Government 'tried to bury' report on Temple Mount excavations
Knesset to discuss 'suppressed' report on potentially explosive Temple Mount excavations.
By Nir Hasson Tags: Israel news Temple Mount JerusalemIt is over two months since State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss completed his report on excavations at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem – yet the Knesset will only discuss his findings this week, giving rise to charges that the government tried to suppress the controversial document.
The report has not yet been published but Knesset sources who have seen it say it contents are so sensitive that they could spark riots once revealed.
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Western Wall |
| Photo by: David Bachar |
Lindenstrauss, whose office functions as the government's official watchdog, was in 2007 tasked with investigating two trenches being dug on the Mount, which is known to Muslim as the Haram-al-Sharif and is the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam, after the work sparked protests from archeologists.
The excavations are being carried out by the Waqf, an Islamic body which run Muslim sites, in order to lay electrical cables. Knesset sources say the report has indentified damage to archeological remains caused by the digging.
Any digging at the site in the heart of Jerusalem's Old City is potentially explosive. In 1996 Benjaim Netanyahu, then in his first term as prime minister, ordered the opening of a tunnel beneath the Western Wall, sparking riots in which 80 people were killed.
In 2000 Ariel Sharon, then leader of the opposition, provoked Arab outrage when he ascended the mount - often cited as the event that ignited the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising.
But while any controversy at the holy site carries the danger of violence, some members of the Knesset subcommittee due to discuss the findings say they have been suppressed to mask the shortcomings of government bodies, rather then because of security concerns.
Lindenstrauss's report is expected to point the finger at government bodies, as well as the Waqf, in failing to monitor work on the site. The national Antiquities Authority, the police the Prime Minister's Office, the Attorney General and the Jerusalem municipality are all expected to come under fire.
The Comptroller will conclude the Antiquities Authority and the municipality were effectively evicted from the Temple Mount after the 1996 disturbances, leaving supervision of development work in the hands of the police, which was unequipped for the task.
Police have so far failed to open to a single file on destruction of antiquities.
"The likelihood is that the Waqf has carried out hundreds of illegal excavations, construction projects and demolitions," said Shmuel Berkovitch, an expert on Jerusalem's holy places.
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The prophet Zecharia foretold that 'Jerusalem will be a burdensome stone to the nations' He said it would happen in the last days prior to the appearing of the Messiah.
The Israeli Government failed to protect the Temple Mount for fear of Arab violence. The Arabs shouln't be allowed to use violence to prevent Israel to preserve Jewish holy sites. It's an outrage. Once again the world is silent about it. When the Taliban destroyed the Budha in Afganistan there was world outrage. Any destroying of Jewish sites is ignored. Classic antisemitism.
It doesn't make sense, the area is not Arab. the Arabs are trying to take it and it is so obvious what the Arabs are doing!
N-O-T-H-I-N-G
Ariel Sharon's ascent of the mount in 2000 didn't cause the Palestinian Uprising, it only ignited it because of the intolerance of the Palestinians. But nobody talks about that, they only mention the good things about Muslims and the bad things about non-Muslims. Political correctness at an extreme.
First they begin with our archaeological history to erase our past, and then they intend to push us into the sea to eliminate our future.
I mean, the Arabs were never strong on that, so we were only doing our civic duty...
demolitions endanger the foundations of the mosque in Haram al sharif and no one would be stupid enough to do that but those who want it to "fall alone".... we all know who is carrying the excavation. The Waqf has no authority to excavate or change anything without Israel's permission and Israel is always present at all sites... this is just ridiculous news.
What is ridiculous is that you have dismissed factual information that has been known (and now investigated) for years. The excavations have been ongoing. Nobody in the world but you has suggested that they are not. The Waqf certainly agrees that these things have been happening; why can't you?
Islam adopted from the Jews its belief in one G-d, circumcision, kashrut practices, and keeping holy days, etc., but it went too far when it confiscated militarily the holiest place of Judaism, The Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This holy city only blossomed in history and became of world renown when the Jews who loved the very stones and dust thereof were the caretakers of this promised land. The Islamic usurpers of history will come to naught for their destruction and denigration of Jewish artifacts below their feet on the Temple Mount and will bear the curse of G-d, as others before them.
