What is the Waqf doing on the Temple Mount? The Israel Antiquities Authority says it is "classified."

From The Judean:

A recent report detailing the "supervision of the preservation of antiquities and heritage values on the Temple Mount" has revealed disheartening findings. Published this month by the Knesset's Research and Information Center, the report asserts that the Waqf, supported by the King of Jordan, exercises unilateral authority on the Mount, while the Israeli government seemingly abets it by concealing the realities from its citizens.

In recent times, there had been an impression that matters regarding the Mount were progressing positively, particularly concerning the preservation of antiquities. The antiquities law, enacted by the Knesset in 1978, mandates the approval of a special committee of ministers before any renovation or construction on an antiquities site designated for religious purposes can take place. This rule predominantly refers to the Temple Mount, where the religious authority – an entity deeply entrenched in political maneuvering – recurrently conflicts with Israel's archaeological interests.

The intended structure for this committee is to be chaired by the Minister of Culture, accompanied by the Minister of Religion and the Minister of Justice. However, in practice, the committee remained un-convened until 2009. In the thirty years that elapsed between the law's enactment and its implementation, the Mount witnessed immense destruction. Islamic authorities clandestinely removed 400 truckloads of dirt from a pit in 1999, ostensibly to create an emergency opening for an underground mosque. Archaeologists continue to sift through the excavated dirt even now. Many other damages, such as the digging of a deep electrical trench at the temple site in 2007, have occurred without prompting any ministerial committee meeting.

According to the newly released report, the committee convened nine times between 2009 and 2015 to approve 19 works demanded by the Waqf on the Mount. These works included the renovation of the marble in the walls of the Dome of the Rock, conservation work, engineering operations in the entrance vault to “Solomon’s stables,” and the replacement of the Al-Aqsa Mosque doors. After 2015, the committee met only once, in January 2019, in a session defined as classified.

The report painfully concludes that "information regarding the state of supervision of the preservation of the antiquities of the Temple Mount in recent years is extremely scarce." In response to a request by “Makor Rishon” to acquire details about damages to antiquities from 2011 onwards, the Antiquities Authority disconcertingly responded, “The Antiquities Authority has information regarding the aforementioned. We can provide details in a classified discussion only."

The report, in Hebrew, is here.  

We already know how the Waqf likes to deny and destroy any hint of Jewish history on Judaism's holiest site. And there is been scant evidence that the Israel Antiquities Authority is doing anything to stop it (occasionally I see a complaint in Arabic media that some restoration work is being delayed.) 

This is not something that should be "classified" or secret. This is extraordinarily important and must be made public. 

There are no doubt legitimate repairs and improvements that the Waqf can legitimately do to Al Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock, but everything that happens there must be scrutinized and publicly known.

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Jordan quietly admits the existence of the Temples on the Temple Mount

We've noted previously that the Waqf tourist guides to the Temple Mount from the 1920s through 1950 freely admitted that the Dome of the Rock was built on the spot of the two Jewish Temples. Now the updated editions of the Waqf guide explicitly denies any Jewish connection to the Mount.

But a new photo book of the Temple Mount, "The Noble Sanctuary Book," has just been released and it was clearly made with the blessings of the Jordanian government and the Waqf, which granted the photographer Bashar Tabbah access to places not open to the public. The introduction was written by a member of Jordan's royal family.

The historical section of the book was written by an American archaeologist, Dr. Robert Schick. And his description indicates that the Temples were indeed on that site - and he brings proof from the Quran:

There is a little wiggle room there to say that it is possible that the Temples were elsewhere in Jerusalem, and it looks like Schick tried to thread the needle between honesty and the desires of the Jordanians. But his wording "Other verses associated with the Masjid al-Aqsa compound" immediately after the Quranic reference to the Temples makes it clear that the book says that the Quran is referring to the Temples on the Temple Mount.

Before anyone heard of Palestinians, this was not a controversial position. Many Muslim scholars over the centuries knew that the entire reason the Dome of the Rock was built where it was is because it was the site of the Temples and they wanted to build something that would approach the majesty of the originals. However, the official position changed in the 1950s and 60s, culminating in explicit Temple denial by Yasir Arafat at Camp David.

