Palestinian researcher reveals new fake information about "tunnels under Al Aqsa"

Today, Felesteen and other Palestinian sites reported:

Moaz Agbariya, a researcher specializing in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque affairs, reported that there are 45 tunnels connected to each other that threaten the foundations of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the homes of Jerusalemites in the occupied city of Jerusalem . 

Agbariya stated in a statement to the Felesteen newspaper that the majority of the tunnels are based on the foundations of Al-Aqsa Mosque from the western side, and there is a section of them on the southern side, and a tunnel on the northern side.

He pointed out that there is a tunnel that only Jews are allowed to enter, and it is located under Al-Aqsa Mosque, in addition to four tunnels that were established in the Roman era and restored during the era of the Ayyubid state, and they are designated for the exit of rainwater from the Blessed Mosque, and no one is allowed to enter them except cleaning workers after obtaining a permit from the occupation police.  

Wow! A tunnel under the Temple Mount that only Jews re allowed to enter? And only one of 45? Sign me up! 

Especially since no one has dug a tunnel under the Temple Mount (except the Waqf) for well over a hundred years!

He explained that the occupation's attempts to falsify the history of the city of Jerusalem and prove its alleged right to it do not stop, by digging tunnels, seizing and hiding everything that indicates authentic Islamic history. 

In an earlier interview, he claimed that a new tunnel Israel was excavating had Islamic markings and phrases that the Israelis are destroying. That is of course absurd, since you can see lots of Muslim sites in the Old City that are preserved by Israel. 

Palestinians have claimed for at least 12 years that Israel is building "Biblical gardens" on top of the Bab al-Rahma cemetery adjacent to the Temple Mount. Somehow, nothing has happened.

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Yom Kippur brings out the antisemitism in Arab media and officials

The Arabic language media has been obsessively reporting about Yom Kippur since before the holiday.  

The most insane claim came from the Jerusalem Waqf. After claiming that Jews were dancing on the graves of Muslims at the ancient cemetery on the south side of the Temple Mount, it announced that there was no relationship between Yom Kippur and the Temple:

The Council stressed in its statement that it is not possible to accept such arbitrary measures under the pretext of Jewish holidays, which have no relation, even remotely, to the history, reality and message of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. Merely linking these occasions to an authentic Islamic mosque represents for us in itself an assault and a blatant violation of its right as a mosque. Islamic, with all its squares, facilities, prayer halls, roads, entrances, and its entire area of ​​144 dunums.

The Yom Kippur ceremonies were the emotional and religious apex of the year at the Jewish Temples in Jerusalem on the very spot that the Dome of the rock was deliberately placed.

Of course, Jews visited the Temple Mount on Yom Kippur - as they do every weekday. But because it was Yom Kippur, Egypt's Foreign Ministry condemned them:

Egypt called on the Israeli authorities to fulfill their obligations and stop such escalatory practices because they represent a clear violation of the existing legal and historical status of the city of Jerusalem and its honorable sanctities,  

What did the storming look like? Here it is:

Al Jazeera decided to highlight that some of the visiting Jews on Yom Kippur eve were barefoot. The PA's Jerusalem Governorate said, "Some settlers deliberately storm Al-Aqsa Mosque barefoot, because they see it as the alleged temple - according to their laws - and therefore it is not permissible to enter it with leather shoes , so they enter it barefoot or with slippers of other materials....This is one of the most prominent manifestations of consecrating the moral foundation of the alleged Temple."

Again, that happens every day. Religious Jews who visit the Mount don't wear leather shoes, same as on Yom Kippur. 

It is deeply ironic that Muslims are complaining about Jews going barefoot on their holy site when they remove their own shoes for prayer.

The Secretary-General of the Jordanian Royal Commission for Jerusalem Affairs, Abdullah Kanaan, complained that Israel's closure of Jerusalem on Yom Kippur was an example of an "apartheid policy," and "this holiday is accompanied by religious rituals and strict measures that include preventing the movement of transportation, closing roads, and comprehensive restrictions on the Palestinians. Mercy, tolerance, respect for beliefs, and freedom of worship are deliberately absent from Jewish holidays, including Yom Kippur, which is accompanied by the occupation authorities and settlers adopting all forms and methods of racism and the policy of killing, captivity, detention, and protection of Israeli incursions and attacks carried out by settlers."

Temple denial, and denial of Jewish history, is no less antisemitic than Holocaust denial, which is something else Palestinians and other antisemitic Arabs excel at. And it happens every day.

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Egyptian, Jordanian, Moroccan and Saudi government ministries condemn Jews visiting their holiest site on Rosh Hashana

On Sunday, about 250 Jews visited the Temple Mount for Rosh Hashanah. There were no major incidents:  one Jew blew a shofar and was quickly removed by police.

But since so much ink had been spilled in the Arab world about how "Al Aqsa is in danger" the Arabic media had to create the impression that the Jews who calmly and quietly visited - as they do every Sunday through Thursday - were disruptive and insulting. 

Even Arab video shows they weren't:

Yet the lies spread throughout the Arab world. Countless articles claim that the shofar blower was supported by Israeli police, not detained. Al Jazeera has an entire article on the dangers of blowing a shofar there - a place where there are huge loudspeakers blaring much louder than any shofar five times a day, every day.

The Jordanian Council of Endowments, Islamic Affairs and Holy Sites in Jerusalem issued a statement condemning the Israeli police for allowing a Jew to enter with his shofar.

But these condemnations of Jews visiting their holiest site are not relegated to op-eds and fringe groups. They come from the governments of nations at peace with Israel, or seeking peace with Israel.

