For those who are home, and for those who are on the way. For those who support the historic and just return of the land of Israel to its people, forever loyal to their inheritance, and its restoration.
Showing posts with label ARCHAEOLOGICAL DESTRUCTION. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ARCHAEOLOGICAL DESTRUCTION. Show all posts
Shaul Bartal..
Middle East Quarterly..
Summer 2012..
On August 26, 2010, a violent clash broke out between Jewish and Arab residents of Silwan, a predominantly Muslim village outside the southern end of the walled Old City of Jerusalem. The name derives from the biblical "Shiloah" and its subsequently Graecized "Siloam."
On the face of it, the sparring that erupted over a gate built illegally by Arab residents may seem like a miniature version of the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians over who controls the Holy Land. But reducing the struggle to a mere real estate dispute misses a critical point in understanding the persistence of the larger conflict. For the battle of Silwan is a microcosm of a larger fight, one in which one side, the Palestinian, seeks to erase the existence of the other—not merely through traditional armed conflict but also by rewriting history.
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Jews from around the world will celebrate their ancient heritage in Hebron this weekend, when the Torah portion known as “Chaye Sarah” is read in synagogues recounting Abraham’s purchase of the Cave of Machpela in Hebron as a family burial ground. The Bible relates that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their wives were buried in the cave.
But now that the Palestinian Authority has been admitted to UNESCO as a “member state,” the Palestinian Authority plans to ask the organization to declare several sites in Jerusalem and the West Bank, including the Cave of Machpela, as international heritage sites belonging to Palestine, not Israel.
Furthermore, the PA plans to sue Israel for “stealing Palestinian antiquities.”
“We will take Israel to court for systematically destroying and forging Arab and Islamic culture in Jerusalem,” said Hatem Abdel Qader, former PA minister for Jerusalem affairs, after the UNESCO vote.
PA Minister of Tourism Khuloud Daibes alleges that Israel’s renovations of Jerusalem’s Old City walls and its intention to replace the crumbling Mughrabi Bridge at the southern entrance to the Temple Mount are hostile attempts to “change the Islamic and Arabic character of the city.”
If this weren’t so funny, it would be outrageous. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!
Israel minted the international gold standard for unimpeded religious worship in Jerusalem, and for painstaking preservation of Moslem and Christian holy sites and archaeological sites across Israel. In civilized and professional circles, Israel is recognized as having contributed enormously to the excavation, study and preservation of Holy Land historical sites and relics.
The Temple Mount sifting project has been in existence since November 2004 under the direction of archaeologists Dr. Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Zweig, the support and management of the Ir-David Foundation, the help of private donors and the cooperation of the Israel National Parks authority.
In October 1999, the Islamic Waqf, the Moslem trust, and the Islamic Movement conducted an illegal construction operation on the south-east corner of the Temple Mount. This operation included a dig which inflicted much irreparable archaeological damage. These actions are also part of a general trend by the Islamic Waqf to prevent any archaeological research on the mount that may reveal elements of its Jewish past. But the main goal of this construction was to create “facts on the ground” by turning every vacant point on the mount into a mosque. The Waqf also converted the underground chamber that they dug out and the entrance to it, known as “Solomon’s Stables” into a Mosque for prayer, the third on the Temple Mount. The earth from this shameful operation, bursting with archeological wealth relevant to Jewish, Christian and Moslem history, was removed by heavy machinery and unceremoniously dumped by trucks into the nearby Kidron Valley. Although the archeological finds in the earth are already not in situ, this soil still contains great archeological potential. No archeological excavation was ever conducted on the Temple Mount, and this soil is the only archeological information that has ever been available to anyone. The first task of our project was moving the earth from the Kidron Valley to the Tzurim Valley National Park. Some of the soil was then sifted by a mechanical portable screener, in order to minimize the amount of sifting done by hand. We then began to manually sift the rest of the soil. We began a process of washing the material and scrutinizing it to identify all the archaeological artifacts.
The archaeological importance of the project
Our (and your) finds are unique because they are part of the first archaeological project that has ever examined artifacts from the Temple Mount. Therefore, every find is very important and exceptional. Even the smallest piece of pottery that you find can be dated to a certain period of history which, when processed statistically, will help us understand the amount and types of activities that took place on the Temple Mount throughout history. The project’s deeper meaning Of course, we also consider our work with the earth from the Temple Mount to be an expression of our spiritual connection to this wonderful and holy place that was, and remains a vital part of our history and culture. When we began the project we couldn’t imagine that we would receive such an enormous amount of help. We thought that after a few months we would have seen the last volunteer and sifted through most of the debris, but in a short time, we realized that this was not the case. It is no coincidence that this type of project depends on volunteers’ participation. This project is not a task for a small, clique of archaeologists, but rather a responsibility, duty and privilege of the entire Jewish people and those who support them. Therefore, this undertaking cannot be a brief operation over within a few months, but a meaningful and sustained project lasting many years. This idea is movingly expressed in the Book of Psalms:
Thou wilt arise, and have compassion upon Zion; for it is time to be gracious unto her, for the appointed time is come: For Thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and love her dust (psalms 102: 14-15).
I visited Hevron in November 2000 after the outbreak of the Rosh Hashanah War to see what could be done to assist in the face of the growing daily attacks on the community. After returning to work for the community in the summer of 2001, a bond and a love was forged that grows to this day. My wife Melody and I merited to be married at Ma'arat HaMachpela and now host visitors from throughout the world every Shabbat as well as during the week. Our goal, "Time to come Home!"
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