Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: Natural gas

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Friday, February 24, 2012

Extremist Muslims get their wish; riots on Temple Mount

From YNet:

Friday prayers at Jerusalem's Temple Mount turned into a scene of major riots as protesters hurled stones at security forces who in turn broke into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Hundreds of Muslim worshippers at the Mughrabi Gate hurled stones at police and Border Guard forces who raided the compound to evacuate them. No injuries or arrests were reported as of yet. Dozens are currently refusing to leave the mosque itself.

Islamist extremists have been calling for Muslims to "defend" Al Aqsa for the past couple of weeks because some Jews publicized that they would peacefully visit among the hundreds of thousands of non-Jewish visitors who visit every year.

Here is video from earlier this week as Muslims broke chairs and tables to find projectiles to hurl at Israeli police outside who were escorting peaceful visitors:

Here is the view from the outside as pieces of wood are hurled at the police from within, with the Muslims clearly starting the violence (starting around 1:15, also around 2:20). At the end you can see all the tables and chairs broken to be used as weapons.

In watching dozens of Muslim videos on the Temple Mount showing Jews "storming" the area, I have not once seen any actions by the Jewish visitors that was the least bit provocative. Invariably, they walk around quietly. But I've seen plenty of videos of Muslims hurling objects and screaming at the Jews.

Palestinian Arab hysteria increases as Jews visit Temple Mount

The amount of incitement (and bigotry) in Palestinian Arab media about Jews visiting the Temple Mount has reached new heights in recent days.

Today, Rosh Chodesh Adar, a group of Jews peacefully went up to the Mount to visit. It was described in Palestine Today this way:

Zionist extremist groups on Thursday morning stormed the courtyards of Al Aqsa Mosque from the Mughrabi Gate, with the occupation forces protecting them.

Our correspondent in Jerusalem said that the first batch of 12 extremists stormed the mosque, under police protection of the occupation, as occupation forces arrested four young men and took guard Samer Abu Qwaider out of the Haram al Sharif courtyard.

Also another group of settlers entered into the courtyards of Haram, 9 women and 8 men, as their numbers rose to 36. The "Israel" police restricted [Muslim] worshipers entering to be 45 years old or older.

Our correspondent reports that groups of settlers are walking around in the Old City of Jerusalem and in the vicinity of the Haram, joyfully singing to bring in the Hebrew month.

Palestine Times has photos of the "usurpers" walking around:

Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh charged Israel with calling on Jews to "storm" the Mount with the goal of Judaizing Judaism's holiest site and performing religious rituals there. For some reason he also mentioned that Zionist women were allowed there; apparently this is an especially grievous sin.

What does that moderate Mahmoud Abbas, who supposedly supports full access to holy sites by everyone, have to say? Why, he implicitly threatened violence, like always!

The President condemned intrusions ongoing Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said in a press statement on Thursday, "This is a serious escalation and provocation, and completes a series of attacks by extremists on the sanctuaries of the mosques and churches, and will have serious and ominous consequences '.

Abu Rdainah said Israelis are responsible for this escalation, and demanded that the international community intervene to force the Israeli authorities to stop such provocative actions that affect the freedom of worship.

Well, the freedom for Jews to worship there is still pretty much zero.

Is today's group visit a huge provocation on the part of Israel?

Not at all.

Makor Rishon reported some statistics. In January, 1,119 Jews visited the Temple Mount. In 2011, some 9,000 Jews visited, among 370,000 tourists.

In other words, if thirty Jews visited today, that is pretty much the average number of Jews who visited every day for the past year (excluding Shabbat.)

This is a manufactured hysteria that is meant to incite Muslim Arabs against Jews and to try to pressure Israel to ban Jews from their holiest spot.

Thankfully, the Israeli police allowed Jews to visit anyway despite the rhetoric and threats.

Latest dangerous Arab rumor: Israel to divide Al Aqsa into Jewish, Muslim sections

Over the past two weekends, Muslim clerics and officials have been pushing false rumors about Israeli designs on the Al Aqsa Mosque. The first time they got Israeli police to bar Jews from peacefully visiting; the second time they started stoning Christian tourists who they claimed were Jewish extremists.

Clearly, spreading false rumors is an effective weapon.

So, emboldened by their success in keeping Judaism's holy site free of Jewish tourists, they have started a new rumor for this week.

The Al Aqsa Center has released a statement saying that they have received information that Israel plans to divide up the Temple Mount into separate Jewish and Muslim sections, they way that the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron is divided. Jews would be able to - horrors! - perform "Talmudic rituals" (i.e., pray) in the sacred site.

They say that under this plan, Israeli police will cleanse the Mount of Muslims under flimsy pretexts (like, for example, they are stoning Christian tourists).

Another plan has Jews freely entering the mosque between 8 AM and 11 AM, between Muslim prayer times.

These alleged plans will be implemented this year, according to the inciters of violence who released the statement.

There is only one reason why these rumors are started - to keep Jews off of the holiest site in Judaism. They want to stir up riots because, according to these defenders of Islam, it is better than no one go to the Temple Mount than to allow Jewish "filth" from "desecrating" it.

These incitements have worked in the past, so the Al Aqsa defenders will keep churning out the lies that Arab Muslims are more than happy to believe, fed by hateful terrorist-supporting media like Palestine Today.

Palestinian Arabs stone Christian tourists on Temple Mount

First, the lie that is being published by countless Arab media:

Dozens of Palestinian residents foiled, on Sunday morning, an attempt by dozens of fundamentalist Israeli Zionist settlers to break into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem.

