Zionism: Faking the history and identity of Jerusalem

Zionism: Faking the history and identity of Jerusalem

Archeology and Zionism: Faking the history and identity of Jerusalem
prensaislamica.com 
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July 25th, 2016
Introduction
"Since Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 war, the historical watershed has been crucial to strengthen Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem space East.
The destruction of the Mughrabi Quarter, right after the war and in order to build what today forms the Plaza del Wailing Wall, marked the first major step to create an identity primarily in the area of Jewish Wailing Wall.
Underground excavations since then have been held in the historic basin, including the most recent beneath the Muslim Quarter and the adjacent Palestinian village Silwan, use the archaic method of excavating where galleries, a method nowadays usually are dug into disuse.
Unlike the stratigraphic method of digging up anddown, this method obsolete prevents an understanding of the historical development of the site.
These excavations are carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), a professional body responsible for the country antiques government but are initiated by other entities with a strong agenda and political ideology.
As a result, certain historical periods are preserved and stand out consistently, while other archaeological layers were downplayed or simply are deleted, which has a decisive impact on the way ancient Jerusalem is presented to the public and used to forge a collective identity around it. "
Organizations responsible for the excavations in the historic basin
"There are a number of organizations responsible for the work in the historic basin of Jerusalem. The main body is the Office of the Prime Minister, which has direct responsibility of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which administers the Wailing Wall and the surrounding area, including underground spaces.
The Israel Antiquities Authority, one of the most powerful legal bodies in the Old City, is responsible before the law to approve or deny any construction or development in ancient sites.
The AAI has a budget of millions of shekels for excavations, which obtains two major development entities in the Old City:
the aforementioned, Western Wall Heritage Foundation, and Elad Foundation, a private NGO right works mainly in Silwan / City of David.
This relationship puts the AAI direct conflict of interest between its mandate of having to preserve antiquities, on the one hand, and political pressures and economic interests, on the other hand. "
Tourism influenced by a distorted archeology
" The history reports guides almost completely ignores the pagan Roman and Byzantine periods of Jerusalem, which form the basis of what is now the Old City,
and the impressive remains of Muslim periods. " " Currently, the main underground tunnel Silwan is an ancient Roman drainage channel. Once completed, itwill be possible to walk through a tourist circuit underground Jerusalem ... ..The aim of this route is tocreate the experience of visiting Jerusalem artifacts dominated by two periods: the Judean monarchy, and the period of the Second Temple.
Thus, the history of Jerusalem loses its beginning, the time before the Kingdom of Israel, and subsequent periods, when it became the holy city for Christians and Al-Quds for the Muslims "
Palestinian residents
" Although Palestinian residents living on and around these tunnels are key stakeholders in these excavations, AAI often not contacted them nor informs of the excavations carried out in their own neighborhoods and under their homes.
The Wadi Hilweh neighborhood residents in Silwan, for example, which has dug a tunnel under the main street, report receiving damage to their homes such as cracks in the walls. The AAI has denied any responsibility for damages, stating that when cleaning the system old drain located under the houses of the village is nothing more than the rediscovery of an ancient canal whose existence has been known for some time. "
"Today, Silwan has a population of about 40,000 Palestinian residents, mostly Muslims, living in a few neighborhoods.
Beside them they live around 400 Jewish illegal settlers under the auspices of Elad Foundation. Most of the houses of the settlers are located in Wadi Hilweh neighborhood, near the City of David archaeological site. Wadi Hilweh itself has about 5,000 Palestinian residents. "
In other words, the same foundation, Elad Foundation, which funds much of the archaeological activities conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority is directly responsible for the colonization of Palestinian land.
The Givati Parking Lot

"The Givati Parking Lot, or parking Givati, is another controversial archaeological site in the historic basin ...... excavations salvage, funded by the NGO right, Elad Foundation, ...., Have been uninterrupted since 2003.
Excavations They have been led by the AAI with the intention of preparing and authorizing the area for a development project Elad Foundation, which, meanwhile, plans to build a visitors ' center 16,000 m2 called Kedem Center at this location. "
" ... the planned Kedem Center will be managed by the Elad Foundation-an NGO working to install Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem. Along with the City of David, they form a continuous tourist area under control of settlers and the Israeli government. The construction of this building will be a determining factor in creating the political future and the character of the Old City of Jerusalem and Silwan.
The intention is that this center will serve as astarting point for exploring the underground passages and on the floor in the historic basin. "
" We believe this project is one of the most notorious examples of how archeology is used as a political tool to facilitate appropriation of public space while excluding one of the most important area-the local Palestinian population stakeholders, and in violation of their rights of inheritance.
Creating an exclusively Jewish narrative for this site, in our opinion, also violates the rights of inheritance of the general public in the broadest sense: the members of all cultures and beliefs for whom the past of Jerusalem is part of their heritage cultural and identity.
" " In the words of Palestinian resident, Ahmed Qara'in, whose house overlooks the excavation site parking Givati: "This space used to be public.
Suddenly there came a group of people surrounded him and began digging. Who were these people? Who supported and planned? We had no idea.
We asked the municipality and the Antiquities Authority but nobody wanted to say. After a few months, it was clear that it was an NGO called Elad Foundation, which is an organization of settlers who came here to excavate the settlement .... 
Now they want to build a center called Kedem. Floors for archeology, entertainment and offices settler organizations. No one meter for my benefit. Not one.