Several ancient archeological sites were “destroyed” after the Israeli Antiquities Authority conducted controversial digs in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem, a Palestinian news agency reported Wednesday.
The West Bank and East Jerusalem are part of the Palestinian territories, which have been internationally recognized since 1967.
Maan News reported the Palestinian al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage as saying that Israel started the final stage of archaeological excavations at the site, which is located in the Wadi Silwan area only 20 meters from the walls of the Old City.
The dig reportedly destroyed a cemetery that dated back to the Abbasid caliphate and damaged relics that date back to the Jebusite Canaanite era in the second millennium BC, according to the Palestinian al-Aqsa Foundation.
So without any critical thinking, Ma'an reproduces a press release by an organization known to make things up, and Al Arabiya re-reports it - so now within a day we may see Reuters or AFP making the same report.What evidence does the Al Aqsa Foundation have? None. Their website shows some photos of the area taken from a distance. No photos of graves, no quoting of experts who have seen this supposed "destruction," no evidence of the artifacts supposedly destroyed - nada.
In the past, this same foundation has stated flatly that every single piece of archaeological evidence of Jews in the area in Biblical times is fake. They've claimed that potholes and small landslides from heavy rains are really the result of Israeli digs - and brought those charges to the UN. For years they have charged that Israel plans to destroy the Al Aqsa mosque, often giving dates that have come and gone.
Not one Arab media outlet has ever, to my knowledge, pointed out that the Al Aqsa Foundation is simply an Islamist organization, associated with infamous Sheikh Raed Salah, that makes things up and issues press releases daily about supposed Israeli crimes.
Quoting an organization with a long track record of provable lies, without mentioning that fact, is not journalism. It is incitement, and it is deliberate.