|
Since
March, 1968, the Israeli authorities have engaged a Jewish
archaeological team for excavations under, and around, Al Aqsa
Mosque with the object of finding traces of the Jewish Temple. They
introduced in the Haram Al-Sherif (Noble Sanctuary) area large
digging and earth-moving equipment and made excavations in many
parts of the sacred area. They dug tunnels beneath the foundations
of Al Aqsa Mosque.
On
September 8, 1981, Ambassador Hazem Nusseibeh of Jordan, former
Minister of Foreign Affairs, sent a letter to the Secretary General
of the United Nations regarding the continued Israeli excavations
and the claims of finds announced on August 25, 1981. In the letter
he said that “the latest clandestine Israeli descriptions have
reached a stage where the Al Aqsa Mosque is presently in danger of
total collapse. The Mufti of Jerusalem…has described these dangerous
diggings as blatant desecration of the Al Aqsa Mosque.”
The
destruction or collapse of the 1,350-year-old Mosque would
constitute a crime against humanity and the historic landmarks
preserved under UNESCO. “The collapse of this holy sanctuary would
be nothing less than a cultural, political and spiritual genocide
against this legacy and its innermost and immortal soul,” the letter
said.
Dr.
Nusseibeh sent attached documents with the letter which was
circulated as an official document of the General Assembly and
Security Council.
These
included:
Chronology of the most important occupation attempts
- First phase:
Extensive diggings were carried out on an area
of 70 square meters under the southern wall of the Al-Aqsa Mosque
(1967-1968)
- Second phase:
In 1969, the diggings exceeded an area of 80
square meters adjacent to the wall of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. These
ongoing diggings caused a serious undermining of the adjacent
building. Subsequently, the entire Magharbah quarter was
demolished
- Third phase:
The diggings in 1970 resulted in serious cracks
in the foundations of the Ottoman Mosque (Ribat Al-Kurd), and the
Jawhiriya School
- Fourth phase:
Diggings (1972-1974) behind the wall of Al Aqsa Mosque and
extending across the southern wall of the Mosque and under the
Mihrab pulpit and beneath the Mosque of Omar
- Fifth phase:
The diggings in the middle of the eastern side of the wall near
the Golden Gate, where those diggings inflicted extensive damage
upon an ancient Islamic cemetery near the site
- Sixth phase:
An expansion of the area of the Wailing Wall designed to destroy
all the buildings in the area surrounding the Wailing Wall. An
Israeli Ministerial Committee endorsed in 1977 the implementation
of this plan, which includes the demolition of several Islamic
historic buildings, including the Old Islamic Shari’s Court, the
Tankinazia School, the Khalidiya Library, a charitable Zawiya
(corner) and the Abu-Midian ancient Mosque
- Seventh phase:
The most ominous and menacing of these continuous diggings started
when the occupation authorities declared on August, 27 1981 that
they had discovered a tunnel beneath the Wailing Wall and the holy
Dome of the Rock, which extends through these and beneath the
foundations of Al Aqsa Mosque. The occupation authorities alleged
that this tunnel had been discovered a month before the discovery
was announced. But that the announcement had been withheld and
kept secret after informing the two Chief Rabbis of Israel as well
as the Minister of Religious Affairs and the Defense Minister
The
Israeli officials visited the area and requested that the matter
remained shrouded in secrecy. However, the news reached the world
media which compelled the Ministry of education to stop the diggings
and to close the tunnel in order to avoid far-reaching Islamic
reactions.
However, the diggings did not in fact stop and were resumed when the
Israeli Supreme Court issued a decision on 4 September which revoked
the decision of the Minister of Education and permitted a resumption
and completion of the diggings, which were resumed on 6 September.
|
