Earlier this month during the Taglit/Birthright trip I staffed, our Friday schedule included a tour of the Old City in Jerusalem, and a visit to the Kotel, the Western Wall. The night before, Yaniv, the tour guide with whom I staffed, told me that Friday would not be the best day for visiting Jerusalem. This was because the Israeli police expected riots on the Temple Mount that Friday(and for the Fridays since then) due to a construction project at the Mugrabi Gate.
The ramp that starts on the side of the Kotel and offers passage through the Mugrabi Gate to the Dome of Rock suffered severe damage from inclement weather a few years ago. Fearing injury, authorities closed the ramp and began plans to fix the structure. This is where the conflict starts and the situation gets interesting.
According to Kiyuko, a Japanese-American volunteer here at the journal, whose husband is a reporter for Reuters at the Jerusalem bureau, says whenever there is proposed construction in Israel, first a salvation dig must take place. Every layer of soil in Israel is replete with history of civilizations past. So, there has been some digging taking place.
When I stood atop the construction site for a new yeshiva overlooking the Kotel, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, I saw six workers and one small fork-lift/crane type vehicle. Mostly the men were standing around chatting, not really doing any work. Jokingly, I mused to myself that their job was to keep the dirt patted down because any other activity could incite riots. I don't think I'm too far off from the truth.
In looking into this situation, several points of view have been shared with me.
Kiyuko says archaeologists believe that beneath the Mugrabi ramp are the remains of King Solomon's Stables. If they are allowed the proper amount of space cleared and time to search, they can uncover this piece of ancient history.
Extrapolating from this viewpoint, Israel is taking the opportunity of the Mugrabi ramp reconstruction to further excavate and uncover more evidence of the Jewish People's history in this land. Less political a story is that these archaeologists, whose life's satisfaction is derived from such discoveries, simply want to uncover as much as they can.
According to the Muslim community, Israel is using the excuse of the Mugrabi ramp to dig under the Al-Aqsa mosque to undermine the foundations of the holy site, with the intent of causing the structure's collapse. This theory is discussed each Friday at the mosque during the Friday call to prayer. After the mandatory service, one of the religious leaders at the mosque gives and inspirational speech of sorts. Predictably, this public statement riles the crowds and stones are thrown over the wall, riots break out. During the first week something like 17 Israeli soldiers were wounded in the clashes.
In anticipation of confrontation, restrictions are placed on who gets to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Fridays these days. The army's orders forbid the entrance of tourists to the Temple Mount and Muslims under the age of 45. Outrage over the situation has crossed international borders. In Egypt last week, my friend Sammy Blumberg witnessed demonstrations protesting Israel and its Mugrabi activity.
Najat believes Israel is digging to prove something historic. She's familiar with Israel's attempt to prove the Jewish people's ancient ties to the Temple Mount but in doing so, she is of the camp that this will cause the collapse of the mosque.
George, at the hotel admits he's not exactly sure. "No one really knows what they're doing. They [Israel's government] have a history of sneaky operations," says George.
Another point of view is Shimi's. Shimi is a young Orthodox Jewish man. I put him in his early twenties. Red hair, lots of freckles, glasses and youth written all over his face, an exhilirating presence due to his passion for teaching all things Jewish. "Six men and a small tractor and that's where the world's eye is focused. Genocide in Sudan and the world's media is covering that mound of dirt," Shimi whispered as we looked over the Kotel, Al-Aqsa, and the Mugrabi ramp. The Jerusalem sky kaleidoscoping from orange to pink to lavender with the setting of the sun.
Shimi's understanding of the situation is that the Muslims are digging beneath the Al-Aqsa mosque, clearing out tunnels that had been filled to stabilize the mosque's foundation. They are doing this in order to erase any evidence of Jewish history beneath the mosque leading to what is beneath the Dome of the Rock. In doing so, they will cause the mosque's demise.
I feel like I'm living a choose your own adventure book and these are the options I have to continue to the journey.
