Bruce Feiler - Where God Was Born, Abraham, Walking The Bible

An Archaeology Proxy War
Friday, February 9, 2007

As a writer, every now and then something you write comes alive, writ large in the news. This happened Friday in Jerusalem, when a riot nearly broke out on the Temple Mount during Friday prayers. As Haaretz reported: "Israeli-Arab protesters on Friday agreed to leave Temple Mount peacefully after clashing with police to protest Israeli renovation work near the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. About 200 police officers entered the area around the Al-Aqsa Mosque and hurled stun grenades to disperse Muslim protesters there midday Friday, as hundreds of demonstrators threw stones at security forces."

The backstory is that Israel is doing some renovations on the ramp that leads up to the Mount, the one that goes alongside the

Western Wall. Haaretz:

Excavations near the Temple Mount's Mugrabi Gate were approved two weeks ago as a necessary precursor to replacing a ramp that provides access to the gate. The ramp collapsed three years ago, and was replaced by a temporary wooden structure. Plans have since been approved for a permanent replacement, and by law, any construction work in the Old City must be preceded by a salvage dig.

The dig is taking place in the Jewish Quarter, outside the Temple Mount, but the Islamic Movement in Israel has accused it of being meant to undermine the Temple Mount. Meanwhile, Arab ambassadors to the United Nations asked the UN Security Council on Thursday to "to take immediate and urgent measures" to stop the excavation. They said in a statement that they "denounced the Israeli occupation authority's escalation of its aggression on Islamic endowments in occupied East Jerusalem by starting to destroy a historic route."

This exact scenario is outlined in chapter 4 of WHERE GOD WAS BORN, in which I interview dueling Israeli and Palestinian archaeologists about the battle over the Temple Mount. In effect, each side uses archaeology as a proxy war to wage their geopolitical struggle over the city. Archaeology, with its mix of science and emotion, appears to be a perfect weapon in this struggle, because it appears to offer what each side would like to be the ultimate answer: Proof that their claim to the land is more legitimate. But archaeology can offer no such assurances. In fact, the sooner we disentangle scripture, faith, and science from what is, at heart, a political struggle, the sooner we are likely to find a solution. Neither the Bible nor the Koran offer a solution to the Middle East crisis.

Labels: Biblical Archaeology, Middle East

Posted by B Feiler at 9:43 AM
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1 Comments:

Anonymous said...: http://www.antiquities.org.il/home_eng.asp

The Israel Antiquities Authority is providing live webcast of the excavations at the Mughrabi Ramp for the world to monitor.; February 15, 2007 11:40:00 AM EST