Local sources reported that the settlers gathered near the Al-Magharba Bridge, that leads to the Al-Magharba Gate, west of the Al-Aqsa mosque, while dozens of Israeli policemen were deployed in the area.

The police allowed the settlers through and prevented all Palestinians, aged 45 of under, from entering the area while on their way to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque, an issue that led to clashes between the Palestinians, and the Israeli soldiers and settlers.

Now, what really happened:

Police arrested three Palestinians during clashes with stone-throwers who targeted tourists at the Temple Mount on Sunday.

Three officers were wounded during the clashes, Police Spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld said, describing the incident as a "disturbance on the Temple Mount."

Stone-throwers attacked a group of Christian tourists that were visiting the site. At least 40 officers entered the Temple Mount to deal with the situation, where Rosenfeld said some 50 Palestinians were participating in the rock throwing.

Police arrested three suspects on the scene who were involved directly in the attacks.

Despite Palestinian claims of religious Jews trying to storm the Temple Mount, police said that no Jews were around the site.

The incident came after unfounded Palestinians reports that a group of "religious [Jewish] Israelis" tried to "storm" the Temple Mount - where the Aksa mosque and Dome of the Rock are located - on Sunday morning, according to Jordanian semi-official newspaper Ad-Dustour.

Palestinian sources claimed over the weekend that a group of Jews would attempt to storm the Temple Mount in order to "strengthen Israeli sovereignty over the site," according to the Jordanian newspaper.

The official PA news agency, of course, is pushing the lie, making it indistiguishable from Hezbollah's media in embracing incitement and falsehoods rather than the truth.

"Israel weakening Al Aqsa with underground chemicals"

The Hamas-run, British-based Palestine Info site "reports":

The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) is using chemical materials to accelerate excavation underneath the Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem, Kamal Al-Khatib, the deputy leader of the Islamic movement in 1948 occupied Palestine, said.

He said in a press release on Tuesday that the use of chemical materials was meant to speed up the erosion of the rocky layer or foundation that protects the Aqsa mosque.

He opined that the IOA was planning to weaken the foundation of the holy site in preparation for demolishing it and building the alleged temple in its place.

The network of tunnels underneath the mosque had caused a big hole and any explosion of any kind or a minor earthquake could pose a dangerous and permanent threat to the Aqsa mosque, Khatib warned.

He charged that the IOA was hoping that such a natural phenomenon would occur in order to appear as if the mosque was destroyed due to a natural cause.

Challah Hu Akbar reported on this a couple of days ago; Arab media even ran photos of the tunnels that are adjacent to the Temple Mount and the newly re-opened Roman-era Jerusalem water channel as "proof" somehow of this chemical attack.

I'm sure that people who build tunnels underneath mountains would be most interested in this new, high-tech method of excavating tunnels using only chemicals.

And who is pushing this absurd story in English? Why, Mondoweiss, of course! Because according to the high journalistic standards of the anti-Zionist crowd, any accusation against Israel must be true by definition.

(h/t Dan C)

Arabs claim photos of a Jew urinating on Temple Mount

The Al Aqsa Heritage Foundation has another series of photos of Jews, and especially IDF soldiers, "storming" the Temple Mount.

Most of it is pretty typical stuff:

One photo, apparently taken inside one of the buildings, is clearly a different set of tourists but meant to make people think that the soldiers barged in:

The Muslims are accusing the Jews of performing "Talmudic rituals" as usual.

But there is a new twist here. They claim to have photos of a man from the group urinating on an outer wall of the compound:

I did not see this man in any of the other photos that would show that he was part of this group. (One man in the group dressed similarly but wore a kippah and glasses and carried a cane, so this wasn't him.)

Obviously, if someone did urinate there (and I cannot find a stain on the wall showing he did,) it would be an outrageous act of sacrilege both for Muslims and for Jews. Needless to say, no religious Jew would ever consider doing such a thing. Even pretending to do so is astonishingly bad taste and poor judgment.

Or, it could be a set-up, in order to enrage Muslims against Jews, something the Al Aqsa Foundation tries to do literally every day.

Israel building more "Talmudic Gardens", says PA

The official PA Wafa news agency reports that Israel is building new "Talmudic gardens" all around Jerusalem:

Israeli bulldozers Sunday increased its work speed to establish Talmudic gardens between Damascus Gate and Herod’s Gate (Bab el-Amoud and Bab al-Sahira in Arabic, respectively), two of the most famous gates of the Old City of Jerusalem, aiming to judaize the city and change its historical and cultural character, according to WAFA correspondent.

He said that several Israeli bulldozers increased their work pace more than usual, after finishing the first part of work in the area near the Damascus Gate and in Sultan Suleiman street, adjacent to the Old City's walls, which character was completely changed through the establishment of car parking lots, a Talmudic garden near Sulaiman cave (Mgharet Sulaiman) in Sultan Sulaiman Street.

Similar works are under way in Tantur Faron, an area south of Al-Aqsa mosque, which is considered an archaeological area that extends back thousands of years.

The committee for the defense of Silwan uncovered the building of fake Jewish graves in Tantur Faron area in an attempt to seize the land permanently to connect it to nearby settlement outposts.

In addition, similar works are also under way in Wadi al-Rababa, an area in Silwan south of Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to establish Talmudic gardens, near al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan.

What exactly is a "Talmudic garden?"