On February 24, Ha'aretz reported that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is sending a delegation to "examine excavation work being conducted under the Mugrabi ramp leading to the Temple Mount."*
UNESCO hopes to allay some of the tension and suspiscion the Muslims have. The article also reported Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's visit to Turkey. Olmert showed photographs of the ramp to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who was not convinced that the plans would not jeopardize the stability of Al-Aqsa. "Olmert agreed to a Turkish suggestion for a technical team from Turkey to inspect the site."**
Whatever the truth may be, I see Olmert's agreeing to the Turkish as well as UNESCO's inspection of the project as an act of good faith. It also supports Olmert's statement that with regard to the Mugrabi ramp, Israel has nothing to hide. However, Ha'aretz reports today that "Israeli police...banned a press conference by opponents to Israeli excavation work near the Temple Mount."***
Organized by Hamas whose activities are prohibited in Israel, the police physically canceled the event at the Commodore Hotel here in East Jerusalem.
Every decision here is symbolic. Allowing the UN and Turkey to oversee this project, but disallowing a Hamas Party led press conference on the issue throws into the face of the Palestinians that their sovereignty is not even nearly recognized by Israel.
This is an excellent example of Israel's refusal to acknowledge the self-determination of the Palestinian people. And also how this behavior only heightens the tensions.
I understand that Hamas does not and will not recognize Israel. I haven't yet decided how I feel about this because I don't fully understand the rationale behind this stance. I do believe there is a rationale, or at the very least, I'm looking to find one and haven't yet given up.
Khaled Meshal is in Russia right now saying that until the occupation is ended and the Israelis apologize to the Palestinian people, Hamas will never recognize Israel. Also, along this line of thinking is what will the Palestinians gain from this recognition? Despite peace talks and previous agreements, Jewish settlements are still being built, one of the biggest obstacles to trust of the Israelis by the Palestinians. Why should they believe that Israel is merely conducting repairs on a ramp and not anything else?
As of today, Ha'aretz reports that "Israel says the dig is meant to salvage archaeological finds ahead of the construction of a new pedestrian walkway up to the hilltop compound, to replace one damged in a 2004 snowstorm. Israeli archaeologists insist there is no danger to the compound."****
I do not believe that Israel is trying to collapse the Al-Aqsa mosque. This would conceivably begin the war of wars in the Middle East. However, it is important to me to understand how repair of a ramp could cause such a hullabaloo.
It is significant that the UN and Turkey are allowed to weigh in on the project. That Hamas cannot hold a press conference on the subject, and Fatah is nowhere to be found.
It is significant that religious leaders in the mosque choose to highlight this project at Friday prayers, although for me this is hearsay. I do not know exactly what is being said, but I do know that riots have in fact occurred nearly every Friday this month at the Temple Mount.
It is important for me to say that such eruptions of violence on the Temple Mount are not about the Al-Aqsa mosque. Rather, it is a concrete issue, manipulated or otherwise by leaders who have their own agendas, that stokes the fires of frustration and oppression these people endure in their daily lives. A desperation I can best explain by the example of a man from the West Bank who came to the office today. He knocked on the door looking for work, any kind of work, cleaning, whatever, so that he may feed his children because there is no work for him at home.
It becomes easier to understand how someone would resort to throwing rocks at soldiers. Walking, armed symbols of one system that keeps them from feeding their children.
*/** http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo+830698
***/****http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/Print ArticleEN.jhtml?itemNo=831692
2 comments:
This whole situation has moved beyond understanding. It seems like a ticking time bomb... Interests on both sides waiting for a wrong move so they can calculate an strategic offensive. Working for peace in Israel seems to be like working on a complex model with gum instead of glue, just when you think the pieces are coming together, one wrong move and you are back at square one.
No one on either side seems to be accountable for anything.
The more informed we become, the more alone we stand with the facts against the tide of the impulses of ignorance.
Ely, I agree with what you say because it is true, particularly the one wrong move and back at square one point. But the thing is, there is so much suffering going on that peace has to be worked for because too many innocent people are being victimized by a game being played with their lives.
Post a Comment