Areas of Antique Reverence
This gets very tedious, tiresome in the extreme. There is no room for compromise, for co-operation, for agreeableness between people, politics, religions, so how can there ever be the opportunity to make cohabitation in the region a reality? Always quick to judgement, to challenge, to decry, to blame. Arab Muslims continue to do what they do best: hysterical denunciations and accusations - no effort whatever expended on mutual accommodation and understanding.Israeli archaeologists are undertaking a careful excavation 50 metres from the walls of the hilltop compound of the al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem, where stands the al-Aqsa mosque, the Dome of the Rock, built in the late seventh century, the third most revered site in Islam. Which itself was built directly over the Temple Mount, much pre-dating the mosque, upon which stood the Second Temple, the most revered place in Judaism.
The Wailing Wall, representing what is left to the modern world of the ancient Second Temple to which Jews were denied access when it was administered by Jordan, before 1967 when east Jerusalem was captured during the war of that period. Since the unification of the holy city under the Israelis, Jordan has still been permitted continuance of the administration of the al-Aqsa compound by Israel.
A ramp used by orthodox Jewish women to access the Wailing Wall was destroyed by a 2004 earhquake, and a temporary wooden ramp has been used since that time. Israeli authorities determined a new access was required, supported by three pylons joining the preserved portions of the old ramp. The process is a delicate one, the excavation being carried out in a manner ensuring that nothing of historical value is disturbed.
Every precaution to make certain that this procedure is carried through without flaw is being taken; there is a virtual guarantee to nay-sayers that no harm comes to any of the holy places close by. No part of the work being undertaken touches the wall of the Temple Mount; the wall itself is so firmly embedded within the native rock so as to ensure that no damage can be visited to the walls of the Temple Mount.
Yet now Palestinian political leaders and Muslim religious figures all of whom have expressed alarm and issued dire warnings to the Israelis for as long as general knowledge of the work to be undertaken has been made public is now intensifying. They are accusing Israel of deliberate plans to damage the mosque, calling upon Muslims to rise up in protest.
"We call on the Palestinian people to unite and unify the efforts to protect Jerusalem" according to Mohammed Hussein, senior Muslic cleric in Jerusalem, while Hamas's Ismail Haniyeh called on all Muslims to march on the city. Haniyeh's terrorist gang has been busily engaged of late in waging fratricidal warfare against Fatah militias and in the process terrorizing, wounding and killing innocent Palestinians, now he exerts his authority to engage them in a mass march of protest.
Has any of these protesting luminaries made an effort to understand the practical reasons behind the excavation, looked at its proximity to the shrine they shrilly protect, interacted reasonably with the Israeli authorities to convey and assuage their concerns? "We are not hiding anything. Everything will be displayed to the public. The Waqf is invited to come and look at the results and give their comments" said Gideon Avni, the Antiquities Authority's director of excavations and surveys.
On the other hand, perhaps the project should have been co-ordinated with the Islamic trust (Waqf) and Jordan beforehand. Perhaps this tempest might have been avoided, making it unnecessary for hundreds of security personnel to be deployed in protection of the archaeologists, and heading off the passionate hysteria of the true believers.
Given relations between the two solitudes it might not have been successful, but worth a try nonetheless. It's troubling that King Abdullah II of Jordan claims the excavation to be "a threat to the founmdations of the al-Aqsa Mosque". Relations between Israel and the Palestinians cannot possibly sink any lower, giving Hamas yet another opportunity to widen the chasm between Jew and Arab.
Yet one cannot but help think about the deep veneration Muslims profess for their faith and their God, yet give no thought to the deeply-held religious beliefs, shrines and icons of other faiths. Just to recall that Jews were denied a presence at their primary focus of veneration when Jordan held possession of east Jerusalem. And the actions a year ago by the Taliban Muslim in shattering huge Buddhist images of great antiquity in Afghanistan despite the pleading they be spared from the international community.
How to reason, how to find a middle-ground of agreement with such single-minded people?
Labels: Middle East
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, February 07, 2007
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