Report: Iraqi workers erase Hebrew from Prophet Ezekiel's tomb
Iraq government says damage during renovation of nearby mosque was unintentional.
By Haaretz Service Tags: Israel news IraqIraqi workers erased an ancient Hebrew inscription from the tomb of biblical prophet Ezekiel while renovating a nearby mosque, Army Radio reported on Sunday.
The tomb is located south of Baghdad in the village of Al Kilf, and Jews, Christians, and Muslims regularly visit the site.
Professor Shmuel Morre of Hebrew University, who was born in Baghdad, says the historical damage is irreversible. "There are Muslim elements that are attempting to erase the Jewish character of the tomb," Army Radio quoted Morre as saying.
Iraq maintains that the damage was done unintentionally by untrained workers. Professor Morre, however, is skeptical. "I urge UNESCO to supervise the renovations and to have them carried out by professionals and not simple workers," Morre told Army Radio.
"Every year, scores of Babylonian Jews ascended the tomb. It's the holiest site for the Jews of Babylon," Morre said.
According to Army Radio, the Iraqi government dispelled claims the damage was done on purpose, and asserted that it sees the Jewish sites as assets important for tourism. It maintains that the incident isn't only damaging to Jewish history, but is also harmful to the interests of the Iraqi government.
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It is very naive to try to erase history by destroying ancient monuments, since we already know that they existed. . Similarly, fears that history will be erased because monuments were destroyed is also unfounded and naive. Destroyed monuments are a sad and severe lose, but the extent of the lose depends on how much was already studied and recorded. . It is very encouraging that almost all comments are against erasing Jewish history. This, we hope, will some day lead to the restoration of the historical character of Palestine, that was erased by Zionism : Arab toponymies, return of the Arab refugees. Such a restoration will surely be a strong base so that our Jewish brothers and sisters live together with our Arab brothers and sisters. . Of course, today there is no Iraqi government, since Iraq is currently under foreign military occupation. -.
You are correct; ALL non -Moslems are excluded from Mecca and Medina. I don't know if this is better or worse, but imagine how everyone would scream if Israel forbids non-Jews from entering a city in Israel?
When you say Jews are prevented by Moslems from entering, you are (possibly non-intentionally) creating a false impression. It has nothing to do with Jews; ALL non -Moslems are excluded.
change and rewrite history. They did it intentionally and now history will not have the memory of this beautiful prophet who saw the future. Shame on the Iraq government for showing that they have no grace.Terrible for the children of the future.They want to wipe out truth and history. NO respect for history the world will lose theirs
desecration
anything Islamic? Can you imagine what the reaction would be if Israel damaged the Dome of the Rock and said, this hurts Israel as much as it hurts Muslims. Outrageous.
...we were told Iraq wanted Jewish books from Iraq returned because they were part of Iraq's cultural heritage. The Iraqis don't seem to be too careful with their Jewish cultural heritage. THREE CHEERS FOR ISRAEL!!!
...we were told Iraq wanted Jewish books from Iraq returned because they were part of Iraq's cultural heritage. The Iraqis don't seem to be too careful with their Jewish cultural heritage. THREE CHEERS FOR ISRAEL!!!
I just read the verses about Ezekiel in the Bible. The verses about the Valley of the Dry Bones, as well as others, might be interesting to everyone. btw biblegateway.com is an easy way to view them online.
and dreaming of taking over the world as the Quaran says .
The Arab policy is to distort Jewish history. They want to hide Jewish existence, say that Ashkenazis are not Semites and that Jews really did not live in Israel.
shades of the taliban destroying the giant bhuddas in afghanistan. the muslims are again trying to erase all traces of other cultures' historical presence in what they consider ' the muslim caliphate ' of the middle east. then when someone says: ' we were here before you ', the muslims can say: ' oh, yah, prove it.' it's time for the muslims to leave the 7th century & join the rest of the world.
This is no mistake this making news so close to 38 and 39 comming to past
Whether Ezekiel is buried in that location is a matter of speculation. It is entirely possible that he is buried there and that the current structure was built at a later date. What is less likely is that a synagogue was allowed on a site where a mosque had been. This would have required a long unbroken string of very very liberal leaders. Of course, if the inscription were defaced by accident, then we have more confirmation that Saddam Hussein's protection is a myth. On the other hand, were it deliberate, then the current Iraqi regime is doing nothing that is not currently done in Egypt: suppressing any trace of long standing Jewish existence in the country.
