It seems that the times of the Messiah have arrived. Amos Oz, the guru of Meretz, is embracingAriel Sharon, the Count of Sabra and Shatila. MK Ya’el Dayan, from the left, is cooperatingwith MK Benni Elon, the serial hooligan of the extreme right. Tommy Lapid, sworn enemy of theorthodox, pairs with Rabbi Abraham Ravitz of the Flag of the Torah. Daliah Rabin-Filosof,daughter of, dances with Shaul Yahalom, darling of the settlers. Some dozens of other MKs,professors and archeologists take part in the festival. Isaiah’s vision come true: the wolfdwelleth with the lamb, and a little child leads them: Ehud Olmert, the politician literallyready to walk on corpses (see: tunnel incident) on his way to the Prime Minister’s office.
What has created this miracle? It’s the archeology, stupid. National unity deep in the earth.
In a big ad, all these demand that the Prime Minister prevent “the continuation of thedestruction of antiquities on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.” After describing the terribleact of vandalism committed there by the Muslims in the course of the renovation of a mosque, thepersonalities from left and right call upon the government of Israel “to act urgently toensure the meticulous implementation of the Antiquities Law on the Temple Mount and to makeany digging and building activity in the compound conditional on strict archeologicaloversight by the (Israeli) antiquities authority…as demanded at any other site in the Stateof Israel”.
When such a demand comes from Uzi Landau, the extreme right-wing politician, and MosheShamir, the extreme right-wing writer, that’s natural. When the list of signatures is headedby Teddy Kollek, the arch-settler who has put more Jews on Arab land than Gush Emunim whileposing as a peacenik, that’s even more natural. But when good people like the writerA.B.Yehoshua, educator Lova Eliav and professor Yirmiyahu Yovel habe added theirsignatures, it makes one wonder. Have they been trapped, not understanding the intentions ofthe trappers?
By itself, the demand for professional archeological oversight of digging activities atsuch a sensitive site is reasonable and justified. (Indeed, 30 years ago I demanded just thatwhen Moshe Dayan was robbing archeological sites and causing irreversible damage. At thetime, not one of the older signatories of this ad supported my demand then. No Mk, no professor,no archeologist.)
But this ad is a political act, a weapon in the struggle against compromise in Jerusalem. It isbased on the assumption that the compound of the mosques is like “any other site in the State ofIsrael.” It demands that the government of Israel impose the Israeli law “as at any other sitein the State of Israel”. And there’s the rub.
Let’s go back in time: In the year 638 the Caliph ‘Ummar conquered Jerusalem from theChristians and immediately went to the temple mount, which had been turned by the Christiansinto the municipal rubbish dump. He ordered to clean it and since then (except during theCrusaders’ time) the Muslims have guarded the mount, which they call Haram al-Sharif. During1362 years this has been a Muslim site, and even the Israeli occupier has wisely accepted thissituation. Any violent confrontation with the Muslims at this place can have unforeseeableconsequences. There is no doubt whatsoever that under any peace agreement this site will passinto the hands of the State of Palestine. Even the adherents of the mantra”Eternal-Capital-of-Israel” agree that the Palestinian flag will wave over the mosquesthere.
The peaceniks who fell into this paper-trap did not have time, so it seems, to think. In a momentof excitement, exploited by right-wing political manipulators, they signed a document thatcalls, in effect, for unconditional annexation. They demand that the Israeli governmentimplement the Israeli law in this holy Muslim compound in a unilateral and Draconian way.
If they had taken time out to think twice, they would have come to the conclusion that it wouldhave been better not to act in a way reminiscent of the means and terminology of a militarygovernor. They could have, for example, called for cooperation between Palestinian andIsraeli archeologists. They could have addressed their concern to the Israeli governmentand the Palestinian Authority. They could even have called for the intervention of UNESCO,the world-wide authority in charge of humanity’s cultural heritage.
This manifesto betrays a abysmal contempt for the Palestinians and Muslims. The Muslim wakf(religious authority) is depicted as a monster, the Palestinians are completely ignored.
By the way, one of the right-wing propagandists wrote that the wakf prevents scientificdigging on the Temple Mount out of fear that they would disprove several Muslim religioustexts. This warning could also apply to the Jewish faith. If the digging had taken place, itwould undoubtedly have confirmed the consensus of nearly all serious archeologiststhroughout the world: That there never was a Kind David or a King Salomon, that Jerusalem was atthat time a tiny, insignificant hamlet, that it became important only after the destructionof the northern Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians. By preventing scientific digging, theMuslims are unwittingly defending the Jewish religion, too.
What is buried under the ground is very important. But it is much more important to achievepeace and mutual understanding on the ground.