Provocative Digs undermine conflict resolution in the 'City of David' aka Silwan

Check out this editorial in today's Boston Globe. It has caused a furore:

As a dispute over land and statehood, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is combustible enough. But recent clashes over the site in Jerusalem that Jews call the Temple Mount and Muslims call Haram al-Sharif are injecting religious passions into one of the world’s most dangerous confrontations. Extremists on both sides are playing with fire. But since Israel is the dominant power, the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bears primary responsibility for smothering that fire before it erupts into a much larger conflagration.

The current crisis originates in Palestinian fear and anger over archaeological excavations near, but not underneath, the Al Aqsa mosque. The digs are under the control of an ultra-nationalist Israeli group intent on justifying a Jewish claim to Jerusalem by locating remnants of what is called the City of David. Those excavations have weakened the foundations of nearby Arab houses and led critics across the Muslim world to warn of a plot to cause the collapse of the Al Aqsa mosque.

The furor over the excavations has given new force to Palestinian demands that Israel stop settling Jews in East Jerusalem, which would make it much harder to divide the ancient city between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Israel maintains that the influx of Jews into East Jerusalem is a simple matter of families buying homes in a neighborhood that appeals to them. But that’s not the whole story. The Israeli government knows that at least some of the people behind the purchases of Palestinian homes have a political motive.

Jordan, the Arab state most friendly to Israel, has called on the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to halt the excavations and to stop efforts to change the population balance between Arabs and Israelis in East Jerusalem. If President Obama wants to preserve hope of a two-state peace agreement, he must persuade Netanyahu to suspend the influx of Israeli Jews into East Jerusalem and put a stop to recklessly provocative excavations. The surest way to scuttle peace talks before they get started is for one side to give extremists on the other side a reason to call for martyrdom and holy war.

Izzy Bee agrees. Scientific archaeological excavations funded by academic institutes are preferable to these hasty digs, which are financed and carried out with a political and religious agenda. Shovelling shit along with the rubble does not advance anyone's historic understanding. The residents of Silwan are trapped in the trenches of Holy War if this is allowed to continue... and this dispute keeps simmering. Elad, the radical settler NGO, should not be given free rein to relabel the city and befuddle the past just because it has plenty of money!
The world expects higher academic standards from the Jews of Jerusalem.

Al-Qaeda in Jerusalem? Alarming arrests

Hebrew U seems a highly unlikely campus for an Al-Qaeda cell, but apparently the Shin Bet security swooped in and arrested half a dozen Arab students there who allegedly were surfing Al-Q linked websites and uploading cell-phone snaps of the landing pad where President Bush's chopper was supposed to touch down earlier this year. Other charges are that these Islamic radicals were setting up a Jerusalem-based Al Qaeda cell and the vague "attempts to solicit for a terrorist group." Could these bored guys have just been messaging and macho-posturing online?
Is joking about shooting down President Bush's helicopter punishable by rendition and an open-ended stint in Gitmo?

According to Ynet news, the suspects are:

Ibrahim Nashef, 22, of Tayibe, a physics and computer sciences student at the Hebrew University; Muhammas Najem, 24, of Nazareth, a chemistry student at the Hebrew University; Yusef Sumarin, 21, of the Jerusalem village of Beit Hanina; Anas Shawiki, 21, of the Jerusalem town of Jabel Mukaber; Kamal Abu Kwaider, 22, of Jerusalem's Old City; and Ahmed Shawiki, 21, of the Jerusalem town of Shuafat.

All the suspects were charged with membership in a terror organization. Some of them will be tried for aiding the enemy at a time of war, possessing propaganda material in favor of a terror organization, soliciting and attempting to solicit others to join a terror organization.

