Israel continues its excavations under Al-Aqsa Mosque despite widespread protest. Oula Farawati in Amman gauges the Jordanian stance When the Prophet Mohamed took the first step of his Isra and Mi'raj journey, he entered "The Farthest Mosque", Al-Aqsa, from a small door that is five metres high and 2.5 metres wide. This door -- dubbed later "Bab Al-Magharibah" and considered Al-Aqsa's most important door -- is under threat because of continuous Israeli excavations under the holy site. In 2006, Israeli authorities began excavating the site, digging three metres on the pedestrian road leading to Bab Al-Magharibah. Their work consists of building a metal bridge over Al-Magharibah ramp without the consent of the Islamic board that governs the mosque. "They found lots of Ottoman, Umayyad, Mameluke, Byzantine and Roman artefacts and antiquities... They found nothing that is Israeli," Raef Nejem, vice- president of the Restoration Committee of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, told Al-Ahram Weekly. "The idea behind the Israeli scheme is to completely destroy the hill in the area, remove Islamic antiquities and expand the yard in front of Al-Buraq Wall for the prayers of the Jews," added Nejem, also president of the Society for Safeguarding Jerusalem. Jordanians and Palestinians believe the elevated metal bridge is also being built in order to give Israeli police and the army direct access to Al-Aqsa's compound to enable them to raid the area with more ease. The dirt hill, which is being slowly torn down by Israeli authorities, is also a main supporting wall for the compound and therefore tearing it down weakens the foundation of Al-Aqsa Mosque. In June, a UNESCO World Heritage Council committee met and "made decisions that were not approved by Jordan, which included the continuation of coordination in issues related to the site and putting a report every three months and asking Israel to present the final plan for fixing the road," according to Nejem. "UNESCO should have taken a decision that supports the Jordanian scheme to fix the road, not ask Israel to do that," added Nejem. During the meeting, Jordan provided a proposal to restore the road at Bab Al-Magharibah, which was affected by rainfall and Israeli works, with a non-asphalt road composed of dirt, stones and stone cubes, restoring the road to its previous state in a way that does not affect the uncovered antiquities, said Nejem. But Jordan's proposal was not voted for in the committee that comprises 21 countries, including five Arab countries, which are Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Bahrain. Instead, Israel was asked to present a final scheme for the area to the committee's meeting next June. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 six-day war, along with the rest of the West Bank. Under the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty, Israel acknowledged the Hashemite kingdom's right to look after the Islamic and Christian holy shrines in East Jerusalem. Jordan has repeatedly considered Israeli excavations near Al-Aqsa Mosque as violations of relevant UN Security Council resolutions. "I see this as a flagrant bias towards Israel... The Arab countries [within the committee] didn't do enough lobbying to garner two thirds of the committee's votes," Nejem said. "Since 1920, Jordan has been preserving Al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy sites in Jerusalem. However, Jordan cannot single-handedly stop the Israeli bulldozer and Israeli schemes to Judaicise the city, and Israel is going ahead with its plans to erect the steel bridge," he added. Nejem believes there is a dire need for Arab and Islamic countries to support Jordan and exert efforts to stop attempts by the Israeli occupation to Judaicise Jerusalem and threaten Al-Aqsa Mosque. "This is a weak stance by the Arabs. We should move faster and garner support against these Israeli plans," he added. Recently, Jordanian Foreign Minister Salah Bashir summoned Israeli Ambassador to Jordan Jacob Rosen to officially inform him about Jordan's stance on the illegal Israeli excavation work. "Despite all that, my worry is that Israel will continue to attack the integrity and authenticity of the site... Nothing there is Israeli, they now know, and we should stop them," Nejem concluded.
