The Temple Mount Needs to be Secured Now - by David M. Weinberg

Had a 100-kilogram rampart stone fallen into the Mount where Moslems gather or pray – Israel would be excoriated, even though Wakf digging may be to blame.

David M. Weinberg..
A Citadel Defending Zion..
27 July '18..
Link: https://www.davidmweinberg.com/2018/07/26/secure-the-temple-mount-now/

The 100-kilogram stone that burst out of the Western Wall this week and came crashing down on a plaza two meters away from a Jewish woman in prayer has raised questions over stability of the entire Temple Mount edifice.

It’s possible, say scientists and archaeologists, that the stone was weakened from its moorings by water seeping through the soil fill behind the wall or by vegetation growing within the wall itself.

But it is also possible that the Jerusalem Wakf Islamic Religious Trust which runs the Mount caused the near-catastrophe. It continues to conduct illegal digging projects and unsupervised underground renovations on the Temple Mount.

“We need to find out what is happening on the other side” of the wall, said Prof. Eilat Mazar this week. While the use of tractors, trucks and heavy machinery is ostensibly forbidden there, “every time they use an industrial tool – even for drilling – it influences the walls,” she said.

Mazar, of the archaeology institutes at the Hebrew University and Shalem College, has published a monumental survey of every single stone that makes up the Western Wall and Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount), and she currently leads digs in the Ophel south of the Mount.

She feels that the massive Herodian-built Temple Mount superstructure is relatively stable overall, but that there are sections that need closer inspection and preservation. This is especially true of the southeastern corner of the wall, located in the Davidson’s Archaeological Park. Mazar has warned for several years that a big bulge is protruding from the stone wall in this section.

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) plans a scan of the southern and eastern sections of the Temple Mount walls, but it has not been carried out – because everything related to the Temple Mount is diplomatically sensitive. Just getting agreement on who is responsible for inspecting and fixing stones is complicated.

And yet, the matter is urgent. Can you imagine what the Moslem and global reaction would have been if a 100-kilogram rampart stone had fallen into the Temple Mount and onto a plaza where Moslems gather or pray? Israel would be excoriated by the UN Security Council, unjustifiably of course, for “demolishing Moslem shrines” – and no consideration would be given to the fact that out-of-control Wakf excavations may be to blame.

Once Again Refuting Jewish History Deniers

...The Israeli government, then as now run by the supposedly hard line right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu, was so interested in keeping the peace that it made no effort to stop what must be considered the greatest act of archeological vandalism in history. Indeed, the Wakf’s actions must rank with the efforts of the Taliban and ISIS to destroy the vestiges of pre-Islamic cultures in areas under their control. But while the Taliban and ISIS merely wish to erase evidence of pre-Muslim religions in the region, the Wakf, supported by the Palestinian Authority, had a more specific agenda: denying Jewish history.

Jonathan S. Tobin..
Commentary Magazine..
25 September '15..

In recent weeks, the conflict over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem has heated up.

Palestinians have grown increasingly violent in their effort to prevent Jews from entering the site of the two Biblical Temples that constitutes the holiest spot in Judaism. Though the state of Israel has left in place rules that prevent Jews from praying there, the Arab states and the United Nations regard the desire of Jews to visit the compound as an insult to Islam. Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has called upon his people to resist the efforts of Israelis to “desecrate” holy places with “their stinking Jewish feet.” This effort to whip up Arab hate against the Jews, is a cynical act that has several precedents in Palestinian history that inevitably led to the shedding of Jewish blood. But while Israeli efforts to stop the uptick in terror in Jerusalem are being met with unfair criticism, the truth about the struggle over the sacred plateau is best illustrated by the news of a startling archeological discovery.

Researchers sifting through rubble from the Temple Mount that was dumped outside the walls by Muslim authorities have found an ancient stone seal that dates to the 10th and 11th centuries before the Common Era. That is the period of the reigns of the biblical Kings David and Solomon when the first temple was built on the site. While the find will, as is inevitable, will provoke the usual fierce debate among scholars over any such discovery, it nonetheless provides an important context to the political struggle over the Temple Mount and Jerusalem.