According to the indictments filed against them Friday, the six used to meet at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

It's a bit alarming how scanty the evidence seems to be for these recent arrests. A gag order was lifted today, and little is known except for what the security agency has press-released. One wonders if this is just a belts-and-braces overkill in the run-up to candidat Barack Obama's visit next week. There is no indication of any funding from Saudi or the Gulf for these students. So the extent of vague "Al-Qaeda links" are a mystery. Is it the Islamic connection? Card-carrying al-Qaeda do not exist. And although a couple of anti-Western thugs in Gaza have blown up internet cafes and Christian bookshops, so far there has not been a single direct link between Palestinians and the feared urban Jihadis who once trained in in Afghanistan. (Best to keep it that way, I agree.)
There were also a couple of Bedouin boys who were picked up last month for allegedly pointing out online some high-value targets such as the Tel Aviv international airport and the swanky Azrieli cylinder, triangle, and square high rises downtown (knowledge which was not exactly top-secret.)

Frankly, these round-ups smack of thought police. One of the most heartening aspects of life in Israel is its lively free-ranging discussions, but this freedom apparently does not extend to Arab Israelis or Palestinian residents in Jerusalem.
Israelity bites.

Spring fever, Israeli style

Birdsong, blossoms and sunbeams -- spring definitely has sprung in Israel. Fields of wildflowers --red anemones, wild mustard and blue field iris --bloom beyond Jerusalem's Peace Forest and scent the fresh breezes. Alas, there's not much love in the air yet. Smiles are scarce in a place where rancor and mistrust rule. Blood still is the overriding odor, at least subliminally.

Down in the dunes of Holon, south of Tel Aviv, the locals are reeling after a hot-headed guy was murdered over a parking spot dispute

"Today people murder each other over anything - a dog, a woman, so what's so surprising that this happened?," one mother told a reporter.

After a brief weekend lull, the violence has ramped up again. Not a big surprise. A Qassam rocket struck Ashkelon yesterday, shortly after the departure of the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and the IDF forces killed five Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank and arrested 30 more in Nablus.

Edginess is almost palpable. For days, local police in Jerusalem have refused to release the body of Abu Ala Dheim, the gunman killer who killed eight teens at Mercaz Harav Yeshiva and wounded 10 more. Authorities fear that if more than 5 family members attend his funeral, it may erupt into a media feeding frenzy or a literal bloodbath. They require burial by night with no martyr's fanfare. A fansite posted on Facebook has drawn condemnation for praising the horrific slaying as "an heroic act" across graphic photos of the dead students from the Zionist seminary.



According to television news reports,some yeshiva students have threatened to take revenge for the school shooting spree by attacking a senior Palestinian official at the al Aqsa Mosque, the volatile sacred site which Jews call the Temple Mount. An attack at this mosque could prompt a outbreak of violence across Israel and the Palestinian territories. Israeli police say they have prepared for the possibility of vengeance, but so far there have been no arrests. Demands for 100 new houses to be erected in settlements for each murdered student are frequently heard; expansion in the settlement was officially announced, much to the scorn of peacemaker Condi Rice.

So the next thing on the agenda is the arrival of America's Darth Vader... America's Vice President Dick Cheney is on the way to "prod for peace" in the Holy Land. Republican presidential candidate John McCain may show up as well, we are told, to further establish his security credentials while he woos Jewish voters.

Israelity bites

Vatican vs Knights Templar

How the mighty fall always makes a great read. In Jerusalem, where the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert himself owns a family flat revamped from a Knights Templar dwelling, the medieval seems like comparatively recent history, so this tale is particularly gripping. Some 700 years after the fact, Pope Benedict XVI has revealed that these Knights were not heretics, despite their bad rep for spitting and kissing. Above is a venerable illustration of non-heretical crusader knights who were burnt at the stake on a Friday the 13th for, ahem, heresy. Peter Popham in Rome reports on the monastic knights who guarded the Al Aqsa mosque, snatched from jihadis, and profited from pilgrims.

One of the most iniquitous chapters in the history of the medieval church was revisited in Rome yesterday when the Vatican publisher Scrinium put on sale facsimiles of the trial of the Knights Templar order, held before Pope Clement V in 1308.