Are they growing Mishnah flowers, Baraita bushes and Tosefta trees?

As we mentioned the last time we came across this term, it seems that the Arabs use the word "Talmudic" as an epithet when they really, really hate something. So we hear about, for example, "Talmudic rituals" being practiced by Jews who visit the Temple Mount.

Most archaeological tourist sites in Jerusalem show a Jewish presence in Israel that far pre-dates the Talmud (which itself pre-dates Islam.) The mention of the "Talmud" in relation with these shows that what the PA hates and fears more than anything is Judaism - not Zionism, not Jews, but actual living Judaism that shows an unbroken connection to the Land for thousands of years.

After all, the Mishna and Talmud Yerushalmi were all written in Israel - well after the destruction of the Second Temple. They show that there was a vibrant Jewish community in Israel up until the Muslim invasion. The recent discovery of a Menorah stamp in Acre, apparently to tag bread as kosher, was created in the 6th century.

When you include Talmudic times in the Jewish history of Israel, it is the Muslim presence that appears to be anomalous and temporary - not the modern manifestation of Jewish statehood.

This might be why the word "Talmud" gets the Arabs so riled up. It reminds them that they are the interlopers, invaders and colonialists - not the Jews.

(h/t CHA)

ISESCO denies Jewish Temples existed; publishes "media plan" on how to defeat Zionism

A press release from ISESCO, the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization:

The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) strongly denounced the Israeli occupation army’s publication of a photo of the Holy Aqsa Mosque without Qubat Al-Sakhra (the Dome of the Rock).

In a communiqué released today, ISESCO affirmed its rejection of what the so-called religious authority of the Israeli occupation army in the occupied city of Al-Quds did when they published a photo of Al-Aqsa Mosque without the Dome of the Rock. This photo, ISESCO underlined, depicts the true intention of the Israeli occupation authorities to judaize the city and establish the alleged Temple in the so-called “Temple Mount” on “the ruins” of Al-Aqsa Mosque, especially as a model of the Temple has been built in front of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the calls of the Jewish rabbis to demolish the First Qibla and the Third Holy Mosque have increased.

"Alleged" Temple? "So-called" Temple Mount?

I guess we can see the importance of education, science and culture to ISESCO.

Elsewhere, ISESCO makes its Temple denial more explicit:

[N]o trace was found of this temple after many excavations and archaeology digs carried out by Israeli and western archaeologists. An increasing number of Israelis refute the Jewish allegations about the temple, having conducted their own investigations, excavations and studies which all point to the non-existence of the temple in the alleged site at any time in history.

It is this document that proves that ISESCO is a sham organization, whose purpose has nothing to do with Islamic culture or history - but rather to uproot any vestige of Jewish history.

The document is called "Media Plan for Publicising the Cause of Al Quds Al Sharif in the West and Mechanisms for its Implementation." It looks like it was written in late 2004. ISESCO is the architect of a plan on how to spread Islamic propaganda in the West and how to counter Jewish claims to Israel and Jerusalem.

And it makes its goals quite clear, in this paragraph describing its idea of the Jewish view of Jerusalem:

Jerusalem is at the heart of the Jewish faith, the cornerstone of its spiritual and intellectual edifice and of the dream of rebuilding the Hebrew state in accordance with the false Zionist slogan of the “Return to Zion”, or “Return to Jerusalem”, ensuring its continuity and the continuity of the Israeli presence in the Arab region. This presence is vital for the West since Israel acts as a shield that protects the western civilisation from confronting the so called “Arab backwardness, barbarity and savagery”. Thus, Jerusalem is the cornerstone of the spiritual edifice and the Zionist Jewish entity. Were it to be dislodged, the whole edifice and the Zionist entity itself would crumble like a deck of cards.

That is the entire goal of this media plan! It describes short, medium and long term goals to do exactly this dislodging of Jerusalem from Judaism.

For example, do these objectives sound familiar?

1- Gaining the support of some intellectual, cultural and political role-players who can impact on the Western public opinion about the Arab-Israeli conflict and the question of Al Quds, by adopting the international resolutions of legitimacy and the related UN resolutions as a starting point in the media plan.

2- Penetrating Western activities or fields of activities, particularly those of influential media, cultural, intellectual and economic spheres in such a way as to ensure their responsiveness to the other’s point of view and their outlook on the official stance of their countries as subservient to and reflective of the interests of the Zionist movement with its various formations and bodies, and not of the interests of their own countries, in particular economic and vital interests.

3- Discreetly and indirectly encouraging trends critical of Zionism and the Israeli judaisation policies in Jerusalem within western circles and in a way that would prevent the targeting, isolation and annihilation of these trends by the Zionists movement and its concealed and visible tentacles.

It is almost as if Walt, Mearsheimer, Blumenthal, Friedman, Mondoweiss and others are acting in a play written by ISESCO!

Can you imagine a genuine cultural or educational organization creating a document on how to spread propaganda in order to destroy an entire culture?

Anyone who wants to truly understand how the anti-Israel crowd is using the media should read this document.

(h/t CHA)

Kotel Photoshop kerfuffle causes Ha'aretz to incite Muslims

From Ha'aretz:

IDF rabbinate edits out Dome of the Rock from picture of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount

Israel’s military rabbinate released an educational document ahead of the holiday of Hanukkah last month, featuring a photo of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount without the Dome of the Rock, Haaretz learned on Thursday.

