The As-Sharif Archaeological Double Standard

The Temple Mount exists as a hotly disputed piece of real estate that most archaeologists can confirm was at one time a part of Solomon's Temple of God, perhaps the single most important site in Judaism if not one of the most significant cultural sites in archeology. There stands in the way one major problem here: the al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock. These two structures have a dubious claim to their location at best, as was covered by the author in a previous article detailing the history of Jerusalem - but because of their "reference" in the Quran it has become a politically sensitive issue.

This has given rise to a deplorable double standard, accentuated in the al-Aqsa Intifada. What is the al-Aqsa Intifada? This is an important key into understanding what the author will call "the as-Sharif Archaeological Double Standard".

During President Clinton's attempts to force Israel to negotiate with terrorist leader Yasser Arafat (a policy the United States itself rejects) the topic of Eastern Jerusalem and the Temple Mount came up several times - Arafat refusing to yield on the topic of what he referred to as the "as-Sharif", the land on the Temple Mount where the al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock are built. When Ehud Barak showed signs of caving to American pressure to yield the land to the Palestinians, Ariel Sharon made a historic visit there with his security forces.

Under Israeli law all citizens, Arab or Jew, had free access to any land officially under Israeli sovereignty. This essentially meant that you were allowed to drive from A to B without having to respect orthodox laws or any variant. An orthodox rabbi could hiss and cry at a Jew walking on the Temple Mount, but there is no law in Israel that forbids a Jew from there. This was chief on Ariel Sharon's tongue when he marched across the pathway up to the Temple Mount, where he was met by protesting Palestinians who had brought with them stones with which to kill the man.

"I came here with a message of peace. I believe that we can live together with the Palestinians. I came here to the holiest place of the Jewish people in order to see what happens here," he told the Press when he arrived. The response was a hail of stones from the protesters.

When the day ended, seven of the assailants were killed by gunfire and Ariel Sharon found himself widely criticized for walking on sovereign Israeli territory. In response to this "outrage", the al-Aqsa Intifada, officially known as the Second Intifada, was declared, one of the most violent and turbulent times in Israeli-Palestinian history, ending after 4,000 Palestinians and 2,000 Israelis were killed.

This reign of terror and manipulation continued relatively unchallenged as Palestinians continue to claim to hold a monopoly to this site that, even religions aside, is a significant site of history and culture that they all but refuse to allow non-Muslims to study. In 2003, Israel announced that it would freely allow Jews to travel the Temple Mount - which was widely condemned by Arab leaders the world wide. As Arab newspapers continued to use the phrase "alleged" when referring to the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount (which is undeniably the site where Herod rebuilt Solomon's Temple, only to be destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans) neighboring nations warned of "grave consequences" if Jews were allowed access to the site.

Ironically however, as Muslims continue to demand exclusive archaeological digging rights (even when the purpose of them amount to little more than dumping waste on the nearby Jewish Kidron Valley) to the site, with a stated goal to show that Muslims, not Jews, have a historic claim to it, dozens of historical artifacts were dug from the salvage further solidifying the Jewish claim, ranging from arrowheads belonging to the Babylonians who destroyed the Temple 3,000 years ago to coins.

On the topic, even in spite of these finds, Yasser Arafat had this to say:

"For 34 years [the Israelis] have dug tunnels

Even without these grandiose claims, day to day Jews are themselves the targets of anti-Semitic, Muslim ire. Beneath the Temple Mount itself stands the last remaining wall of the Temple, the Western Wall, now known as the Wailing Wall. There Jews, Christians, and seculars flock daily to either look on it or pray in front of it.

Meanwhile, the Muslims in the al-Aqsa mosque above, will throw stones and garbage down at the Jews, while approaching authorities requesting a law be put into place so that they will not have to hear the Jews' praying - a bizarre request for a culture whose prayers are usually voiced over a loudspeaker.

Violence and anger further erupted as things as simple as the rebuilding of a dangerous bridge was begun - accusations were astir that the "Zionists" and "Jewish Apes and Pigs" were attempting to damage the site - which seems strangely hypocritical and brings us in full circle of the as-Sharif Archaeological Double Standard. As parties inside the United States continue to decry Ariel Sharon's "provocative" visit to the Temple Mount, this very day tractors are bulldozing priceless sites on the Temple Mount, destroying artifacts in the process, so that they can, as they claim, "replace a cable".

Meanwhile more tractors continue to bulldoze ancient walls, historical sites, and priceless information, all the while Muslim guards continue to bar Jewish entrance because, in a dream, a man flew there on a horse.