Associated Press – August 29, 2007
JERUSALEM – Israeli archaeologists on Wednesday criticized the extension of an underground cable at Jerusalem’s holiest site for Muslims and Jews, saying that digging the trench defies professional standards for such a sensitive historic site and could damage Bible-era relics.
Islamic authorities responsible for the Al Aqsa Mosque complex, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, said the digging is necessary infrastructure work at the site to replace 40-year-old electrical cables ahead of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
The site is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is home to Al Aqsa Mosque and the gold-capped Dome of the Rock, Islam’s third-holiest shrine. It is also the holiest site in Judaism: Archaeological finds show that the remains of the temples are beneath the mosque compound, although Muslim clerics dispute that.
The Public Committee Against the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount, a group of Israeli archaeologists, said using a tractor to dig a trench – said to be 500 yards long and up to 5 feet deep – is “not archaeology but destruction.”
Eilat Mazar, a member of the committee, said the infrastructure work using heavy machinery and with little documentation can damage ancient relics and erase evidence of the presence of the biblical structures.
Mazar said any excavation, even if for technical reasons, must be documented, photographed and the dirt sifted for any remains of relics.
Yusuf Natsheh, an antiquities official in the Waqf, the Muslim authority responsible for the site, said the criticism by the Israeli group was “politically motivated,” and the area would not be damaged by the tractor.
“We don’t hide anything,” he said, adding that anyone can see what the digging has unearthed. “These are all assumptions with no evidence, and lack scientific considerations.”
The Israeli Antiquities Authority had no comment.
The digging for the new cable, carried out by the Jerusalem Electricity Co., was completed Wednesday, Natsheh said, and a team of antiquities engineers oversaw the work. He said only the laying of the cable and filling the trench remain.
Archaeological digs earlier this year by Israeli authorities next to the holy site sparked protests by Muslims. The Israelis said they were excavating outside the mosque site before improving an entry ramp.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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posted August 29, 2007 at 7:57 pm
Let’s hope this does not ignite the same fury as the “little” refurbishment project on the “emergency” exit from the Shrine. Sensitivity on both sides will go a long way toward keeping this under control.
posted August 30, 2007 at 1:42 am
Yes, perhaps more communication could have helped. Certainly a back-hoe is rarely archaeologically correct; more foresight might have gotten the job done right and on time.
posted August 30, 2007 at 11:49 am
nnmns
You’re kidding, right? First off, communication is what they do the least well. Foresight is in about as short a supply as communication skills. And third, what fun is any project if you can’t use a backhoe? The entire Tim Allen school of home projects is based on More Power. If that ain’t a Prophet Call to Construction Mischief, then what is!?!
“We don’t need no sticking trowels and brushes, we got a Bobcat and we aren;t afraid to use it!”
posted August 30, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Yup, that sounds like the situation alright.
posted August 30, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Well, it’s rediculous, the whole thing. Muslims and Jews fighting over improvements at all. The mighty One, most high, I think would be furious at both sides, for squabbling over such rediculous things when nothing of this earth will last anyway, and for using technologies on such a set-apart sight to begin with. Who cares what man does, and who cares what man did? The creator’s going to destroy the earth in the end anyway, only the spiritual matters.
posted August 30, 2007 at 8:08 pm
“The creator’s going to destroy the earth in the end anyway, only the spiritual matters.”
A. In the meantime the earth matters a lot. Oh, and why would a “Creator” break its creation? Sounds childish.
B. Spirit, what spirit? There’s an embarrassing lack of proof spirits exist.
C. Creator? Same lack of evidence. Question: Who or what created the “Creator”?
Your posting brings up far more questions than it answers. But you aren’t alone in that.
posted September 1, 2007 at 2:14 am
Reading this does give me evil thoughts of wishing someone would level the whole area in order to stop the bickering.
P.S. nnms, show me a peice of gravity and then I will show you a peice of G_d.
posted September 1, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Tzephanyahu:
“…..nothing on this earth will last anyway etc………….”
“Who cares what man does etc………..”
“The creator is going to destroy the earth in the end anyway, only the spiritual matters.”
Aren’t you just a little pessimistic about the future of Planet Earth?? It is a very good thing that I don’t believe in your CREATOR. Why would a creator destroy his/her creation…what would that prove, that your creator is the boss of the whole wide world? Play my way or I will destroy you? Living in fear that a mythical creator is going to take away Planet Earth isn’t my idea of living.
As to the topic, hopefully the parties involved can come to a compromise.
As to who care what man does? I do. Do you?
Blessed Be
posted September 2, 2007 at 7:32 pm
Right on pagansister, couldnt said it better myself.
I was raised christian , hellfire and brimstone-
My God (or the universe) now -is so much more pleasant
than the group that tried to instill in me at such a yound age that I was nothing but a sinner, and better get it right or else.
I was so young I remember sitting in a church pew and shaking because
I had no idea what I had done wrong but knew in my heart it wasnt right.Now Im older and wiser. I still cringe at the way my young
delicate soul was educated by good meaning but controlling people
who believed only they were right.
God is love and we should love one another as ouselves and our planet.
I believe that the way it was meant to be.
posted September 3, 2007 at 12:26 am
Tzephanyahu,
I guess you summed up your statement pretty clearly in 2 words, “Who cares”. I can’t say I find your pessimism at all enheartening. In fact, you almost seem to be the sort of person that, Biblically, might be called “as good as dead”. People of your persuasion scare me a bit because they have no problem doing things that they believe will hasten “the end”, which usually endangers other folks. I think you have spent too much time focusing on the end of the book and no where nearly enough time reading the middle.
God called us to be stewards and caretakers on God’s behalf. Therefore I don’t think God is inclined to blow up the farm. Rather, I think God is applauding, cheering, and singing with all the environmentalists, tree huggers, and recyclers. We are called from the very beginning to care for the powerless and vulnerable – people, critters, and plants. That is the most ancient and still in-force rule there is.