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Al Aqsa preacher again pretends that there is no archaeological proof of Jews in Jerusalem

From Al Watan Voice:

Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, confirmed that the occupation has been excavating and digging in Al-Aqsa Mosque since 1967, but he did not find a single stone related to the ancient Hebrew Jewish history.

In press statements, Sabri stressed that what the occupation found are Roman and Islamic monuments from the Umayyad, Abbasid, Mamluk and Turkish eras.

This is a constant theme in Palestinian media. 

The absurdity is almost beyond belief. The entire Marwani Mosque, the underground mosque on the Temple Mount that was excavated by the Waqf, is built in the area of what is known as "Solomon's Stables" but were built during the Herodian era. The retaining walls of the Temple have been dug to the their foundations and are well-dated.

The entire City of David archaeological park, the numerous ritual baths that are right outside the Temple Mount, the bullae that have been found...the list is endless. 

This stone, discovered next to the Temple Mount after 1967 by archaeologist Benjamin Mazar, says - in Hebrew - "To the Place of Trumpeting:'

This stone was a Greek-language warning to non-Jews not to enter the Temple grounds:

No stranger is to enter within the balustrade around the Temple and enclosure. Whoever is caught will be himself responsible for his ensuing death.

Partial remains of a similar Greek language warning were also found.

Coins of the Bar Kochba revolt included diagrams of the Temple. 

There are new findings every year, including the stunning Herodian tiles found in the Temple Mount Sifting Project, which has also found First Temple-era finds and many Hebrew inscriptions. 

The desire to erase Jewish history is simple bigotry. 

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Miracle at Al Aqsa: Only Israeli excavations endanger it, not Muslim underground destruction

A couple of weeks ago, a stone fell out of the wall in the Al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount.

Naturally, the Jews are being blamed. 

The Islamic Information issued a press release:

According to the chairman of the Palestinian Legislative Council’s al-Quds and al-Aqsa Committee, Mohammed Abu Halabiya, the Israeli underground tunnels, and diggings beneath the Aqsa Mosque pose a real threat to the future of the mosque.

MP Abu Halabiya announced on Monday that stones recently fell from an Aqsa Mosque wall as the result of Israeli digging underneath the area called the Umayyad Palaces, which stretches over 800 meters between Ein Silwan and the Buraq Wall.

As a result of Israel’s refusal to allow the Islamic Awqaf to perform renovation works in al-Quds, the recurring fissures and cave-ins at the Aqsa Mosque endanger the entire holy site.

Palestine Today adds:

Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, confirmed today, Thursday, that the foundations of Al-Aqsa Mosque have become exposed as a result of the excavations of the Israeli occupation, explaining that “any strong earthquake will destroy these foundations after the occupation removes the surrounding soil.”

Sabri said, in a press statement: "The excavations carried out by the occupation in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque are ancient and modern excavations under the pretext of searching for traces of the Jews.

The preacher of Al-Aqsa added, "The Israeli occupation soldiers and settlers excavate and search and yet did not find a single piece of evidence related to Hebrew Jewish history."

Have you ever noticed that the Muslims always blame the Jews for causing damage at the Temple Mount due to digs in the surrounding areas - but they never mention that they do illegal digs directly under the Mount itself?

In the 1990s, the Waqf oversaw the conversion of "Solomon's Stables" into the huge Marwani Mosque and then dug a large tunnel to be an underground exit, throwing out hundreds of tons of priceless artifacts from the times of the First and Second Temples. But their wholesale destruction didn't end there.

When the Temple Mount was closed for Covid-19, the Waqf published photos of Muslims taking advantage of the lack of Israeli oversight as they started digging another hole on the site. 

In September 2020, a hole opened up on the Mount and the Waqf, instead of allowing archaeologists and experts to explore and carefully repair the hole, dumped concrete on it to ensure that any Jewish treasures would not be found.

It seems that Allah does not let excavations of tons of material nearly directly under Al Aqsa to damage the mosque. He only lets the damage be done by the Jews from scores of meters away. 

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Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.  Read all about it here!

 

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