The photo was featured in a packet prepared by the Military Rabbinate issued to Israel Defense Forces bases ahead of Hanukkah, under the section titled “The Festival of Jewish Heroism,” which included an article and a quiz on the Jewish struggle against Hellenistic rule.

One reserves officer talking with Haaretz said that when he “received the materials from the battalion rabbi something seemed strange about that picture.”

“We get material from the rabbinate every week and it’s mostly positive things,” the IDF officer said, adding that the edited picture was part of an “official release, which is why it’s problematic the army is distributing it.”

The IDF Spokesman’s Office said in the response that Haaretz’s description was “absurd and biased, a fact which we can only regret,” adding that the educational packet included a photo meant to illustrate Jerusalem during the period of the Second Temple.

“As was explained to the reporter, the Dome of the Rock did not exist at that time, so there was no need for it to appear in the picture,” the IDF said.

Based on the photo in the story, I tracked down the original.

It was definitely Photoshopped, as the base of the Dome of the Rock is still there.

The original photographer/artist is Mikhail Levit, who apparently did the editing. I've seen the photo on websites as far back as 2008.

So obviously the IDF rabbinate did not edit the photo. It was a nice picture, the people behind the pamphlet found it somewhere online, and put it on the pamphlet. (The IDF's explanation that it represents the time of the Second Temple is silly as well - where is the Temple? Moreover, notice that the photograph still includes the Al Aqsa Mosque on the far right side!)

This does not look deliberate. It is easy enough to take or find a photo of the Kotel where the Dome of the Rock isn't visible - without editing. Here's one I took a couple of years ago:

Or a painting of the Temple could have been used.

The graphic designer probably just Googled "kotel" and picked the nicest photo he or she could find. This is not a huge story about IDF hate for Islam.

But the officer who brought it to the attention of Ha'aretz, and Ha'aretz itself by quoting him approvingly, show more than a little hypocrisy:

Speaking with Haaretz, the reserves officer said he expected “the Military Rabbinate to be more alert about the educational messages it passes on, especially considering the Temple Mount’s history,” adding: “A world war could break if someone would try to do something about that place, and I think they should be more cautious when approaching the subject.”

“It’s infuriating that the rabbinate isn’t more being more responsible about this,” the officer added.

He's infuriated that the rabbinate wasn't more careful? Because it is so incendiary?

Let's see. Chanukah ended weeks ago.

No one noticed this photo. No Arab riots, no angry op-eds in Al Jazeera, nothing.

Now, this incensed officer is so angry about how dangerous this pamphlet cover photo is that he brings it to Ha'aretz weeks later, which splashes the story prominently in its online edition. Where everyone can see it!

The story got picked up by Islamic Jihad (top story), Hamas and Fatah websites, and probably around the Arabic press worldwide. Tens of millions of easily excited Muslims will see the story and potentially be incited to violence.

Thanks to Ha'aretz for bringing this story to their attention!

Because it is responsible journalism to publicize something silly the IDF rabbinate did with little intent and twist it into a story that could incite millions of people to believe that it is an attack directly on their souls. And to pretend that you are doing it because of potential problems that didn't occur!

Ha'aretz, by pretending to position this story as a warning against incitement, has done far more to incite hate against the IDF than the rabbinate did.

But Ha'aretz doesn't have to follow the same rules it insists the IDF does.

First Temple-period bulla found

From Bible History Daily and The Temple Mount Sifting Project:

Jerusalem archaeologist Gabriel Barkay announced this week that the Temple Mount Sifting Project has discovered a fragment of a seventh-century B.C.E. clay bulla impressed with the ancient Hebrew inscription [g]b’n lmlk, or “Gibeon, for the king.” According to Barkay, the bulla is evidence for royal taxation of different Judahite cities, in this case the town of Gibeon. More than 50 other such “fiscal bullae” are already known, but most lack contextual information. “All the fiscal bullae known until now come from the antiquities market, and our bulla is the first one to come from a controlled archaeological project,” wrote Barkay on the project’s Web site. “This bulla enables us to fully illuminate and discuss the entire phenomenon of the fiscal bullae.”

The bulla originates from the eastern slope of the Temple Mount, descending into the Kidron Valley.

The [full collection of] bullae include names of 19 different cities of Judah, and dates of the reign of one of the Judean kings, usually in hieratic numerals, as well as the particle “lmlk“, “for the king”. ...The fiscal bullae represent a taxation system from the different Judean cities, based on yearly taxes, which probably replaced the previous one, reflected in the royal Judean jars and their seal impressions, from the time of King Hezekiah. The discussion includes the characteristic details of the taxation systems of the Samaria Ostraca and the “lmlk” jars, in comparison to the fiscal bullae. A detailed discussion of 13 different arguments is brought to suggest the dating of the fiscal bullae to the time of King Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son (698-642 BCE). The mentioning of Lachish in some of the bullae is directly connected to the question of the date of the reconstruction of that city’s level II. The city is mentioned to pay its taxes in the 19th and 21st regnal years, which could not be in the reign of Hezekiah as the city was destroyed by Sennacherib in 701 BCE, which was Hezekiah’s 14th regnal year. According to our suggestion, Lachish was restored after being in ruins for about 16 years, by King Manasseh, rather than Josiah, as previously suggested.

The discovery of the fiscal bulla with the name of Gibeon from the slope of the Temple Mount, authenticates all the other fiscal bullae, and enables us to study a variety of subjects connected to the history of Judah in the 7th century BCE.

Those Jews, always pretending to have been in Israel for more than 63 years.

