By Ryan Jones
Nov 10, 2005
Nearly 14 centuries after first occupying Jerusalem's Temple Mount, the Muslims are trying to complete their conquest of Israel?s holiest site by erasing the last traces of Jewish connection to the two temples built for the name of the Almighty, archeologists warned this week.
In a letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the Committee Against the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount said new plans by Islamic authorities to ?renovate? an ancient tower adjacent to the compound are part of long-running efforts to turn the holy site into a mega-mosque.
?As part of our follow-up on [these] activities over the last years, it has become clear that these projects are part of an overall...plan to turn the whole compound into an exclusively Muslim site,? the letter read.
The Islamic Trust or Waqf has for years carried out illegal construction atop and under the Temple Mount, unchecked by Israeli authorities fearful of sparking an even greater conflict with the Muslim world.
Waqf chief Adnan Husseini has repeatedly warned that this would indeed be the outcome if Israel dared to exert authority over the sacred site.
To date, 12,000 tons of earth and debris rich in Jewish artifacts has been removed from the Mount and dumped unceremoniously at garbage dumps outside Jerusalem's Old City.
Several historical treasures have been reclaimed from the dump sites. Untold others have been lost, possibly forever.