Report: Israeli work risks destroying Jerusalem’s Islamic assets
A Turkish technical mission sent to Jerusalem to inspect Israeli archaeological work near the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque has criticized the excavations and called on Israel to consult with Palestinian and international authorities on a final plan, the mission's report, obtained by Today's Zaman, revealed.


The Turkish mission visited Jerusalem in March to inspect the archeological work being carried out by the Israeli authorities at the Mughrabi ramp, which climbs to the southwestern gate of the Haram al-Sharif complex, amid international concerns over the excavations. Its report, which was completed in the summer but not released to the public, observed that the excavations are unacceptable by legal and scientific standards and suggested that the excavation goes beyond scientific purposes. It said even if there is no actual excavation at Haram Al-Sharif, there are enough indications to give the impression that it is only a matter of time.

"The archaeological excavation at the Mughrabi pathway, which involves various traces of the Umayyad, Ayyubid, Mameluke and Ottoman periods, must be discontinued immediately," the report said, echoing an earlier report by UNESCO in March. For future reconstruction efforts in the area, the report recommended a competition open to Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian architects and the joint work of Israeli and Palestinian experts supervised by organizations such as UNESCO and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

"The tunneling and excavation work and the large amount of soil extraction shown to our mission along the Wailing Wall give the impression that this is an intervention of great scale and depth and that this intervention goes beyond scientific purpose, even if there is no excavation toward Haram al-Sharif," it said.

While not openly adopting the Palestinian position labeling Israeli archeology as a mode of the "Judaization" or "Israelization" of Jerusalem, the report observed that the ongoing activities are a part of a planned and systematically implemented effort to destroy values associated with cultural assets of the Ayyubid, Mameluke and Ottoman periods.

Warning that the archaeological heritage is the common heritage of all humanity, the report noted that scientific values and approaches should not be regarded as a matter of hegemony. "History, science and art should not be made accessory to religion and politics; all actions should respect the shared values of humanity," the report said.

Titled the "Technical Mission Report on Excavation Work Performed in the Vicinity of Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem," the report emphasized that the old city texture of Jerusalem, a blending of the shared values and heritage produced by mankind throughout history, must be preserved as it is and with "minimum" intervention. "The texture of this shared sacred city should not be disturbed," it said.

It identified "distortion of Jerusalem's history by means of highlighting the Judaic aspect or identifying with being of Arab origin" as the source of current problems and emphasized Jerusalem was a city where Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Armenian communities constituted a "heterogeneous population" living in peace.

The Turkish mission's report criticized the fact that there has been no dialogue or cooperation between Israeli authorities and the officials of the Islamic Waqf (religious authorities) for the past seven years and that the Israelis reject such cooperation on grounds that it disturbs their claims of sovereignty to the city. The report also criticized Israeli PR efforts regarding the excavations, claiming that what is being moved with excavators are earth and rubble. The report claimed that together with earth and rubble the excavations are actually destroying the last remnants of the Islamic past in the Wailing Wall plaza.

The Islamic Waqf has called the work illegal, since under international law no such action should be undertaken in an occupied city. Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem in the 1967 war.

The excavations that prompted the Turkish mission's visit had sparked public protest and unrest among the Muslims of the whole world with fears of secret Israeli intentions to destroy the third holiest shrine of Islam, Masjid al-Aqsa, or to change the religious status quo of the city of Jerusalem. During a state visit by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last February, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan voiced Turkey's reservations with regard to the Israeli project to replace the ramp altogether and build an "ultra-modern glass-roofed tube" passage to the Mughrabi Gate. The two leaders agreed that a Turkish technical mission should visit the site and prepare a report as to whether the work is a threat to the existence or identity of the religious monuments at the site.

As dated in its official version, the report was prepared by July 2007 but was not released to the public. Unnamed officials from the Prime Ministry informed Today's Zaman that they did not want to politicize the report and hence waited for a convenient milieu in which disclosing the report would not be received as a backlash to any Israeli or Jewish act on the world political scene.

"The unfortunate declarations made by the Anti-Defamation League [ADL] about the so-called Armenian genocide issue delayed the disclosure for an extra period of time. The Palestinians were curious as to why the report was not published, but we didn't want to disturb the objectivity of the report by disclosing it at a heated time. Had we published it during the ADL's genocide declarations it would have been regarded as retaliation, whereas the report is purely scientific and technical," the Today's Zaman's source explained.