Saddam the Protector and failed Bush policies failing to protect the protector
Another curious result of Bush's failed attempt to conquer Iraq. The tomb was protected under Saddam Hussein. The structure dates to the Abbasid Caliphate and the inscription was mediaeval. There is a long tradition concerning the location where once a Synagogue existed which was abandoned when the congregation move to Israel in 1951. Anyone who wishes to believe that Ezekiel was not buried until over a thousand years after his death may. Anyone who remembers yesterday will remember this 'desecration' started last year as part of a government project to 'renovate' the tomb. The intention is to reestablish a Mosque at the site which was destroyed in 18th century.
Damage "done unintentionally by untrained workers" "while renovating a NEARBY mosque"??? Or just another way of trying to "wipe us off the map"... Hitler tried really hard to eradicate us from the face of the earth and this is nothing less than another attempt to eradicate us from history. Same thing happens every day on the Temple Mount where the Wakf destroys every trace of Jewish history they can find and is reminiscent of Jordan's use of Jewish headstones and parts of synagogues for latrines in army barracks and for the construction of streets during their occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Let's not forget the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan in 2001 and Joseph's Tomb in Oct.2000... Wonder what would happen, if we were to destroy Islamic holy sites in Israel...
blahblahblah
This is vandalism and dare we say part of rewriting history and denying Jewish/Hebrew connection.
Or maybe Iranian / Arab tourism makes more profit and fits the plan better.
If there is a picture of the carvings simply replicate them. You can even age them a bit to make them more realistic. Israel could even pay for it to be done.
What's OK for the Muslims is not OK for the rest of the world. They can destroy holy places of others (re this article, churches in Lebanon, those huge statues in Afghanistan, countless sites in WB/Gaza) but if the western world does so much as build a walkway to the Temple Mount or not allow them to build a mosque - watch out. They do what they do best - jihad.
... of what would happen if Palestinians intent on erasing proof of Jewish history in Israel were to gain access to the Dead Sea Scrolls or any other archeological artifacts. Apparently, nothing is greater than their cause.
During the time Jordan occupied parts of Jerusalem, Samaria and Judea, that nation tried to eliminate all signs of Jewish occupancy, from destroying ancient synagoguss, turning gravestones from the Mount of Olives cemetery to road pavers, using the Kotel as a latrine. The aim of the Iraqis to replace the tomb with a mosque is another attempt to erase the fact tht Jews lived in the Middle East long before Mohammed ever existed. Just check on the history of Medina and Mecca, cities which Jews are forbidden by Moslems from entering.
Damage "done unintentionally by untrained workers" "while renovating a NEARBY mosque"??? Or just another way of trying to "wipe us off the map"... Hitler tried really hard to eradicate us from the face of the earth and this is nothing less than another attempt to eradicate us from history. Same thing happens every day on the Temple Mount where the Wakf destroys every trace of Jewish history they can find and is reminiscent of Jordan's use of Jewish headstones and parts of synagogues for latrines in army barracks and for the construction of streets during their occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. (Let's not forget the destruction of Joseph's Tomb in Oct.2000)... Wonder what would happen, if we were to destroy Islamic holy sites in Israel...
Is there a record of the inscription? Replace it. Perhaps it's a message that we should not be worshiping the ancient solely for the sake of its age. If the Iraqis replace the Hebrew text, isn't that act as valuable in a different way? I'm not suggesting that ancient markings be done away with, but rather that the situation may not be irreversible, as long as there are records of the original to use as guides. If there are no guides, then we must do the best we can with what we have. Perhaps it's appropriate to create a new stone plate with new engravings...and made together perhaps. Taken as a lesson, perhaps the reverse can also be done proactively in other areas...perhaps there can be some discussions about shared sites which currently have Islamic character, but might also include some Hebrew character which was previously absent.
Did they even know it is a tomb? Did they know what they were erasing? Is there any way to exhume Ezekiel's body and bury it in Israel, where it won't be vandalized?
the historical sites are ignorant about what they are doing and on many occassions use an axe when they should use a brush. They damaged lots of Somerian and Bebylonian sites too the same way. If Iraq preserved these sites for thousands of years there is little motive to destroy them now. I would attribute this to the general state of chaos that's sweeping the country and has spared no one and no religioun.