MUSLIMS ERUPT OVER TEMPLE MOUNT EXCAVATIONS

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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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