A Trip Into Jerusalem's Tunnel of Trouble - CSMonitor.com - 0 views
www.csmonitor.com/...100196.intl.intl.1.html
MEPP Palestine Israel israelpalestine archaeology heritage
shared by Ed Webb on 26 Oct 20
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Here, archaeology is war
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the opening of the Western Wall tunnel sent a staggering blow to Israeli-Palestinian relations, serving as a historical reminder that archaeology can easily provide a spark for wars to come
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For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to close the tunnel at Palestinian insistence would be to be cede some of Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem, which he views as the country's eternal, indivisible capital. Likewise, for Palestinians the tunnel is an example of Israel tightening its grip over East Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as a capital of a future state.
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The Israelis have been digging and removing dirt from the tunnel for 12 years. In the 1980s, excavations caused cracking in a building in the Muslim quarter of the old city, which is overhead.
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Each of the two has gone to great pains to show who was there first. This year, for example, Palestinians boycotted Israel's celebration of the 3,000th anniversary of Jerusalem, saying it was a Judeo-centric view of the holy city.
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There is much confusion about whether the tunnel runs under the Dome of the Rock. Israel insists it does not, but runs near it along the Western Wall. Palestinians suspect it runs underneath, or that additional tunnels do.
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Israel says the tunneling allows more tourists to pass through. Only 400 tourists used to be able to pass through each day. Now, Israel expects to bring in 1,500 per day - and $5,000 per day in visitor fees
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For some Arabs, the mere memory of that - and the fact that an extremist Jewish group was caught plotting to blow up the mosques - is enough to arouse suspicion about the recent digging. To Palestinian archaeologists, there is no proof, however, that the tunnel dates to the Hasmonean/Jewish period.