Muslims Erupt Over Temple Mount Excavations [Excerpts]
By Julie Stahl, CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief
February 07, 2007
The Muslim world is upset about archeological excavations around Jerusalem's Temple Mount because they fear it will disprove their claim that Jews never inhabited the Holy Land before 1948, an Israeli expert on Arabic matters said here.
Islamic leaders on Tuesday urged Palestinians and Muslims across the region to rally against Israel to prevent damage to the Al-Aksa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, which is located on the Temple Mount.
The calls for violence came as archeologists continued what they call "rescue" excavations, which are taking place about 50 meters (163 feet) outside the Temple Mount compound. The rescue work is part of a plan to build a new footbridge to be used by non-Muslims entering the Temple Mount.
The Temple Mount, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), was the site of two successive Jewish Temples built during biblical times and is currently the site of important Islamic shrines.
The most holy site in Judaism, it is one of the main points of contention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has been a flashpoint for Palestinian violence in the past.
Some Muslims claim that all of Jewish history was concocted after 1948 just to validate Jewish claims to the land and the city. They are afraid that if there is digging around the Temple Mount, the archeologists will find evidence that the Jews were here 2,000 years ago and that would mean that Jerusalem was and should be the Israeli capital, Kedar said.
The Muslims came to Jerusalem in the 7th century. For them, everything before that -- whether Christian or Jewish -- is irrelevant. Claims based on previous ownership have lost their validity. Islam did not come to live side by side with Christianity and Judaism. It came to replace it and to build on its ruins, Kedar said.
This is why they are so "vociferous" in their complaints about the Temple Mount, he said.
Dr. Gideon Avni, director of the Excavations and Surveys Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority, told journalists at the site on Tuesday that the excavations "by no means" touch or endanger the Temple Mount.
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