wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Officials fear Temple Mount dig could spark Jewish-Muslim

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8946 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05533
Oct. 4, 2005

Officials fear Temple Mount dig
could spark Jewish-Muslim violence
 
by Michele Green 
Ecumenical News International 

JERUSALEM - Ancient relics have been discovered in an underground tunnel near
a disputed holy site in Jerusalem.

	Officials fear that their find may upset Palestinians, who rioted
almost a decade ago after another part of the same site was opened.

	The archaeological items were found in an ancient tunnel adjacent to
the Temple Mount, a complex known as al-Haram al-Sharif to Muslims. It is
holy to both Muslims and Jews. The Muslim trust that manages the shrine,
which includes the al-Aqsa mosque, has long complained about Israeli
archaeological digs near the site, which Israel captured in the 1967
Arab-Israeli war.  
  
	The latest finds, unveiled by archaeologists on Sept. 27, include a
Jewish ritual bath dating from the time of King Herod's Temple, about 2,000
years ago, and a wall believed to date from the period of King Solomon's
temple, which was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC.  
  
	The archaeological digs were sponsored by the Elad association, an
ultra-nationalist Jewish group that stakes Jewish claims to Muslim property
in East Jerusalem. The tunnel is under Jerusalem's Old City; it starts near
the Western Wall - part of Herod's temple - and ends in the Muslim Quarter.  
  
	"We don't have anything against archaeology, because stones won't do
anything to you," said Abd Shlode, an Arab resident of East Jerusalem who is
active in civic affairs. "What we are opposed to is the issuing of demolition
orders forcing us out of our homes after an excavation has begun."  
  
	The opening of the main tunnel in 1996 sparked widespread Palestinian
rioting and gun battles between Palestinian security forces and Israeli
soldiers. Eighty people were killed. The riots were fuelled by rumors that
the tunnels were part of a plot to destabilize or blow up the al-Aqsa mosque.
 
  
	The Temple Mount shrine, a sore point in the Middle East conflict, is
often the scene of violence between Palestinians and Israelis.

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