The report has been sent to the OIC, UNESCO, the United Nations, the European Union Council, EU member states and relevant international archeological organizations. The report was also presented to the Israeli and Palestinian Presidents Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas during their recent visit to Ankara. Sources in the Prime Ministry informed Today's Zaman that the report was first presented to Ehud Olmert by Erdoğan during their meeting in London at the end of last September. "Being informed about the content of the report, Ehud Olmert promised Prime Minister [Erdoğan] to study the report and act accordingly," sources said.

As is also mentioned in the report, Turkey's historical commitment to the city of Jerusalem is not new. Turkey was involved in the restoration project carried out after a 1926 earthquake, when neither Israel nor the state of Palestine was on the scene of history yet. Recently, Turkish woodworkers reproduced the minbar (pulpit) of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which was totally burnt in a fire set by an Israeli in 1969.

The city’s history in general

The report begins with a brief study of the city's religious importance to the three Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It then provides an overview of the city's history in general, and the Haram al-Sharif area in particular, with specific reference to historical eras that host archeological remains or have shaped the scene of the present day.

The Haram al-Sharif area, which includes Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock and over a hundred religious and historical shrines, buildings and fountains, is holy to all three Abrahamic religions. According to the report, "The texture and the surroundings of these holy places are the shared values and heritage of humanity in that they are semantically connected to the worlds of the people belonging to the three [Abrahamic] religions. … They are part of the history of world civilization."

The report also commented on the implications of the excavations on the Western Wall itself. Warning that the region is located on a geological fault line, the report suggested that a possible earthquake in the future may pose a threat to the plaza. The report pointed out that the Wailing Wall is visually examined semiannually to assure that there has been no deformation or other threats to the wall's integrity. However, the report said that mere visual examination is not sufficient and does not guarantee protection in itself.

A special section in the report was dedicated to the Wailing Wall. It claimed that the importance of the area for the Jews is a fairly new phenomenon as it had no religious connotations in the period of King Herod (first century B.C.), when the courtyard was a market, and that it had no religious importance until the end of the Mameluke period (early 16th century). Explaining that the Ottoman Empire had been decisive in shaping the importance of the wall, the report said: "In the last years of the Mamelukes, the Jews probably started using the Western Wall for prayers since it was not safe outside the city due to the imminent danger of possible Bedouin raids. It is reported that when Mimar Sinan was in the city working on the Damascus Gate, Suleyman the Magnificent issued an order designating this part of the Western Wall as a place of prayer for Jews. Upon receiving this order, Mimar Sinan first raised the area by deepening the section in front of the wall, after which he built another wall to separate the Mughrabi neighborhood and the Wailing Wall, defining the place of prayer by turning it into a venue between the two walls."

The report suggested that the excavations should not be viewed as a distinct event but as a part of a continual effort by the Israeli authorities to reshape the area, starting with the 1967 invasion of East Jerusalem. Quoting from a March 12, 2007 UNESCO report on the excavations, the report pointed out that the pathway extending from the Western Wall square to the Mughrabi Gate of Haram al-Sharif is the last remaining part of the Mughrabi neighborhood, which was destroyed by Israel during the Six Day War in June 1967, and that its destruction will represent the completion of a 40-year project.

The root of the present conflict is the distortion of Jerusalem’s history

The report also mentioned signboards reading "Nearest Point to the Holy of Holies," which are placed at some sites discovered in the tunneling and excavation performed along the Wailing Wall, and said that these signboards give the impression that it is only a matter of time before an excavation is made beneath Haram al-Sharif, creating distress among all Muslim countries, especially among the Palestinians. The Holy of Holies is said to be the resting place of the Ark, the holiest part of the Temple of Solomon. The history of archeology in Jerusalem is filled with countless efforts by European "archeologists" to get beneath the Haram area in order to find the relics of the Ark, or of the Second Temple.

Observing the religious dimension of the excavations, the report suggested that at the root of the present conflict is the distortion of Jerusalem's history and centuries-old character by highlighting the Judaic or Arabic aspects and origins of the structures. "It is clearly seen that if appropriate measures are not taken in the excavations performed by the Israeli authorities, no data or remains belonging to the Ayyubid, Mameluke or Ottoman periods, which are the most recent cultural structural remains of the Mughrabi neighborhood, will survive. The ongoing activities give the impression that they are a planned and systematically implemented effort which aims to destroy the values associated with cultural assets and the sources of information of these cultures. Yet, respect for culture requires the consideration and evaluation of values to determine the cultural ownership of historical works belonging to all periods," the report said.