(h/t Dan)

Archaeologists confirm detail of Chanukah story

From Ha'aretz:

Israeli archaeologists have uncovered the first archeological find to confirm written testimony of the ritual practices at the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.

An Israeli Antiquities Authority archaeological survey at the northwestern corner of the Temple Mount yielded a tiny tin artifact, the size of a button, inscribed with the Aramaic words: “Daka Le’Ya,” which the excavation directors on behalf of the IAA, archaeologists Eli Shukron and Professor Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa, explain means “pure for God.”

Researchers believe the artifact, dated to the first century, towards the end of the Second Temple period, is a seal similar to those described in the Mishnah. If they are correct, this is the first time physical evidence of the temple ritual was found to corroborate the written record.

The team believes the tiny seal was put on objects designated to be used in the temple, and thus had to be ceremonially pure.

In this vein, and in the spirit of Hanukkah, Jerusalem District archaeologist of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said: “It is written in the Talmud that the only cruse of oil that was discovered in the Temple after the victory of the Maccabees over the Greeks, “lay with the seal of the High Priest” – that is: the seal indicated that the oil is pure and can be used in the Temple. Remember, this cruse of oil was the basis for the miracle of Hanukkah that managed to keep the menorah lit for eight days”.

In addition to this artifact, the dig also yielded other Second Temple artifacts, some older from the time of the Hasmonean Dynasty rule, including oil lamps, earthenware pots, and containers filled with oils and perfumes, as well as coins bearing Hasmonean kings such as Alexander Jannaeus and John Hyrcanus.

Wiktionary translates "Daka" as "to cleanse, to purify."

Intriguingly, Jastrow translates "Daka" as "humble" or "crushed." And the Genesius Lexicon translates it similarly:

Is it possible that "Daka l'Ya" doesn't only mean "pure for God" but perhaps "crushed for God" - meaning it is a seal meant specifically for olive oil produced for the Temple service?

(h/t Dan)

Jews peacefully visit their holiest site, Muslims freak out

Once again, Muslims are up in arms over several groups of Jews visiting the Temple Mount, site of both historic Jewish Temples.

Palestine Press Agency quotes the always histrionic Al Aqsa Heritage Foundation, as they try to incite anger in the teeming Muslim masses by claiming that the "intruders," including students from Jewish schools, were "performing Talmudic rituals" for Chanukah at the holy site.

Even more outrageously, the groups were led by tour guides who explained the details of the destroyed Temples.

The article helpfully adds that "there was an atmosphere of tension and suspense in Al-Aqsa Mosque" during these awful events where the "settlers" were said to "storm" the Mount. Walking peacefully is considered "breaking in" and "storming" in the parlance of the Muslim supremacists who demand exclusive control over the Mount.

Sheikh Kamal Khatib, an Islamic leader in the territories, underscored the point by saying that "Masjid al-Aqsa is ours and ours alone."

The peaceful cleric also issued a veiled threat that the entire Muslim world would go to war if Jews continue to visit the Har HaBayit. "More than once in history, the Al Aqsa Mosque was the torch that destroyed the hopes of empires, and the Al Aqsa Mosque will be the flame in extinguishing the illusions of the Zionist project, because the Al Aqsa Mosque is part of the faith and doctrine of the hearts of 1.5 billion Muslims, not merely 13 million Palestinians. I advise Israel to realize that the continued violation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque...will translate into action for Arabs and Muslims, in true defense of the Al Aqsa Mosque, and we will never allow [the Jews] to continue desecrating and insulting it... It is not in [Israel's] favor and it will not benefit its people; especially considering the new reality and the changes that are occurring in the region."

Interestingly enough, I have never heard any EU member denounce words like these. I've never read an op-ed in the mainstream media about how Muslim supremacism and fanaticism regarding the Temple Mount is a recipe for a never-ending war. On the contrary - in the face of threats like these, the usual reaction is to agree with the Islamists that it is better not to upset the apple cart and risk angering hundreds of millions of Muslims.

Muslims see that their threats cow the liberal Westerners who pretend to be at the forefront of religious freedom for all.

This Western fear of irrational Muslims starting a holy war at the slightest pretext has a long history.

Which is why threats and terror will continue to be effective.

Sorely needed facts about the Mughrabi ramp and gate

It is a weekday, so that means that Muslims and Islamists are freaking out (the only other time they do that is on weekends):

A Hamas spokesman said Monday that the closure of Jerusalem's Mughrabi Bridge, which leads from the Western Wall Plaza to the Temple Mount, is an attack against Muslim holy sites, AFP reported.

"This is a serious step that shows the Zionist scheme of aggression again the Al Aqsa mosque," Fawzi Barhum told AFP.

Jordan's powerful Islamists on Monday denounced a decision by Israel to close a controversial access ramp to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem as "flagrant aggression."

"This is a very dangerous move," the head of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood, Hammam Said, told AFP.

"The only solution against this entity [Israel] is resistance in order to protect the sanctity of the holy places against such flagrant aggression," he said.

"Jordan rejects any Israeli attempt to affect Jerusalem's holy sites, identity and heritage, including Al-Mughrabi Gate" that leads to the compound's Al-Buraq Wall, known to Jews as the Western Wall, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said.

So how ancient is the obviously sacred and venerable Mughrabi ramp/bridge? Was it built in the time of Mohammed, or during the Mamluk period? Did Yasir Arafat ever step foot on it?

