Massive Destruction of Archaeological Artifacts

The Waqf, the Moslem Authority in charge of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem has been actively excavating and doing a lot of construction work on the site to build yet another Mosque. Not only is this work destablizing the mount and the already existing mosques upon it but it seems to be deliberately aimed at destroying any sign of a Jewish presence on the Mount.

As noted at Little Green Footballs, due to the excavation, a portion of the Temple Mount's stone embankment collapsed, most likely due to the digging and excavating.

Of course, as noted in the caption on LGF's page, the "militant Islamic group Hamas vowed February 16, 2004 to exact revenge against Israel over the collapse of a stone embankment". Amazing, when the Arabs are responsible for the collapse Hamas then blames Jews. Go figure.

The Waqf, without any archeological supervision is digging in the area of King Solomon's Stables and elsewhere on the mount, and seems to be bent on destroying any trace of the Jewish presence there and what the Temple Mount area actually looks like, even using artistically decorated stones from the Jewish Temple period as parts of a retaining wall.

Incredibly the Waqf denies that there is any Jewish presence:, "Jerusalem Mufti Shiekh Ekrima Sabri told Itim news agency Sunday that there are no historical artifacts that belong to the Jews on the Temple Mount and that construction work in the area is legitimate and legal. He added that the Palestinian and Muslin people have the right to renovate all parts of the mountain."

This is cultural destruction and barbarism that surpasses the Waqf's islamic bretheren, the Taliban and its destruction of the Budda statues in Afghanistan. Why does it surpass it? Because the Temple Mount is THE holiest site to Judaism and an important Christian site as well, while the Buddah statutes are not the holiest site to Buddhism.

The lack of world outrage and condemnation over this destruction is appalling. The Israeli Government needs to stop the Waqf from any further construction in order to preserve the holy site. It will be interesting to see whether the world condemns Israel for preventing the destruction of the site, or praises it for preserving this incredibly historic, culturally and religiously significant site - Most of you know what the World's reaction will be.

Update: Another good summary of the situation can be found here.