While hundreds of reports fed by Palestinian sources claim Israel destroys holy Muslim sites, no one seems to care for constant desecration of holiest site for the Jews – the Temple Mount:
“It is the most important site in the world for the Jewish people,” Barkai told Benny Tucker of Arutz Sheva’s Hebrew newsmagazine in a Jerusalem Day interview, “as well as the most important archaeological site in Israel, and despite all this, Israel has abandoned it. Over the past ten years, the Waqf has taken control, making major changes in the status quo: It has conducted illegal digs, built mosques and the like, and the situation has changed from one extreme to the other.”
“Some years ago,” he said, “they took 400 truckloads of dirt from the Temple Mount and dumped it into the Kidron Valley – totally illegally. This is dirt that is filled with Jewish history from many periods: the Canaanites, the First Temple, the period of the return to Zion [from Babylonia], the Second Temple, including the Hashmonaim period and King Herod, and up to now. Over the past several years, we have been sifting through the dirt. This is of course not the optimum way to perform archaeology, because you need context, layers and the like, but this is the best we can do in light of these barbaric digs, and we are trying to get the most out of it. Jerusalem is filled with archaeological digs, but the most important site has never been done; this dirt is the only source we have.”
SEVERAL MONTHS AFTER the beginning of the second intifada, Israeli news channels displayed video after video of large trucks leaving the Temple Mount compound full of rubble. Afterwards, Israeli archaeologists visited the site, and caught on tape many artifacts amid the rubble. So where is the outcry? Where is the United Nations? Where is Barack Obama? They are all MIA when Jewish heritage is being destroyed.
The action itself is not surprising, as Muslims usually care little for own historical sites. For example, throughout the history, the Mosque of Omar – located on top of the Temple Mount – was destroyed in the past by Muslims, due to rivalry between the Fatimid dynasty and their Meccan rivals.
For Muslims, Haram al-Sharif is the third holiest site (fifth for Shiites). It’s the first holiest for Jews. See any hypocrisy?
Read more at Middle East Informer:
ivarfjeld.com 