Of course not. It was built in 2007, by Israel, after the earlier ramp collapsed in 2004 in a landslide due to an earthquake and snowstorms that year.

When the ramp collapsed in 2004, the Muslims blamed Israel, saying that Israel was attempting to destroy the entire Temple Mount.

When Israeli archaeologists, after three years of study, announced the collapse had revealed a heretofore unknown ancient Muslim prayer room, Muslims complained that Israel hid this information from them. (How that helps Judaize Jerusalem is an open question.)

And when the temporary ramp was being constructed in 2007, Muslims rioted

Let's go back in time a little. When was the Mughrabi gate re-opened to begin with?

Before 1920, The Mughrabi Gate was closed. At the time the Western Wall was a small cul-de-sac where worshipers could gather in relative privacy. But then the infamous Mufti of Jerusalem opened up the Mughrabi Gate - specifically to turn the area into a thoroughfare so that the Jewish worshipers would be disturbed. They even drove mules through the prayer area.

A few days before the 1929 anti-Jewish pogrom broke out, "an incited Muslim mob rampaged through the opening torn by the Mufti in the south of the plaza, attacking the Jewish worshipers and destroying ritual objects."

(The Mughrabi Gate itself was built only around the 12th century - above what is known as Barclay's Gate, which is believed to be one of the original Second Temple gates. Barclay's Gate was closed off by Muslims in the 10th century and was rediscovered by James Barclay in 1848. It can be seen in the women's section of the Wall today.)

So the Muslims are upset when the ramp collapses, they are upset when Israel builds a temporary replacement, they are upset when Israel closes the temporary replacement ramp.

Keep in mind also that Mughrabi Gate is the only gate that non-Muslims may use to access the Temple Mount. Muslims are not at all inconvenienced by the closure of the ramp - but Jews and Christians are.

PalArabs plan to use UNESCO to bar Jews from holy sites

From Karl Vick at the Time magazine blog:

Now that Palestine has been voted into UNESCO, the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, officials are preparing applications for the organization’s marquee designation: a World Heritage Site. Candidates are abundant. Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity stands atop the cave where believers kneel to kiss the spot, confidently marked by a starburst, said to be where Jesus Christ was born. Jericho, which marked its 10,000th birthday last year, is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities on the planet. And Hebron boasts the final resting place of Abraham, whose covenant with the Almighty led to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Genesis 23 lays out the details of his grave in Deed Office detail, including the price (30 shekels)[sic - it was 400 shekels - EoZ] paid for the cave and the adjoining field from Ephron the Hittite. There’s not much about the site that’s in doubt, including what Palestinian officials aim to do with the property if they get control of it — stop Jews from praying there.

The stated reason: The massive stone structure built atop the cave by King Herod, a Jew, and held for a time by Christian Crusaders, has since the 14th century been a Muslim house of worship. The Ibrahimi Mosque has minarets, rugs, washrooms for ablutions and anterooms lined with racks for storing shoes.

“It’s a mosque!” says Khaled Osaily, the mayor of Hebron. “You don’t have to be an architect to see it! Will you allow me to pray in a synagogue or a church?”

And as a practical matter, the vagaries of bureaucratic scheduling means no Palestinian site will be even considered until 2014 by UNESCO, which after all “was created to work for peace,” notes an official speaking from the organization’s Paris headquarters. “You’d be hard pressed to find a person at UNESCO who says, ‘Yes, Christians should be banned from there or Muslims should from here.’”

So why frame the World Heritage application as a bid to restrict the use of a religious site, when the only practical effect will be to create bad feelings? For the same reason Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, in his September speech to the U.N. General Assembly, evoked the the Holy Land by name-checking Jesus Christ and the Prophet Mohammed but said nothing about the Jews: In a word, spite.

"Spite" is not an accurate description of the reason that they want to ban Jews from the site. It is Islamic supremacism.

Since the 14th century, Muslims banned Jews - and specifically Jews - from worshiping at Judaism's second holiest site. This is not "spite" against Zionism but an expression of Muslim supremacy over Judaism.

And the idea that UNESCO would not allow the site to revert to being Judenrein is not as ridiculous as Karl Vick makes it sound. After all, last year UNESCO declared that the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb were "Palestinian:"

The Palestinian sites of al-Haram al-Ibrahimi/Tomb of the Patriarchs in al-Khalil/Hebron and the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque/Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem: the Board voted 44 to one (12 abstentions) to reaffirm that the two sites are an integral part of the occupied Palestinian Territories and that any unilateral action by the Israeli authorities is to be considered a violation of international law, the UNESCO Conventions and the United Nations and Security Council resolutions.

Which means that under UNESCO's rules, Israel's allowing Jews to visit those sites after 1967 would have been considered a unilateral move and violated UNESCO guidelines.

And the idea of banning Jews from their holy sites in Judea and Samaria is mainstream in the Arab world. Here's part of an Arab League note to the UN Commission on Human Rights in 1994:

A statement issued by the Islamic Committee in the middle of the preceding month gave a clear indication of the intensive and repeated Israeli attempts to formulate specific arrangements aimed at imposing control over a number of Islamic mosques, including the Ibrahimi Shrine.

The statement referred to information that had recently been leaked by Israeli sources, to the effect that the occupation authorities were discussing the future supervision of some of those Islamic places of worship, through the establishment of special arrangements under which religious rites could be performed by both Muslims and Jews, after the settlers demanded the right to engage in acts of religious worship, like the Muslims, in a number of mosques, including the Ibrahimi Shrine, Joseph's Tomb at Nablus, Nabi Samwil at Jerusalem and Rachel's Tomb at Bethlehem.