The report also gave extensive information about the domed structure that was found by an Israeli archaeologist beneath a ramp which connects to the Mughrabi Gate. "The architectural characteristics of these rooms and arches indicate that these are the remains of the two-storey Afdaliyyah Madrasah, which was built in 1196. To the north of the pathway, just near the western wall is where the 'mihrab niche' of the classroom masjid of the Afdaliyyah Madrasah still stands today. Cracks have formed on the flanking walls of the mihrab, and the floor of the mihrab has been made hollow in parts and left unpreserved," the report stated. In its concluding remarks the report said the surviving parts of the Afdaliyyah Madrasah must be consolidated and preserved. The report called for immediate and special care for Barclay's Gate, also known as the Gate of Buraq, which is the entrance of the Al-Burak Mosque on the Haram Al-Sharif side, and is used by Jewish women as a prayer room. It also called for immediate attention for the mihrab outside the Haram Al-Sharif, which is adjacent to the room.

The report referred to the 1954 Leigh Convention Concerning the Preservation of Cultural Assets, the 1972 World Heritage Convention, Article 53 of the 1977 Geneva Protocol Concerning the Preservation of Cultural Assets and Temples, the 1994 Israel-Jordan bilateral agreement, the Washington declaration which ratifies Jordan's role on the holy places in Jerusalem, the Athens Charter for the Restoration of Historic Monuments (1931), the Venice Charter of May 1964, the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, the Paris 1972 Recommendations on Safeguarding and the Contemporary Role of Historic Areas, the ICOMOS Charter for the Protection and Management of the Archaeological Heritage, the Nara Document (Nov. 1-6, 1994 Nara/Japan -- UNESCO, ICCROM and ICOMOS) on protection of diversity of cultures and heritage, and finally UN Resolution No. 252 dated May 21, 1968, on the "Status of Jerusalem," as internationally binding legal documents about any archeological excavation, and found one or two articles of all these documents to be in complete opposition to what Israel is doing with the Mughrabi ramp.

History, science and art should not be made accessories to religion and politics

The report extracted from these documents certain principles with regard to archeology and common historical heritage of the world and called on all involved parties to observe them. Accordingly the report suggested that "the protection of archaeological heritage should be considered as a moral obligation upon all human beings and a collective public responsibility. Legislation should be based on the concept of archaeological heritage as the heritage of all humanity and of groups of peoples, and not restricted to any individual person or nation. Archaeological heritage is the common heritage of all humanity. International cooperation is therefore essential in developing and maintaining standards in its management. Scientific values and approaches should not be regarded as a matter of hegemony and distinguished from one another. History, science and art should not be made accessories to religion and politics; all actions should respect the shared values of humanity."

The report of the mission concluded in concordance with the UNESCO Technical Mission Report that the archaeological excavation at the Mughrabi pathway, which involves various traces of Umayyad, Ayyubid, Mameluke and Ottoman periods, must be halted immediately. Complaining about lack of full Israeli cooperation, obvious in their failure to present the Turkish mission with the two architectural drafts of the Mughrabi Gate and pathway that were submitted to the UNESCO Mission and failure to make an unambiguous statement as to what would happen after the excavations, the report called for a joint action plan which will give due respect to dialogue and communication with all related parties. The report also suggested that an international project contest, which would be open to the participation of Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian architects, should be held and the work of rearrangement in the Mughrabi area should be carried out by Israeli and Palestinian experts under an observer committee of international experts and organizations like UNESCO, ICOMOS, OIC and the Jerusalem Committee. "Such a concerted effort will end the historical dispute, and will constitute an important milestone on the path to mutual cooperation and reconciliation. There is no doubt that reconciliation and peace on this matter will pave the way for a prosperous bi-national community," the report concluded.

Members of the Turkish mission included Turkish Consul General to Jerusalem Ercan Özer, ambassador architect Muharrem Hilmi Şenalp, archeologist Sait Başaran and geological and geophysical engineering professor O. Metin İlkışık. During the preparation of the report the mission received consultancy from eminent historians, art historians, restorers and civil engineers. The mission worked in close cooperation with Palestinian and Jordanian representatives and received extensive briefings from the Israeli archeological, municipal and religious authorities. The report of the Turkish mission was prepared in accordance with the many meetings they held in Ankara and the following visit to Jerusalem from March 20-23.