Source: Ha'aretz
Jan 23, 2007
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the holiest site on earth to Jews, and has been for nearly 3000 years.
Muslims, however, who regard the hill as Islam's third holiest site, and who hold de facto control over who does what up there, frequently incite Islamic anger against Israel by spreading rumors about Jewish excavations on or near the Mount.
So it is again today as the Israeli Arab Islamic Movement accuses Jews of excavating beneath the Temple Mount.
Leaders of the movement levelled their charges Monday, saying Jews had purchased a store from an Arab vendor near the mount and were working to tunnel underneath it.
According to Sheikh Ra'ad Salah, Jews were digging in the area so as to "create a stranglehold around Al-Aqsa Mosque, in order for the Israeli establishment to fulfill its darkest dreams of building a Jewish Temple."
The Israel Antiquities Authority has said that the excavations in question were being carried ut 60 meters from the Temple Mount, and were intended to clear a tunnel that was filled with trash.