The book is unlikely to turn up in your local Borders': measuring 27 by 22in, printed on artificial parchment with replicas of the original papal seals, it is as close as the publishers can get to the appearance of the original document, which turned up in the Vatican's secret archives in 2001, having been mislaid for more than 300 years.

Academics and fans of Dan Brown's thrillers will be eager to get their hands on the book but it costs ¿5,900 per copy, and most of the 799 copies have already been reserved by specialist libraries. The 800th will be given to the Pope.

It ought to make uncomfortable reading for him. The Knights Templar, the order of monastic knights set up to defend Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, seized during the First Crusade, went into decline after Christians were expelled from the Holy Land in the 13th century. King Philip IV "the Fair" of France owed the order large amounts of money and land; to avoid repaying the debt, he prevailed on Pope Clement V, based in Avignon and dependent on his good offices, to put members on trial for heresy.

The pope tried them, and while he found them guilty of immorality, the key charge of heresy was found to be false. It had been alleged that while in Jerusalem they had been in the custom of spitting on crosses, and underwent an initiation ceremony that involved kissing.

They persuaded the pope and his judges that the spitting was done to prepare themselves for the dissembling they would be obliged to practice if captured by the Saracens, while the kissing was a way of promising complete obedience. The pope accepted their arguments and absolved them of heresy. This, however, did not satisfy Philip. The pope was pressured to reverse his verdict, and the head of the order and his closest associates were burnt at the stake. The order's riches were handed to a rival knightly order, and the surviving knights melted away. It was a demonstration of the power of realpolitik to trump justice.

The order's downfall stimulated the growth of legends and fables about the order. Founded in Jerusalem by veterans of the successful First Crusade of 1096, it was a potent armed force designed to protect Christian pilgrims. When the pope gave it special status – exemption from local laws and taxes and answerable to no one but the pontiff – it soon became uniquely rich and powerful.

The order developed a way for wealthy travellers to pay for services received by leaving lands and wealth at the disposal of a Templar group in Europe.

It believed, as did the Jews, that Al-Aqsa was the site of Solomon's Temple, from which sprung the belief that many holy relics had fallen into its hands. The Turin Shroud, fragments of the Cross and the chalice used by Christ at the Last Supper – the Holy Grail – are among treasures it was popularly believed to have acquired.

Love Thy Neighbor

Portraits of Jerusalem, an exceptional radio broadcast on the BBC 4, touches on some of the problems of a righteous city which is holy to a trinity of faiths: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Land is scarce and scrapping over it becomes fierce.
Some hardliners see redemption in ratcheting up a Jewish presence inside the Old city walls, and Star of David banners are aggressively displayed in some of the newly-purchased upper story properties in the Christian sections.
The quotes from Father Jerry (Jerome Murphy O'Connor, professor at the Ecole Biblique) are quite poignant, as he copes with the decline of the Christian minority that he has witnessed over the past four decades.
With such a long history of rancour, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the city fathers of Jerusalem have done a quiet U-turn and scrapped the controversial bridge they were constructing up to the Temple Mount, which caused tensions to mount. The previous access ramp was damaged by an earthquake and a fluke snowstorm,and deemed to be dangerous. It overlooks the Kotel or Wailing Wall; this is the only entrance for non-Muslims to access the Haram esh-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, the third holiest site in Islam. An archaeological dig beneath the pillars, to protect or salvage any artifacts from construction damage, is about to wind up, too.
Had Jerusalem officials announced this decision any sooner, it would have been seen as a giving into international Muslim pressure. (see Unruly Bridge & Tunnel Crowd.) Clashes between 3000 Israeli security forces and throngs of irate Muslims, who were convinced that the Israelis' digging was designed to undermine their al Aqsa mosque, put the sacred space on high security alert in March and touched off protests around the world.

As can be seen in this photo, there is little room to maneuver in this holiest of hotspots. Israeli intelligence trumpeted the arrest of 11 Hamas operatives who they said were intent on wresting control of the Temple Mount from Jordan's Waqf authority and determined to fire up passions on this incendiary pilgrimage spot.

