World Needs to Stop Israel from Using Archaeology for Political Ends

Rasa - On Thursday, scores of Palestinian demonstrators clashed with Israeli security forces in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, during a march protesting new security measures introduced by Israeli authorities at the al-Aqsa mosque compound.

News ID: 431151

Date: 21 July 2017 - 23:22

RNA - Israel placed the detectors in front of the site, generally known as the Noble Sanctuary, on July 14 after a reported shootout near the compound left two Israeli soldiers and three Palestinians dead. Israelis have refused calls for the removal of the detectors which have been contested by the international community.

Public anger over the Israeli measures boiled on Friday, when Muslims from across the occupied Palestinian territories turned in their thousands to attend Friday prayers. Clerics have called on people to shut all nearby mosques to attend the prayers and protests outside al-Aqsa, unless the restrictions were scrapped.

Calls should be made by the international civil society to confront Israel’s plans to change the status quo of the highly-revered Muslim site, which is also revered by Jews and Christians. The world must continue to speak out against the violence and terror being inflicted on innocents. To this end:

- People of good conscience should organize protests in cities and towns worldwide. It is important to show solidarity with the people of Palestine, that even if the majority of world leaders are doing nothing, the people hear them, and see their suffering. The world should acknowledge their right to self-determination, and stand with them.

- People could use social media to raise awareness, express outrage over the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians and correct factual misconception, so that the longstanding fabricated narrative by “faketream” media can once and for all be replaced by the truth.

- People of good conscience should also support the BDS movement. The BDS movement website is packed with loads of information on the BDS movement and how to get involved. Perhaps this is one of the most effective ways of supporting Palestine. According to the BDS movement website, the consumer boycott is beginning to bite, too.

To be clear, the United Nations cultural agency has already adopted a resolution on occupied East Jerusalem that sharply criticizes Israeli policies around the al-Aqsa mosque compound. UNESCO’s resolution was adopted without a new vote after being approved at the committee stage last month. The text, which touches on Israel's management of Palestinian religious sites, refers throughout to the al-Aqsa mosque compound site in occupied East Jerusalem's Old City only by its Muslim names: al-Aqsa and al-Haram al-Sharif.

The UNESCO resolution also condemned Israel for restricting Muslim access to the site, and for aggression by Israeli police and soldiers, while also recognizing Israel as the occupying power. The resolution was submitted by Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and Sudan - and was originally passed with 24 votes in favor, six against, and 26 abstentions.

In April, UNESCO also passed a resolution condemning "Israeli aggression and illegal measures against the freedom of worship and Muslims' access to the al-Aqsa Mosque", refusing to mention the site's Jewish name. In 2011, the Palestinians were admitted as a member state of the organization, which led the United States to suspend its payments to UNESCO.

As is, despite claims it is seeking to calm tensions in Jerusalem, al-Quds, Israel is intensifying activities to encircle the al-Aqsa mosque and strengthen its control over the holy site. Even a group of Israeli archaeologists has sounded the alarm. They say the most pressing threats to the mosque, located on a raised plaza above the Western Wall, will be invisible to the cameras. They accuse Israel of making rapid changes to the physical landscape around al-Aqsa to obscure the area’s Islamic character and create an ever-more arduous “obstacle course” for worshipers.

The ultimate goal is to weaken the Muslim identity and Palestinian presence there so that the usurper regime can claim it is the true owner of the site. The world needs to stop Israel from using archaeology for political ends. Israel cannot and should never be allowed to complete its encirclement of the al-Aqsa compound, isolating it from Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, al-Quds.

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