The Temple Mount mikveh is a threat to the Palestinian narrative - so they MUST call it a lie ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

The Temple Mount mikveh is a threat to the Palestinian narrative - so they MUST call it a lie

Lately I've been discussing the difference between two theories of truth - correspondence theory, which is based on empirical evidence, and coherence theory, which is based on whether facts fit previously held beliefs. I've shown that anti-Israel studies, and in fact most social sciences, adhere to coherence theory - meaning that they dismiss or twist any facts that contradict their theories, which are more akin to dogma than scientific proof.

When you accept that "Israel is evil" as the dominant narrative, there is no limit to what facts you will discard. Coherence theory is, at its basis, unfalsifiable, meaning that there is no evidence that would be accepted that would disprove it.

This means that the "Israel is evil" people are yoked to the most insane anti-Israel theories by Palestinians. This week we were provided with a great example.

This week the Israel Antiquities Authority revealed that they had discovered a Second Temple era mikveh (Jewish ritual bath) underneath the Temple Mount plaza:

A rock-hewn ritual bath from the late Second Temple period, containing ash traces that provide evidence of the Temple's destruction, was uncovered in recent days during excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Western Wall Heritage Foundation beneath the Western Wall plaza.

The ritual bath is rectangular, measuring 3.05 meters (10 feet) in length, 1.35 meters (4.4 feet) in width, and 1.85 meters (6 feet) in height. It was carved into bedrock, and its walls are plastered. In its southern section, four hewn steps that led into it were exposed. The ancient installation was discovered sealed beneath the destruction layer from the Second Temple period, a layer dated to 70 CE. Within this layer, which contains burnt ash providing evidence of the destruction, numerous pottery vessels were found, along with stone vessels characteristic of the Jewish population that lived in the city on the eve of the destruction.

The photo clearly shows a mikveh. Cisterns wouldn't have stairs, Roman bathhouses wouldn't be so tiny, The accompanying archaeological evidence provides proof and dates it precisely.

So the Palestinians must deny it.

From Al Jazeera (Arabic):

The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate said on Monday that the occupation’s claims about finding a holy basin dating back to Jewish residents in 70 AD are a falsification of archaeological findings and lack any scientific value, stressing that the discovered basins are water systems from the Umayyad era, and were part of the Umayyad palaces adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

It explained that those basins and facilities "were part of the Umayyad palaces and service facilities associated with the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in addition to the water basins and water transport networks from Solomon's Pools in Bethlehem to the city of Jerusalem, without any reliable physical evidence or independent scientific documentation linking them to Talmudic rituals."

I've previously noted the irony that the only reason anyone knows about the Umayyad palaces in the vicinity is because Jewish archaeologists discovered them and Israel preserves them, today.

But the point today isn't the constant (and consistent) Palestinian denial of any archaeological evidence of Jewish presence in Jerusalem - something Arabs used to routinely admit. The point is that because the anti-Israel academics must accept their "Israel is evil" theories, they must deal with this sort of historic evidence without looking like idiots to their Western audiences - but, crucially, without alienating their Palestinian comrades who insist that there is no such history.

Usually they simply ignore it. They don't want to be canceled by their fellow activists but they don't want to look like they ignore overwhelming evidence - so easier to pretend the evidence doesn't exist.

One other method is to admit a very limited Jewish presence but downplay any significance. This is the Edward Said model: "for a short period before and shortly after the beginning of the Christian era, there was a Jewish kingdom with its capital in Jerusalem."

The other popular method for western academics is to admit some Jewish presence, but deny that today's Jews have anything to do with their ancestors, claiming they are all European converts. Because so many medieval Christians were clamoring to become Jews, I suppose. This is the Joseph Massad model.

Anti-Israel coherence theorists can always find a way to deny reality. And that is what they do - day in, day out. And they hope you never ask them point blank what they think about the Palestinians assertions that Jews have no history in Jerusalem.