Outrageous that the "settlers" would insist on the right to worship - like the Muslims!

Here we have enshrined the Arab insistence on Muslim supremacism over Judaism, in stark contrast to Israel's attempts to maintain open access by all to Jewish holy sites (except, of course, to its restriction on Jews from praying on the Temple Mount.)

And now we know exactly how the enlightened, moderate and culture-loving Palestinian Arab leaders intend to use their UNESCO membership.

(h/t Honest Reporting)

New Temple denial from our Palestinian Arab friends

Robinson's Arch

A couple of weeks ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced an astonishing find of coins underneath the paved street near Robinson's Arch that showed that parts of the western supporting walls of the Temple Mount has been built after Herod's death. I noted at the time that the Palestinian Arabic press was saying that this was somehow proof that there was no Temple there.

Now, a hastily-convened pseudo-scientific press conference has made this Temple denial official.

A Palestinian Arab academic named Jamal Amr said that the discovery has caused much frustration to Zionist archaeologists and blew up their claims about the "legend of the temple." This distinguished expert then went on to claim that all the discoveries that have been found in the city of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount came from the Arab and Islamic Umayyad and Abbasid periods up to the Ottoman period!

I'm not sure, but he might be saying that the Herodian Temple was built hundreds of years later.

Dr. Amr seems to be a professor at Bir Zeit University. As far as I can tell, he has no specific expertise in archaeology - but rather in architecture.

But when you want to dig up an pretend archaeology expert, he's the man!

Note that no Israeli media outlet expressed any misgivings about the discovery. It is well known that Herod didn't build the Second Temple but rather he expanded it some five centuries after it was built. Temple rituals were not stopped during the construction. In no way does the discovery of the coins contradict the existence of the Temple - which has lots of archaeological evidence, and more discovered every few months.

New Second Temple find causes Arabs to imply it was a myth

From Israel's MFA:

Who built the Temple Mount walls? Every tour guide and every student grounded in the history of Jerusalem will immediately reply that it was Herod. However, in the archaeological excavations alongside the ancient drainage channel of Jerusalem a very old ritual bath (miqwe) was recently discovered that challenges the conventional archaeological perception which regards Herod as being solely responsible for its construction.

In an excavation beneath the paved street near Robinson's Arch, sections of the Western Wall's foundation were revealed that is set on the bedrock - which is also the western foundation of Robinson's Arch - an enormous arch that bore a staircase that led from Jerusalem's main street to the entrance of the Temple Mount compound.

According to Professor Reich, "It became apparent during the course of the work that there are rock-hewn remains of different installations on the natural bedrock, including cisterns, ritual baths and cellars. These belonged to the dwellings of a residential neighborhood that existed there before King Herod decided to enlarge the Temple Mount compound. The Jewish historian Josephus, a contemporary of that period, writes that Herod embarked on the project of enlarging the compound in the eighteenth year of his reign (that is in 22 BCE) and described it as "the largest project the world has ever heard of".

When it was decided to expand the compound, the area was confiscated and the walls of the buildings were demolished down to the bedrock. The rock-cut installations were filled with earth and stones so as to be able to build on them. When the locations of the Temple Mount corners were determined and work was begun setting the first course of stone in place, it became apparent that one of the ritual baths was situated directly in line with the Western Wall. The builders filled in the bath with earth, placed three large flat stones on the soil and built the first course of the wall on top of this blockage.

While sifting the soil removed from inside the sealed ritual bath, three clay oil lamps were discovered of a type that was common in the first century CE. In addition, the sifting also yielded seventeen bronze coins that can be identified.

Dr. Donald Ariel, curator of the numismatic collection of the Israel Antiquities Authority, determined that the latest coins (4 in all) were struck by the Roman procurator of Judea, Valerius Gratus, in the year 17/18 CE. This means that Robinson's Arch, and possibly a longer part of the Western Wall, were constructed after this year - that is to say: at least twenty years after Herod's death (which is commonly thought to have occurred in the year 4 BCE).

This bit of archaeological information illustrates the fact that the construction of the Temple Mount walls and Robinson's Arch was an enormous project that lasted decades and was not completed during Herod's lifetime.

This dramatic find confirms Josephus' descriptions which state that it was only during the reign of King Agrippa II (Herod's great-grandson) that the work was finished, and upon its completion there were eight to ten thousand unemployed in Jerusalem.

Palestine News Network had this as the top story. While the article is pretty accurate, here was their headline:

New archeological discoveries undermine the narrative about the Jewish temple in Jerusalem

It will be recalled that the PA has said that there was no Jewish Temple in Jerusalem at all.

(h/t Yoel)

The Palestinian Arabs' reckless disregard for Jewish heritage

In the light of UNESCO's acceptance of "Palestine" as a full member, David M. Weinberg in Israel HaYom documents how the Palestinian Arabs have not only been endangering any trace of Jewish history and culture in areas they control, but often actively destroy it:

Jewish synagogues and holy sites in Jericho, Nablus and Gush Katif were torched to the ground while Palestinian police looked on.

In 1996, Palestinian mobs assaulted Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem, and Palestinian policemen on the scene shot and wounded the Israeli soldiers guarding the tomb. Ever since, the site has been sheathed in high concrete barriers, turning it into a Fort Knox-like encampment. Then a Palestinian mob led by Palestinian policemen assaulted Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, torched the synagogue inside, and opened fire on Israeli troops at the site, killing six Israeli soldiers.