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry "condemned the extremists’ storming of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque/the Holy Mosque of Jerusalem and their provocative practice under the protection of the Israeli police." They said that the Jews touring the area "represents a violation of the historical and legal status quo in the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque/the Holy Mosque and a violation of the sanctity of the holy places." It also emphasized that the entire area of the Temple Mount is purely for Muslims, not only insulting Jews but also the thousands of Christians who visit every year. 

Morocco's Foreign Ministry was reported also to have condemned Jews visiting the site, saying, "These escalatory actions inflame feelings and undermine efforts to calm the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories."

Dr. Muhammad Mukhtar Gomaa, the Egyptian Minister of Endowments, said that "the repeated incursions into Al-Aqsa are a sinful assault on one of the holiest sanctities of all Muslims, a blatant provocation to the feelings of Muslims from all over the world, and a blatant violation of all international laws, and the rational people of the international community must work to curb this extremism."

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a statement, in English:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's condemnation and denunciation of the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by a group of extremists under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces. The Ministry affirms that these practices are considered a blatant violation of all international norms and conventions, and a provocation to the feelings of Muslims around the world. 

In reality, international law would prohibit the banning of Jews from the Temple Mount that these members of the United Nations are explicitly demanding.  

In the history of Jerusalem, only Jewish rulers have allowed all people to visit their holy places. Gentiles were allowed to offer sacrifices in the Temples. There is a huge irony that the people who have been the most liberal and accepting of all have been the ones accused of intolerance - by people who proudly say that no one has any rights on the Temple Mount besides Muslims. 

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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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Palestinian intolerance and Jew-hatred summed up in one sentence

Every year, the Tomb of the Patriarchs is open exclusively to Jews for ten days and open exclusively to Muslims for ten days. The shrine is split between the two groups all the other days of the year.

The schedule is publicized well ahead of time (although the Muslim days may move by a day depending on when the new month is declared.)  There are no surprises. The Waqf and Israeli side cooperate with each other; when one of the exclusive days comes up the other side puts away their prayer objects. 

But in the Palestinian media, every time a Jewish day comes along, they try to incite violence and hatred.

The Palestine Information Center published this morning:

The Zionist occupation authorities closed, this morning, Wednesday, the Ibrahimi Mosque in the city of Hebron, in the southern occupied West Bank, until ten o'clock in the evening today; under the pretext of Jewish holidays.

The director of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, Ghassan Al-Rajabi, said in press statements that the occupation authorities closed the mosque from ten o’clock yesterday, Tuesday, until ten o’clock today, and prevented the call to prayer and worshipers from entering the mosque.

He believes that this closure is a crime against the Ibrahimi Mosque and a flagrant violation of it, stressing: “The mosque is a purely Islamic endowment, and the Jews have no right to it.”

Let's look at that last sentence.

When the Palestinian Muslims deny that the Temple Mount was ever the site of the Temples, they are obviously lying, but that lie is the justification for their insistence that Jews have no right to visit the holiest Jewish site. 

But they cannot deny that the "Ibrahimi Mosque" is the burial place of the Biblical patriarchs and matriarchs - because they believe it too. They cannot deny that the three (or four) couples buried there are the ancestors of the Jewish people, while only one of them is an ancestor to the Arab people. 

So when the director of the mosque at the site says "The mosque is a purely Islamic endowment, and the Jews have no right to it," he is denying that Jews have even a historical or emotional right to visit the burial place of their own ancestors. Somehow the Muslim claim to the burial place of Jacob, who at best is just a prophet to them, is exclusive, while the Jewish claim to their own ancestors' burial place is meaningless.

It is impossible to interpret that statement as anything other than official antisemitism. 

The Israeli side always tries to respect the rights of all religions. The Palestinian side expresses nothing but contempt for Jewish rights. And the world is more sympathetic towards the side that is institutionally antisemitic.

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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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Palestinians keep freaking over possibility of Israel dividing up the Temple Mount

For decades, every since Israel divided up the Tomb of the Patriarchs into Muslim and Jewish sections to avoid bloodshed, Palestinians have been warning that Israel plans to do the same with the Temple Mount, dividing it up "temporally and spatially." 

Last week, an obscure Likud MP named Amit Halevi gave them lots of ammunition.

A Likud lawmaker is proposing a plan to divide Jerusalem’s Temple Mount between Muslims and Jews and to remove Jordan’s custodial status over the holy site.

Speaking to the Zman Yisrael Hebrew news site, Knesset member Amit Halevi outlined a plan whereby Muslims would control the southern end of the 37-acre complex which contains the Al-Aqsa mosque, while Jews would receive the central and northern area, where the Dome of the Rock sits.

It would also allow Jews to enter from any gate, and it would get rid of the Waqf as custodian of the site. 

Palestinian sites are reporting this as a "draft law" (it isn't) and they are certain that the current Israeli government is planning to do this.

In his weekly cabinet meeting, Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said "taking this step would cause overwhelming anger whose results cannot be controlled, because of the sanctity and religious value that Al-Aqsa Mosque constitutes for the Palestinian people and for Arabs and Muslims." 

President of the Palestinian National Council, Ruhi Fattouh, called it "a fascist step by the racist settlement government to impose its control over the city of Jerusalem and its religious and historical places, especially the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque." He also called this a prelude to a religious war that will  ignite the region.

Hamas media today quotes an analyst who says that this plan proves that they were right all along about Israel planning to divide up the area. And there have been daily articles across all Palestinian media railing against this idea. 

The chances of such a plan becoming law is just about zero.  It probably won't even be drafted. 

Not that it is a bad idea. It would be more fair than the absurd situation now. But there is no way it would ever happen. Halevi is a marginal figure in Likud, and I haven't seen any grassroots support for the plan by anyone. 

It is to Palestinians what the "Palestine is Jordan" plan is to Jordan - something they are intensely worried about but for which there is no realistic path. But it gives them endless nourishment for outlandish conspiracy theories. 

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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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