The spineless government should be ashamed! We know what the Waqf and their supporters are and inspectors with guards must be assigned to any 'work' they do. It was a mistake to give them municipality in this holy area and we've been receiving reports over the years from eye witnesses and even admission from their own workers that they destroy or disregard evidence of the past. Either disband them or trial them and assign inspectors with guards. Israelis have a right to know someone is destroying their heritage and any outrage is justified but unlike our neighbors it's likely not to be heavy
1-Dug tunnels all over the city 2-Specialists at making up stories of findings 3-Destryoing any artifact that does not relate to them 4-If they forge ineternational passportsm they sure can forge inscriptions on "Rocks" Move on! You have beeen exposed on all levels =)
You can visit the Istanbul Archeological Museum in where the Turks have on display the original stone (engraved in Greek) warning Gentiles not to proceed to the Temple precincts. This artifact was excavated by Charles Clermont Ganneau and shipped to Turkey over 130 years ago. You think they made it up?
You can visit the Istanbul Archeological Museum in where the Turks have on display the original stone (engraved in Greek) warning Gentiles not to proceed to the Temple precincts. This artifact was excavated by Charles Clermont Ganneau and shipped to Turkey over 130 years ago. You think they made it up?
Once again the Waqf is engaged in practices which are inexcusable. ANY failure to carry out responsible archaeological excavation and recording during construction in and around Jerusalem is beyond contempt.
i mean, riots about graves in ashkelon, but silence about destroying the most important heritage of the jewish people?
All anybody has to do is type in "Archeological destruction at Temple Mount" and a whole slew of websites pop-up. These have been there for what?the last ten years! So who exactly will be angry? The Arabs for some unknown reason were given authority over those digs..I guess for political correctness sake...and the Arabs have been systematically destroying all evidence of the Jewish historical past. This is to fit in with their fabricated history about Jewish people and make up whatever outrageous lies they want. People worldwide should be outraged at this intentional historical destruction conducted by the Arabs to rob mankind of our rightful history. Even more outrageous, it's being done to achieve political goals. These guys are destroying 3000 year old Jewish history, and have the gall to riot if somebody steps on the Dome of the Rock. So Arabs can destroy Jewish history but Jewish people can't even step on the Rock, sounds typical.
should be a non war zone under the protection of unesco
it demonstrates that we are all incompetent.Even if by act of omission,by giving police responsibility that they are unable to handle. Why can there not be a JOINT committee of Muslim and Arab and Christian PLUS representatives who are 'neutral' to oversee EVERYTHING that happens on or near holy sites.. Maybe if Sharon had NOT gone on temple mount,the Muslims would not have been able to use it as an excuse to intifada.Riots and disorder benefit no-one. And why report in this 'cloak and dagger'style .Either there ARE facts or not.If there ARE facts and they are harmful,then they should be discussed not suppressed as they will surface at the most inappropriate time....unless of course this is all mischief making from either side to spoil chances of peace talks?
"Why can there not be a JOINT committee of Muslim and Arab and Christian PLUS representatives who are 'neutral' " - what about the Jews?
And "facts" are irrelevant in the face of politics
I would like to correct a seemingly trivial error, that in fact is anything but trivial. The 5th paragraph refers to the opening of the Western Wall tunnel BENEATH the Western Wall. When this tunnel was opened, it indeed sparked major rioting -- mostly because the Arab press said that it was BENEATH the El Aksa Mosque and thus threatened the stability of the mosque. In fact the tunnel is NEXT TO and OUTSIDE the Western Wall and in no way compromises the structure or enters into the holy area of the Temple Mount or Haram-el-Sharif. When discussing such sensitive issues, precise language is critical -- and expected from a newspaper the caliber of HaAretz.
It's a simple construct in open air and no digging was involved. Why are they allowed to twist reality to their ends but we're not allowed to hear the painful truth of the damage they cause to our heritage?
Actually you are wrong. The tunnel was dug through debris along the outside of the wall, and intersects with a Roman Street. The debris fill voids under arches that were built to support houses above. Also to set the record straight, the tunnel was dug long before Natanyahu. All he did was allow for an exit to be opened at the end of the tunnel, through a small store, to facilitate tourism.
Jerusalem and the worship place of the people living in the city..no one did any digging in the area until the Waqf start putting electrical wires !!
Many places like Massada, Tel Dan, Tomb of Ttankaman in Egypt, etc...were not excavated for thousands of years. The point is why shouldn't any excavations be done with cooperation of Palestinians and Israelis? Unless one side has something to hide.....