Unruly bridge and tunnel crowd

UNESCO, the Paris-based international culture agency which recently inspected Israel's controversial archaeological salvage tunnel near the Temple Mount, is expected to release its report today, urging Israel to halt its excavation until international experts can oversee it. These United Nations bureaucrats, who were led around by the outspoken Israeli archaeologist, Dan Bahut, seem to be sending a decidedly mixed message, even though local press reports stressed that no official statements about the UNESCO conclusions were expected until next month and that a policy of transparency is accomplished with an online video camera focused at the site round the clock.

Fears that Muslim holy sites were being undermined by Israeli shovels appear to be unfounded. King Abdullah II of Jordan had pleaded last month for restraint by the so-called "Temple Raiders" and Islamic riots resulted in Kashmir when Israeli digging commenced.

After clashes between 3000 security police and Muslim residents of East Jerusalem led to a couple dozen injuries from stun grenades, clubs, and stones outside the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert invited the UN into the fray. The new report, which examined exploratory digs for antiquities which were undertaken to prevent possible damage when Israeli engineers erect new support pillars for a collapsed walkway, seems to be quite cautious. It points out that Israel has not violated any norms. Yet religious sensitivites concerning this locale, where a ramp allows non-Muslims--mostly soldiers, tourists, and settlers ---to ascend and overlook a site which is sacrosanct to three monotheistic religions, are volatile. This was the magnificent Second Temple of Solomon, demolished by the Romans; the same temple where Jesus once threw out the Philistine money-changers; the place where Mohammed embarked on a night ride that revealed the Koran. That's why UN experts recommend scrupulous restraint. Israel is expected to consult with authorities from Jordan and from the local Islamic Waqf board before any further work gets underway on the Temple Mount. Nearly 100 arrests for inciting or participating in violence were made in February. A spy drone hovered overhead on subsequent Fridays, tourist visits were cancelled, and only middleaged Muslims over the age of 45 were allowed to worship. Younger Muslims were prevented from entering, and Islamic schools near the site were closed. A rabbi recently purchased a flock of sheep which he grazes on the grassy slopes outside the walled city; his reasoning reportedly is to be ready in case the temple is re-erected and a call for sacrificial animals results.

underground and underexposed

Underground candid camera may not be as exciting as we were led to believe. Irate Muslim protesters in Kashmir or Turks who are upset about the possibility of Israeli archaeologists undermining Al Aqsa are likely to be bored by this internet broadcast, which admittedly could do with better lighting.

Click here to see live footage from one of three webcams. (There is an English version as well) These now are installed by the Israel Antiquities Authority at the controversial salvage dig near Jerusalem's Dung Gate (oddly named for an entrance to a site sacred to three monotheistic creeds, don't you think? It's the only gate out of 15 which non-Muslims ae allowed to use. Visitors and security troops trundle up the derelict wooden ramp, which eventually is being pulled down). Tell da boys in da Quds that the camera won't work on the Sabbath --Friday dusk through Saturday sunset. They are accustomed to the sinister spy blimp which floats above the neighborhood like an anemic guppy-shaped balloon every Friday.

Protests timed to follow Friday noon prayers were a damp squib, after police banned worshippers under age 40 for women and 50 for men and insisted that all Muslims have Jerusalem residential permits before being allowed onto the site. Some 3000 police were on patrol at the Temple Mount,also known as the Noble Sanctuary, and an estimated 6000 Muslims arrived at the mosque after clearing security checks. Fifteen arrests followed sporadic rock throwing before any riots broke out, and the loudspeakers of East Jerusalem mosques were not plugged in this week. Just a few loud bangs echoed across the stones. Since last week, almost 100 Arabs have been hauled in by police and charged with instigating violence. Their photos were identified by the security video cameras that are trained on the alleys inside the walled city, 24/7. Scenes from these particular web cams are not yet viewable online, alas, even though that might be rather more exciting. It's still high alert for this section of Jerusalem, and school still is out for Muslim youths.

