Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Rewriting History

I'd like to take a second to address the recent controversy in Israel over the Mugrabi bridge. For those who don't know, Israeli authorities are rebuilding a ramp to allow non-Muslims to reach the Temple Mount, a religious site in Jerusalem that has been under Muslim control since 1967. Since the old ramp was deemed unsafe years ago and the interim ramp was designed for short-term use only, anyone with half a brain would understand that the need to rebuild access is important, and not a desire to undermine the Al-Asqa Mosque which was built on top of it.

Yet Arab leaders have incited absurd hysteria on these grounds, inciting their people to wreak violence on Israelis and Jews for their "attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque". The leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Raed Salah, announced in response to the ramp project that "the danger in Jerusalem has increased. It is high time for the intifada of the Islamic people." The prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, Ismail Haniyeh, called the construction project "continued Israeli aggression on Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem." An Egyptian MP, Mohamed el-Katatny, announced in parliament, "That cursed Israel is trying to destroy Al-Aqsa mosque. . . . Nothing will work with Israel except for a nuclear bomb that wipes it out of existence."

At the heart of this battle is not a worry of undermining the foundations of the mosue (which Muslim authorities came much closer to in 1996 by trashing tons of dirt/artifacts from underneath the mosque), but a worry of what archaelogical digs in the area may turn up. This is the denial by Muslim authorities to admit any Jewish ties to Jerusalem and Israel. Let me remind you, the Roman empire Titus destroyed the 2nd Temple (built by King Herod for the Jews) in 70 AD (the 1st one having been destroyed much earlier in 586 BC). The Al-Asqa Mosque, built some 1400 years ago, is now claimed by many to have been in existence since Adam or Abraham. Similarly, many scholars doubt the existence of a Temple (at least anywhere near Jerusalem), and distort/ignore whatever they can to teach such.

Thus, these ignorant voices are willing to ignore whatever archaelogic finds might benefit the Muslim world in order to deny and Jewish claims to the land. The thought being if they can first destroy the Jewish existence and history with words, maybe the destruction of present day Israel will follow.


**For more info, check out:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/824139.html
http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/311eafts.asp?pg=1

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