Your moniker claims some superior hold to our Holy Land. So can you trace your lineage back to the original ten tribes of Israel? Otherwise your claim of indigenous is disingenuous.
and all for the sake of upholding and verifying the historicity of the bible-not to refute,or even dispute it.
That's a big deal, it will serve the deep Israel needs those reclaimed by the rightist, those who care about our history... I'm not talking about the Hareidim who are afraid to believe in the reality of the time...
the left denies there was a Jewish Temple. No wonder they supress
... so we were sure it refered to the original Reform Synagogue... they call all theirs Temple this or Temple that...
The government is afraid of the Wakf. It is an open secret that the Wakf is causing tremendous damage to the temple mount and the government does nothing.
Israel signed a treaty with Jordan the covers a lot of issues. I know that Netanyahu has disavowed all prior agreements of all prior Israeli governments. but the Treaty language may have some relevance, nonetheless.
"I know that Netanyahu has disavowed all prior agreements of all prior Israeli governments." Really? And where, exactly, do you "know" this from? We'd all like to see your source for this. It would be very interesting to see, especially since Netanyahu has stated repeatedly and explicitly, bothe before and after he became PM, that he accepts *all* prior agreements of *all* prior governments, and this is written *explicitly* in his government's coalition guidelines. So again, from where do you "know" that he has "disavowed all prior agreements of all prior Israeli governments"?
on arguments with Mark of Lewiston? He is one of the known rabid antisemites posting several times a day on this site. He will disappear as soon he has loaded his freight. BTW it is far easier for him to get through with a posting here on Haaretz as for a neutral comentator.
Too many for my liking rabid your an anti-Semite labelers because of their lack of ability to make an intelligent comment on anything. These talkbacks are infested with them.
the goal is to nurture non violence in the Palestinian society, to end the barbaric indecent policies of the Grand Mufti, Wafq and Hamas... The rest will be easy. The hypocritical supporters of the extreme Palestinian claims harm all of us.
That's interesting, Lurker. We can all remember Netinyahu's repeated statement to the Palestinians that any talks would have to start from scratch, and he was not bound by what previous governments had said. So the coalition guidelines state that he would be? Can you give a reference? And does this mean that we have to add coalition guidelines to the - already quite impressive - list of binding commitments which Netanyahu ignores?
ther is a difference between what has signed formers governements and what they spoke about. netaniahou is linked just by what is signed
Previous government *agreements*. Not proposals which were refused by Arabs at the time and therefore did not become agreements.
Netanyahu is NOT bound by what previous governments "said." However, treaties are another matter.
Lurker - What did Netanyahu campaign on - "Everything must start from scratch." MichaelB - I go to bed. Being anti Likud is not antisemitism. Read Murray's & Jake's comments.
This is the first treaty between the US and Israel. It provides, inter alia, for freedom of entry and travel for all Americans in any territory controlled by Israel, WITHOUT EXCEPTION. It does not provide for Israel to exclude some American Jews and all Americans with Arabic family names, just because. Netanyahu's government repeatedly and persistently treats this treaty as toilet paper, just as Olmert's and Sharon's governments did.
The Israeli Government has effectively abdicated from any control or ownership of Judaism's holiest site & a site holy to Christians. The result is a complete rejection of religious freedom for non-Muslims. It is forbidden for Jews and Christians to even move ones lips in what might be interpreted by an onlooker as prayer at this holy place. Anyone breaching this rule is liable to arrest by the Israeli police. What a joke this makes of democratic rights.
After the 6-Day War when the whole of Jerusalem was in our hands,& the Arabs were scared to oppose anything.Enter Dayan ! He wanted to behave magnanimously,he Dayan with all his experience with the Arabs & even a smattering of Arabic,completely misunderstood the Arab culture of agreeing in your face but plotting to disavow any agreement if made when they were down. Dayan lost the Jewish Temple mount to the Palestinians. At that time there was a story making the rounds that Saudi Arabia was willing to pay Israel 4 million $$ to take charge of the Omar Mosque & the el-Aqsa. Dayan refused.. Maybe the story is true ! (Most probably it is )
Christians view the Holy Sepulchre ( Tomb of Christ) as the holiets palce.Not the temple mount or AlHaram al sharif. We , xians , respect those places for their significance histroicaly and for reverence to other faiths.