Destruction of antiquities 1995-2001

The destruction of the antiquities on the Temple Mount seriously worsened in June 1995, when supervisors of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) allowed the Waqf to create an opening on the northern edge of the passageway structure of the eastern Hulda Gate. The southern edge of the passageway structure has a narrow opening that connects it with Solomon’s Stables, and the aim was to prepare the entire complex for Muslim prayer, despite the fact that it had never served this purpose in the past. The permit granted by the IAA was in complete violation of Paragraph 29c of the that states that any change made to an ancient religious site must first receive a permit from a special ministerial committee. This ministerial committee was never convened, not even in this case, in which far-reaching structural changes were involved.

 The creation of the entrance laid the groundwork and enabled the Waqf to carry out extensive construction work and obliterate many of the antiquities in Solomon’s Stables. The Waqf’s success in seizing Solomon’s Stables emboldened it to continue to convert further parts of the Temple Mount into mosques.
 
 Print   
  

between the Double Gate and the Triple Gate

Activities in the underground chambers between the Double Gate and the Triple Gate

In late 2000, it was learned that the Muslims were removing earth from the huge underground arched chamber located between the Double Gate and the Triple Gate passageways. The chamber covers an area of more than 3,000 square meters and the Waqf plans to convert it into a new mosque too and connect it to the new mosque built in Solomon’s Stables. This represents the continuation of their plan to convert all the ancient structures in the Temple Mount compound into mosques and thereby abrogate their original historical and archeological character. The construction works to convert the structure into a mosque are almost completed.
However, this chamber has never been subjected to research, despite the fact that it is undoubtedly an inseparable part of the raised foundation of the Herodian Temple Mount compound. Various testimonies regarding the state of the chamber had been received over the years, until recently.
 


A number of additional subterranean chambers between the Double Gate and the Triple Gate that the Islamic Waqf is planning to convert into a mosque as well

One of the earliest testimonies was provided in January 2001 by a Jerusalem Arab who related that the earth removed from the cavity was not taken to the surface of the Temple Mount, but was instead dumped into a nearby cistern, concealing the construction work from the outside. This testimony was supported by Jon Seligman, the Israel Antiquities Authority Jerusalem district archeologist, in an expert opinion given to a governmental committee in February 2001, in which he described the earth that had been dumped into the cistern in the area of the Double Gate. In his view, the earth had been deposited there as part of the construction work done in the ancient underground chambers nearby during the period when the Waqf refused to allow anyone from IAA to enter them.
Based on the testimony of the Arab witness, the purpose of converting this cavity too into a mosque is to use it create continuity with the two mosques on either side, thereby forming a single, huge prayer system. From his testimony:
“All that remains now is to break down the wall behind it, which will reveal the arched chamber that has been prepared and designated to be connected to the underground mosques in Solomon’s Stables and the al-Aqsa al-Qadima mosque in order to create a single, connected unit…”
“…The aim of the Islamic Waqf and the Islamic Movement is turn all of the Temple Mount into a single, gigantic underground mosque.”
 

back to page 'Destruction of Antiquities 1995-2001'

 
 Print   

אתר על ידי אתרים ת.ר. בע"מ  |  Site by AtarimTR LTD