site, Mohamed Khalaikah cites Israeli archaeologists in support of his theory that there is no trace of the Jews' Temple. He distorts the writings of these archaeologists, whose studies provided findings from Biblical sources corroborating the Temple's existence.

Muslim religious figures attempt to portray the Jewish presence in Jerusalem as having been short-term. The Western Wall is a Muslim site, they argue, and say Jewish affinity for it was invented for political purposes and dates only to the 19th and 20th centuries. Their aim is to disprove the centrality of Jerusalem to Judaism. Above all they stress the "precedence and supremacy of Islam over Judaism, which contaminates the city's Muslim character."

Muslim religious leaders, with at least partial academic backing, are today rewriting Jerusalem's history and introducing new terms and content into Muslim and Palestinian discourse. These terms are total nonsense, even according to known Muslim historians like al Makdessi (who lived in the 11th century). In recent years, this new terminology has penetrated the discourse of Palestinian and Muslim politicians as well. Ehud Barak, Shlomo Ben-Ami and the members of the Israeli delegation were horrified to hear it at the Camp David Summit of 2000 from Yasser Arafat and members of his delegation.

It is therefore easy to understand why the Muslims are so afraid of archaeological digs, not only on the Temple Mount itself but also around it, although these digs also shed light on Jerusalem's Muslim history. Muslims fear these excavations, not because they physically endanger al-Aqsa's foundations, but because they undermine the tissue of lies proclaiming that the Jews have no valid historical roots in the city and its holy sites.
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Message from space
A newly-launched Israeli spy satellite sends Iran a very clear message.
Gravediggers' plight
Even getting buried in the Gaza Strip has gotten more complicated these days.
  1.   I don`t agree 11:02  |  Bandar Michaels 11/02/07
  2.   Lies, lies and more lies 11:19  |  Avraham 11/02/07
  3.   muslims and the truth 11:46  |  sean 11/02/07
  4.   The Third Temple 12:16  |  Dror 11/02/07
  5.   THE EXISTANCE OF ISRAEL MAKES KORAN AND MUHAMMED A LIE ?? 12:56  |  Bill. 11/02/07
  6.   a Lesson in history 13:18  |  Abu Firas Alqudsi 11/02/07
  7.   TEMPLE MOUNT TITLE DEEDS PURCHASED BY KING DAVID OVER 3000 YRS ?? 13:22  |  Bill. 11/02/07
  8.   In response to the comment about Melchitzedek. 13:44  |  sandra chitayat 11/02/07
  9.   #6 13:51  |  Dr. Robert Frosch 11/02/07
  10.   Reply to Abu Firas Alqudsi - 6. 13:51  |  James 11/02/07
  11.   Solution?! 13:53  |  Hiram 11/02/07
  12.   Jerusalem 14:19  |  hameed 11/02/07
  13.   Reply to Hiram - 11. 14:22  |  James 11/02/07
  14.   # 11 Hiram, the Caananites and Islam 14:23  |  Psalm 11/02/07
  15.   #7, billi-Temple title deeds purchased by king david..... 14:32  |  tbora 11/02/07
  16.   Robert Frosch sources 14:44  |  Abu Firas Alqudsi 11/02/07
  17.   Moses did NOT lead the Jews to Jerusalem. 14:46  |  Lebanese admirer 11/02/07
  18.   Moon god of Mecca 14:50  |  Lebanese admirer 11/02/07
  19.   God doesn`t mind synagogues, churches or mosques 14:53  |  Lebanese admirer 11/02/07
  20.   James..the wise Glaswegian 14:55  |  Abu Firas Al qudsi 11/02/07
  21.   Mr. Al Qudsi (Sahih Muslim 234,251) 15:04  |  Brant 11/02/07
  22.   The sad thing is they believe it 15:16  |  James Stevens 11/02/07
  23.   Bandar Michaels post 1 15:17  |  Tulip 11/02/07
