(Translated by Myer Rosen)
1.
The Committee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities on the
Temple Mount is a non-political, volunteer, public body composed of
archaeologists, jurists, educators, naturalists and public figures which was
set up on an ad hoc basis to prevent the continuation of the destruction of the
antiquities on the Temple Mount.
2.
We view with great concern the severe situation in the matter of the
failure to prevent damage to
archaeological treasures on the Temple Mount -- a situation that existed under the previous Government of Israel and
which continues under the present Government. The situation under discussion is intolerable and must
be corrected immediately (a broad public statement by 140 prominent Israeli
figures in culture and public affairs calling upon you to correct the situation
immediately was widely published in the press recently on the eve of Shavuot).
3.
The facts described in our plea are based upon: (a) a visit to the area
of the Temple Mount (in spite of the efforts of agents of the Waqf to prevent
any approach to the location or any record whatsoever by outsiders), especially
to the section where the excavations are being carried out; and (b) discussions
with senior officials in various departments dealing with the subject of the
Temple Mount.
4.
In recent days, members of the Committee met with the Minister for
Internal Security, Mr. Shlomo Ben-Ami, with the Minister responsible for
Jerusalem affairs, Mr. Chaim Ramon, with the Mayor of Jerusalem, with the
Director-General of the Antiquities Authority, and with the commander of the
Jerusalem District police.
Furthermore, members of the Committee held discussions with senior
officials in various governmental bodies dealing with matters concerning Jerusalem
and the Temple Mount in their various security, legal and other aspects.
5.
The picture that developed confirmed what had been known before, which
is that there exists on the Temple Mount a scandalous and intolerable situation
-- the destruction of antiquities and continuing damage to the antiquities on
the Temple Mount, damage that continues in these very days.
6.
We were shocked and horrified to learn that no governmental official,
including those with whom we met, knows for certain the intentions of the
Waqf. No Israeli official has seen
any plans, has gone into the details, has immersed himself in the data, has set
limits, restrictions, distances and dimensions to the works being carried
out. All this at a time that an
enormous area of approximately 15,000 square meters (15 dunams) in the Eastern
part of the Temple Mount appears like one gigantic construction site to a
length of about 250 meters along the Eastern wall of the Temple Mount, from the
gateway to Solomon’s Stables up to the Gate of Mercy.
7.
The granting of a general permit to execute works by the Waqf without
accurate and detailed information and planning, in a location whose every bit
of ground is likely to contain priceless remnants of the past, and whose
destruction is an irreversible loss, amounts to scandalous behavior by people
lacking any feeling or understanding of the archaeological, scientific,
cultural and historical significance of this site which is one of the most
important archaeological sites for the world in general and for our nation in
particular. No cultured person can
put up with such a thing.
8.
Contrary to the proclamations of the Minister of Internal Security from
the podium of the Knesset at the beginning of the year that he is closing the
gates of the Temple Mount to heavy equipment, such as trucks and tractors, and
contrary to further proclamations by various officials that building materials
and construction equipment would not be allowed into the Temple Mount and that
certainly no earth or rubble would be allowed to be removed for dumping, there
continue to flow into the Temple Mount building materials such as stone blocks,
paving stones and masonry, wood planks, steel reinforcement rods, and
scaffolding. Similarly, there
continues the removal of earth and rubble, including rare archaeological finds
that are forever lost to science and culture.
9.
We demand from the Prime Minister of Israel:
10.
To open the entire Temple Mount enclosure in a complete and free manner
to full and continuous inspection and survey by the Israeli and international
communications media, now and for the future without any restriction, something
that is denied today in the course of a striking violation of freedom of the
press and information in a democratic state and the denial without any legal
foundation of the public’s right to know.
Thereby, the Waqf may be denied the ability to conceal from the eyes of
the public in Israel and of the entire cultured world information and pictures
of the archaeological crimes and of the illegal acts that the Waqf is
perpetrating on the Temple Mount;
11.
To set in place a permanent inspector of the Antiquities Authority who
shall closely watch, on a continuing, daily basis, the doings on the Temple
Mount, and who shall be able immediately to report any improper action, damage
or danger to the archaeological remains on the Temple Mount;
12.
To enable full and continuous inspection at any time by the inspectors
of the Antiquities Authority in any place on the Temple Mount, as is customary
at every archaeological site in the country; and
13.
To notify the Antiquities Authority ahead of time of any plan or
intention of the Waqf to carry out an action that might injure the
archaeological remains on the Temple Mount, to solicit the opinion of the
Antiquities Authority, and to act accordingly such that no damage to antiquities
will be possible.
14.
The Committee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities does not
see in the subject of the destruction of the antiquities on the Temple Mount a
political or a contentious factional subject. There is a broad consensus on the subject, as demonstrated
by the list of men of affairs, academics, and 82 Members of the Knesset
spanning the political spectrum who have signed the public petition on the
subject, and as may be noted in the nine urgent motions raised in the Knesset
by representatives ranging from Meretz and One Israel to the Likud and the
National Union, which were tabled in the Knesset and debated following the
publication of the public call by the Committee. Therefore, the Committee calls upon every public official to
act urgently to correct the severe situation in the present and not to engage
in a search for those guilty in the past.
Members of the Committee: Teddy Kollek, Chaim Goury, A.B.
Yehoshua, Yizhar Smilensky, Prof. Avi Ravitsky, Meir Dagan, Tzvi Zamir, Yitzhak
Hofi, Yoram Yair (deceased), Shelomoh Lahat, Prof. Avraham Biran, Dr. Gabi
Barkai, Dr. Adv. Shemuel Berkovitz, Michael Gal, Yisrael Kaspi, Prof. Ami
Mazar, Dr. Eilat Mazar, Dr. Ze’ev Meshel, Prof. Ehud Netzer, Dr. Orit Tzur.,
Prof. Amos Kloner, Prof. Avraham Biran, Amos Oz, Moshe Landau, Meir Shamgar,
Prof. Efraim Stern.
CPDATM Documents