In 2000, Palestinian mobs once again attacked. They killed one Israeli soldier and destroyed the building. Palestinian forces again took part. The Shalom Al Yisrael synagogue in Jericho with its unique Byzantine-era mosaic floor was also torched. Today, Israelis have only sporadic access to the site.

Detail of mosaic at Gaza synagogue

As for Gush Katif, the wild Palestinian mob destruction of all the synagogues there is just too fresh and painful a wound to talk about ...

Under Palestinian rule, Tulul Abu el Alayiq, near Wadi Qelt and Jericho, has been left to decay. This is an important archaeological site where Hasmonian kings and Herod built their winter palaces. The nearby Naaran synagogue -- perhaps the earliest synagogue in Israel -- is threatened by Palestinian real estate developers who are building practically atop the site. Israeli archaeologists who have managed to visit there say that the Palestinian Authority has let the place rot.

The authority has also allowed villagers to encroach upon the important synagogue remains in Eshtemoa in the southern Mount Hebron area. Neither Israeli archaeologists nor Israeli worshippers and tourists have access to the site (which is located in Area B), despite the fact that the Oslo Accords supposedly guaranteed this.

Mosaic at Na'aran synagogue

It is important to note that these three sites are specified by name in the appendices to the Oslo Accords, and defined as historical and religious sites which the Palestinian Authority is supposed to preserve, and to which they are supposed to provide access for Israelis.

The greatest crime of all -- an antiquities crime of historic proportions -- has been committed over recent years by the Palestinian Wakf on the Temple Mount. In 1999, the Wakf dug out hundreds of truckloads of dirt from caverns known as Solomon’s Stables beneath the upper plaza (more than 1,600 square meters in area and 15 meters deep) without any archaeological supervision or records. Thousands of tons of earth rich in archaeological remains, from all periods of the Temple Mount, were haphazardly dumped into the Kidron Valley and the city garbage dump at El-Azaria. The Wakf also destroyed stonework done by Jewish artisans 2,000 years ago in the underground “double passageway.”

Thousands of years of layered history -- Jewish history, of course -- were gouged out the ground with heavy machinery and shoveled out of sight. UNESCO didn’t even burp.

Israeli archaeological students are still sifting through this precious rubble, and have found numerous antiquities from the First and Second Temple periods, including stone weights for weighing silver, and a First Temple period bulla (seal impression) containing ancient Hebrew writing which may have belonged to a well-known family of priests mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah. Other findings are from the late period of the Kings of Judea (7th and 8th centuries BCE), including about 1,000 ancient coins, jewelry made of various materials, stone and glass squares from floor and wall mosaics, and many other items.

He also documents some destruction of Christian historic and religious sites.

UNESCO is silent, of course.

(h/t Ian)

PA says Israel building a "Talmudic garden" in Silwan

The official Palestinian Authority Wafa news agency says:

The Israeli municipality of Jerusalem Thursday seized a piece of land belonging to a Palestinian Orthodox Monastery in the neighborhood of Al-Thawri, west of the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, according to a press release by the committee for the defense of Silwan.

The release said the Israeli municipality seized the 850 square meter piece of land in order to turn it into a Talmudic garden and a parking lot.

The committee expressed fear that the land would be turned into a Talmudic garden under the control of the Israeli nature and parks authority, surrounding the areas of Wadi Hilweh and Al-Bustan in Silwan.

I have no idea what they think a "Talmudic garden" is. Perhaps it looks like this:

The Arabic press often uses the word "Talmudic" to add an extra degree of vitriol to anything that Israeli Jews decide to do.

It is most often used in articles about Jews going to the Temple Mount where they are accused of "performing Talmudic rituals" - by which they mean, prayer.

Their use of the word shows that the real fear the Arabs have is not of "Zionism" but of Judaism. Zionism is regarded as a modern construct whose expected lifespan would not be any greater than that of Communism, but Judaism is far more ancient and lasting than Islam - and that is their real fear.

That's why their cartoons and caricatures always depict Jews as hook-nosed, black-hat wearing religious Jews rather than, say, stereotypical Sabras. They project their fears into illustrations and articles like this because they know that Islam will outlast the political flavor of the decade or century - but it will never outlast the religion from which it was derived.

Interestingly, the phrase "Talmudic garden" was used by rabidly anti-semitic Christian leaders who were behind some of the censorship of the Talmud. One wanted every reference to non-Jews in the Talmud to be excised, saying he wanted "the total uprooting of all such weeds from 'the talmudic garden of Satan, the paradise of Hebrews, revered by them as the gospels of the talmudic Antichrist.' " Modern Islamic use of the term mirrors the use from medieval Christianity.

Ironically, much of the Quran comes from Talmudic stories that are not mentioned explicitly in the Torah.

Finally, a "Talmudic garden" actually was dedicated last month in Bet El, in the courtyard of a school where students would be encouraged to study Talmud outside.

It is also worth reviewing out my previous article on Kfar HaShiloach - what is now called Silwan - showing the Yemenite Jewish village on an otherwise empty hillside in 1891 and how the Jewish community grew until they were ethnically cleansed and turned into refugees by the Arab riots in 1921 and 1929.

The photograph I obtained of the area in 1891, thanks to Robert Avrech of Seraphic Secret, is now featured in the Wikipedia entry on "Silwan," showing a small victory of truth making it into the mainstream.