  24.   Over the top 15:21  |  TM 11/02/07
  25.   #6 he says fabricated history ? YES ITS THE STORY OF ISLAM 15:24  |  paul harris 11/02/07
  26.   Abu -- no one is claiming otherwise,but your missing a few things 15:24  |  bbl 11/02/07
  27.   hey relax guys! 15:29  |  Hiram 11/02/07
  28.   We are dealing with a culture that does not know what a `fact` is 15:31  |  Shalom Freedman 11/02/07
  29.   These Muslims will find anything to hate Israel. 15:35  |  The Equalizer 11/02/07
  30.   To Abu Firas Alqudsi-#-Respect 15:36  |  Daniel Leopold 11/02/07
  31.   Lebanese admirer-#17-Prophet Muhamad did NOT lead Muslims 15:39  |  Daniel Leopold 11/02/07
  32.   # 19 Lebanese admirer...most sensible post in a long time 15:41  |  albert amato 11/02/07
  33.   lebanese admirer i remember your blood curdling 15:51  |  nahum 11/02/07
  34.   Story of Islam 15:56  |  Ravi 11/02/07
  35.   Brant..not quite 16:01  |  Abu Firas Al Qudsi 11/02/07
  36.   last post on the subject 16:15  |  Abu Firas AL Qudsi 11/02/07
  37.   Abu Firas -- Have Muslims abandoned objective reality? 16:16  |  bbl 11/02/07
  38.   Historical ties dont matter on the map of today! 16:20  |  Fritz 11/02/07
  39.   Abu Firas Alqudsi: Admits Ethnic Cleansing by Caliph Omar I 16:20  |  Ovadiah ben Avraham 11/02/07
  40.   Abu Firas Al Qudsi 16:23  |  Ravi 11/02/07
  41.   The poor downtrodden are the oppressors 16:24  |  B 11/02/07
  42.   Muslims in Spain 16:26  |  CHGODMK 11/02/07
  43.   This reminds me 16:28  |  KUTW 11/02/07
  44.   Abu Firas Alqudsi: Temple is Central to Greek New Testament 16:29  |  Ovadiah ben Avraham 11/02/07
  45.   Arabs continue the tradition 16:37  |  KUTW 11/02/07
  46.   I Wonder Where the New Birthplace of the Prophet Will Be ? 16:38  |  Klaudia 11/02/07
  47.   Fritz, for you historic ties may be very boring; for us, Jews, it 16:51  |  Nadav 11/02/07
  48.   Alqudsi Avoids the Truth 16:54  |  Ovadiah ben Avraham 11/02/07
  49.   They Would Protest Against The Wind If They Were Told To 16:57  |  Tony Anthony 11/02/07
  50.   # 19 Lebanese admirer. QUITE RIGHT,BUT........... 17:11  |  Kath` 11/02/07
  51.   Lebanese Admirer 17:13  |  Psalm 11/02/07
  52.   Lebanese Admirer- and god of Mosques 17:18  |  Psalm 11/02/07
  53.   To All Who Replied To ABu Furas AL-Qudsi 17:24  |  AN Honest American 11/02/07
  54.   Hiram a word of advice 17:25  |  Psalm 11/02/07
  55.   # 18 Moon god of Mecca 17:35  |  Lynn 11/02/07
  56.   # 42 CHGODMK 17:42  |  Lynn 11/02/07
  57.   lies and the Mugrabi bridge 17:48  |  Ralph 11/02/07
  58.   Mr.Abu Firas; you answered to your own questions! 17:54  |  Alicia 11/02/07
  59.   Abu Firas AL Qudsi # 37 Temples & Churches 17:58  |  Jeff Northridge 11/02/07
  60.   to Lebanese admirer 17:58  |  Sol 11/02/07
  61.   Temple 18:14  |  Steve 11/02/07
  62.   Changing History Will Only Be The Beginning! 18:36  |  Peter 11/02/07
  63.   Some Books Deny The Existence Of God 18:38  |  Yosemite 11/02/07
  64.   Lynn #56 18:51  |  CHGODMK 11/02/07
  65.   Abu Firas Al Qudsi: Literary references re: Te 18:52  |  Ed 11/02/07
  66.   Ravi / Story of Islam - 1 18:57  |  Bandar Michaels 11/02/07
  67.   42. CHGODMK: Muslims in Spain 19:03  |  KUTW 11/02/07
  68.   Har Habayit 19:05  |  Dr. David I. Gross 11/02/07
  69.   Ravi / Story of Islam - 2 19:07  |  Bandar Michaels 11/02/07
  70.   Judaism agrees: Islam is monotheistic 19:32  |  Charles B. Hall 11/02/07
  71.   Abu of Abu Tiras #6 19:34  |  Gabe1 11/02/07
  72.   Ovadiah he didn`t produce evidence