The reason why some will question the significance of the seal is that it was found among the 40 tons of dirt excavated by heavy machinery from the ground of the Temple Mount in the 1990s. That excavation was ordered by the Muslim Wakf that Israel has allowed to administer the site and its mosques since Jerusalem’s reunification in 1967 and was the result of a mosque building project. Though this is one of the key historic sites in the world, the Wakf had no interest in preserving the vast treasure trove of artifacts that are contained in the 35-acre Temple Mount compound. Indeed, judging by the brutality of its methods and its decision to simply dump the contents of their excavation in the Kidron Valley outside the walled city, it appears the Wakf was as interested in trashing any possible evidence of the history of this place as they were in improving their facilities.

The Israeli government, then as now run by the supposedly hard line right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu, was so interested in keeping the peace that it made no effort to stop what must be considered the greatest act of archeological vandalism in history. Indeed, the Wakf’s actions must rank with the efforts of the Taliban and ISIS to destroy the vestiges of pre-Islamic cultures in areas under their control. But while the Taliban and ISIS merely wish to erase evidence of pre-Muslim religions in the region, the Wakf, supported by the Palestinian Authority, had a more specific agenda: denying Jewish history.

The Temple Mount: Second Temple-era mikveh discovered under Al-Aqsa mosque

Nadav Shragai..
Israel Hayom..
29 June '12..




In 1927, an earthquake struck Jerusalem, killing 130 people, wounding 450 and destroying or heavily damaging about 300 buildings, including Al-Aqsa mosque. The Muslim waqf, led by Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini, began restoring the mosque. Robert Hamilton, the director of the antiquities department during the Mandatory period in pre-state Israel, spotted an opportunity in the midst of disaster.

Hamilton took advantage of this unexpected window of opportunity to reach an agreement with the waqf that would allow archaeological investigation on the Temple Mount, for the first time ever, in the area where the mosque had collapsed. Hamilton documented the reconstruction work done by the waqf, photographed, sketched, excavated, analyzed and wrote about a series of findings, some of them surprising.

But this unprecedented cooperation between the British archaeologist and the Muslim clerics was not without a price. In the book that Hamilton later published, he makes no mention of any findings that the Muslims would have found inconvenient. It was no coincidence that these findings came from two historical periods that preceded the Muslim period in Jerusalem: the Second Temple era and the Byzantine era. These findings were hidden deep in the Mandatory archives department (which today is part of the Antiquities Authority archives in the Rockefeller Museum). These days they are finally coming to light.

Eighty years later, Hamilton’s hidden findings are providing support for similar findings unearthed by two Israeli archaeologists, Dr. Gabi Barkai and Zachi Dvira. For the past seven years, Barkai and Dvira have been working on a unique project: sifting tons of earth that the waqf removed from the Temple Mount in the dead of night about 13 years ago. This earth is filled with tiny archaeological findings.

Some important background: In 1999, during preparations to install the gates of Al-Marwani mosque in Solomon’s Stables at the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount, the Muslims brought in bulldozers and dug a pit deep and wide. This scandal, which has already been described in the most condemnatory terms possible, led recently to a comprehensive report by the State Comptroller’s Office — a report that is, unfortunately, classified. Still, some good has come from the bad.

Video: Archaeologist Says Arabs Broke Temple Mount Status Quo

Yoni Kempinski
IsraelNationalNews.com
04 November 09

(IsraelNN.com) In wake of the claims that Israel is excavating under the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount and undermining Muslim mosques in order to cause them to collapse, archaeologist Dr. Gabriel Barkai told IsraelNN TV the opposite is true. He charged that it is the Arabs who have acted against the status quo and have "brutally" excavated land that contains many ancient artifacts from Jewish history.

Dr. Barkai spoke about the "Sifting Project," in which countless archaeological finds are being discovered in the rubble dug up by the Muslims. He also discussed his most famous discovery: small silver plaques containing the Priestly Benediction from the Book of Numbers, which he found in 1979.

These plaques contain the oldest surviving Biblically-related inscription discovered to date, dating back to 600 B.C.E.




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