By Barry Rosenfeld
Jerusalem’s Temple Mount is where both the First and Second Temples stood for a total 800 years. It is now the location of the Dome of the Rock, al-Aqsa Mosque, and the underground Solomon’s Stables mosque. Nevertheless, in 1925 and again as late as 1950, the Supreme Muslim Council of Palestine unequivocally recognized the Jewish link to what they call Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary; i.e., Temple Mount). In their publication, A Brief Guide to al-Haram al-Sharif, they state: “Its identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which ‘David built there an altar unto the Lord.’”
However, only a few years later, this statement had been removed and by 2001, the chief Muslim cleric of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Jerusalem mufti Ikrima Sabri said, “There is not [even] the smallest indication of the existence of a Jewish temple on this place in the past. In the whole city, there is not even a single stone indicating Jewish history. Our [Muslim] right, on the other hand, is very clear. This place belongs to us for 1,500 years.”
In a similar manner even the Western Wall, the one remaining portion of the Temple Mount revered as Judaism’s holiest site, has been renamed the Wall of al-Buraq, referring to the place where Mohammed is said to have tethered his horse during his nighttime ascension from the Holy Mount into Paradise (all part of a dream). In this they deny a Jewish connection even to the Wall.
Even Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem is under assault. The Muslims renamed it “Kubat Rahil,” but since 1996 the Muslims have been calling it “Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque,” claiming falsely that it is the burial site of Mohammed’s servant. They even got the heavily politicized UN organization UNESCO to agree and to put pressure on Israel to remove it from their list of historical sites and give control of it to the Palestinians.
The ultimate goal of the Palestinians and their allies is to advance the idea that Jerusalem in general, and neighborhoods like Silwan in particular, have no Jewish ties. Archeological remnants found in Jerusalem are thus presented as either Canaanite or Muslim. Silwan lies to the south of the Old City Wall and was once the City of David. The name comes from the Bible name Siloam. It is the site of the Pool of Siloam mentioned in the New Testament.
Arab spokesmen of all stripes and from many different fields are all working together to negate any archaeological claim that might link the Jewish people to the First and Second Temple periods. This is a theme that is blasted throughout the Palestinian media and presented falsely on both television and in newspapers.
During the July 2000 Camp David negotiations Yasser Arafat said that there was never a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount and that the Qur’an proved that the temple was not even in Palestine.
Archaeological evidence taken from what is called Silwan going back to the 19th century strongly indicates a Jewish presence. This is backed up by current finds of seals and bullae (clay used to stamp seals on letters) with Hebrew text, two of which having the names of royal officials mentioned in the book of Jeremiah, which have led archeologist Eilat Mazar to describe parts of the site as being the palaces of the Davidic and Judean kings.
King Hezekiah constructed a tunnel to bring water from the spring of Shiloah (Silwan). A Hebrew inscription attesting to this ancient engineering marvel was uncovered in the late nineteenth century and is now housed in the Istanbul Museum.
Regardless of whatever attempts the Palestinians are making to blot out any evidence of an historic Jewish presence in Jerusalem and in Israel in general, ongoing archaeological discoveries continue to prove them wrong.
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