Suspense

Izzy is puzzled by the headlines in today's Jerusalem Post. It does not seem like the controversial excavation at the Temple Mount has been suspended, especially after Olmert's assertions to his cabinet that he is absolutely committed to this renovation project.
Yet Mayor Uri Lupolianski said last night that building works on the new ramp up to the Temple Mount will be stalled until all the contentious objections by Islamicists, archaeologists and sundry others are handled; this is a responsible action. But it transpires that the Antiquities Authority's salvage dig will continue. Isn't this dig one of the sticking points? Arab Israelis and Muslims from Indonesia to Iran have objected to the dig because of the (far-fetched) possibility that underground tunnels are meant to undermine the foundations of their shrine and mosque. Reassurances by the Israelis that the Archaeological garden lies outside the holy site have not quelled rumours. Perhaps placing the city council's proposed 24/7 web cam inside the salvage dig would go further towards abating this potential crisis (if enough light can be thrown inside...and if the Muslims are convinced there is no trickery involved.)
Trust is what's lacking. Mutual suspicion of opportunism and manipulation is what fuels the righteous fury, along with a sense of entitlement. Certainly, the security troops on their hefty steeds looked ready for a fight, as did the shouters of slogans and hurlers of bottles and rocks.
Closing the boys' high school in the area is a dim tactic on the part of the Israelis. If Muslim kids are in class, they are accountable to their teachers and far less apt to be out on the streets hurling stones. Conspiracy theories abound, but so often it is just ineptitude.

Shrine dispute heats up

Muslim protestors barricaded themselves inside Al Aqsa mosque shortly after Friday prayers following an attempt by 200 Israeli police to break up their rock-throwing protest against a nearby excavation with a barrage of rubber bullets and tear gas. BBC news did not report any serious injuries. Violence looked set to continue, with the sound of firing echoing across East Jerusalem and the old city walls. Sigh. A little dialogue could have prevented this mayhem.

Cooler heads eventually prevailed after negotiations were completed and managed to avert an extended siege of the mosque, Islam's third holiest site. Anger is still palpable among the younger Israeli Arab community whose weekly worship was interupted by the violence.
click here and here for reports.

Dig it--or not?

Mounted police at Jaffa gate, helicopters aloft--- lots of fanfare herald this particular archaeological dig. Historical, hysterical, whatever: the controversial salvage operation going on in Jerusalem's Archaeological Garden, while stone throwers are set to pelt a back-hoe despite the glowering glances of 2000 armed cops, is truly a weird scene.

The plan to refurbish this sensitive place in the Old City has predictably affronted Muslims, who accuse Israelis of defiling their holy places or even plotting to destroy them to make way for a third Temple and bring on Armageddon.



But angry archaeologists are weighing in, too. Some 18 professors of archaeology objected last March to Olmert's office plan to fix a new causeway from the SW corner of the Temple Mount up to the domed Muslim shrine. Their petition was ignored. Historians and Islamic clerics both may feel they get shafted when city engineers dig down into the relic-strewn rubble held holy by three monotheistic religions. There's a rich mother lode of knowledge at stake, and the timing couldn't be worse. (Defence Minister Amir Peretz pointed out yesterday, rather belatedly, that fomenting chaos at a sacred Islamic shrine when trying to initiate a Middle East peace process is counterproductive.) There is a lot of vicious posturing on both sides of this issue

Izzy hopes that the outcry from the Arab street to desist won't make Israeli officials all the more stubborn and maybe spark off a new Intifada. (Though some analysts say that Palestinians will grasp at any excuse to resurrect this ugly option.)

The detention of the Islamic Movement's head and six of his cronies by the border police probably has added fuel to this explosive situation. Prime Minister Olmert may think this is a key issue to show the nation that he does have the stones to lead it. Rock on, Ehud, but choose your moment. Don't antagonize the Muslims just now. If Ariel Sharon could stir from his coma and advise, he'd probably caution about potential riots after Friday's prayer tomorrow in the Old City.