Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Temple Mount Collapse Atop Moslem Worshipers Feared
A report by the Israel Antiquities Authority, based on the findings of an Egyptian engineering team, states that there is an immediate risk that the Solomon's Stables area of the Temple Mount could collapse when many tens of thousands of Moslem worshipers arrive for Ramadan prayers in three weeks' time. The Authority's report says that the danger is "almost certain."
If the Israelis were as evil as the the world media would have us believe, why wouldn't they just ignore the situation and let the structure collapse. The Moslem Waqf which controls the site doesn't seem to be concerned:
Israeli security officials are taking the warnings seriously, but it appears that the Moslem officials are less concerned. Although Israel is sovereign over the area, Moslem Waqf officials have forbidden Israeli engineers from entering the area to evaluate the risk. The Waqf has also refused to limit the number of worshipers at the Temple Mount during Ramadan prayers. Even a visit by Jerusalem Police Chief Ilan Franko to Jordan in an effort to have the Jordanians exert pressure on the Waqf has apparently not succeeded.
Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra says that if there is no choice, the Israel Police will restrict the number of Moslems entering the Temple Mount for the Ramadan services. Waqf director Adnan Husseini says there is no reason for such measures, and that the whole issue is merely "Israeli propaganda."
One of the reasons I think it's important to get the word out on this is that Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount was used as an excuse for the Second Intifada. Guess who will get blamed if thousands of Ramadan worshipers are killed in the collapse? And the Palestinian Authority would jump at the opportunity to give their waning cause a shot in the arm. And it sounds like a potential no-win situation for the Israelis if they try to limit the amount of worshipers,since that itself could be used by the PA to incite violence. Publicizing the danger will hopefully defuse the situation.
I don't expect Reuters or the BBC to pick up the story.
Update - jsoffer from Song of Time provides some context to the story with this post from Smooth Stone based on a letter from a resident of Hebron, David Wilder:
According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, over the past few years, the Waqf, or Muslim religion trust, has conducted unauthorized and unsupervised construction in that vicinity, in an attempt to expand Arab control of Temple Mount. This has caused tremendous deterioration of the structural supports.
An Ha'Aretz newspaper article concerning illegal work at the area states: "At the end of November 1999, the Waqf tricked the government of Israel, and under the pretext of opening an emergency exit to the Solomon's Stables mosque - which had been built illegally and inaugurated in December of 1996 - the Waqf took advantage of the negligence of the government of Israel and its indifference to the fate of the archaeological remains on the Temple Mount, dug a huge 2,000-square meter pit beneath the Temple Mount some 13 meters deep, and opened a main door to the Solomon's Stable mosque 10 meters wide and 13 meters high.
During the excavation, Waqf workers using three bulldozers removed some 12,000-15,000 tons of earth filled with antiquities from all periods, without IAI supervision and without any sifting of the soil to locate and remove archaeological artifacts."
Mr Wilder concludes with the historic statement from Moshe Dayan in 1967: "Har HaBayit b'yadenu" -"The Temple Mount is in our Hands."
He recommends that the Israelis wrest the site form the destructive and potentially tragic administration of the Waqf and close it to all visitors. I think this is an excellent suggestion, and I predict we would find some interesting "artifacts" hidden underneath by the Waqf. And I would also add that as a show of support, this would be the perfect time to move the US embassy to Jerusalem...for good!
papijoe 6:01 AM
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