TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: More protests of the Mugrabi Gate excavation from Muslims, including from Iran:

Iran's supreme leader calls for retaliation againt Israel

(Irish Examiner)

The supreme leader of Iran has called on Islamic nations to retaliate against Israel over excavations being carried out near a hotly disputed holy site in Jerusalem.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei did not say what sort of response he intended, but he said the Islamic world should make Israel “regret” what it is doing.

Police today scuffled with an Israeli Islamic leader and several of his followers near the site where Muslims have been protesting against excavations and repairs.

Raed Salah, the fiery leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, and six supporters were taken for questioning after “a brawl” with police guarding work near the hilltop compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, home of the Al Aqsa mosque complex, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

It wasn’t clear whether charges would be brought, Rosenfeld said.

Three Palestinian youths were questioned on suspicion of throwing stones at an Israeli bus near the Old City, but there was no other trouble reported this morning, he added.

[...]

Prime Minister Olmert, however, has declined to interfere with the dig:

Olmert spurns bid to stop Jerusalem dig: paper
Thu Feb 8, 2007 2:11 AM EST17

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has spurned an appeal from his defense minister to halt excavation work near Jerusalem's most important holy site, the Haaretz daily said on Thursday.

Tensions have flared between Israel and the Palestinians over the start of an Israeli excavation near a compound housing al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, Islam's third holiest site.

Arab states have asked Israel to halt the work, which began on Tuesday, saying it could damage the mosque's foundations. Palestinians said a ceasefire in Gaza with the Jewish state might unravel if the work continued.

"A thorough examination of the matter would reveal that nothing about the work underway will harm anyone, and there is no truth in the contentions against the work," the newspaper quoted Olmert's office as saying in rejecting a written appeal from Defense Minister Amir Peretz.

[...]

Meanwhile, Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar criticizes the Waqf:

Archeologists: Waqf damaging Temple Mount remains

Senior archeologist says Waqf wants to turn whole of Temple Mount into exclusive mosque for Muslims

Yaakov Lappin
Published: 02.07.07, 15:51 / Israel News

As the structural work near the Temple Mount drew protests from around the Arab world, Israeli archeologists complained Wednesday that the government was not doing enough to protect Jewish artifacts from building work by the Muslim Waqf, which controls the Temple Mount.

"The Waqf has acted terribly, taking thousands of tons of artifacts from the First Temple, the Second Temple, as well as Muslim artifacts, and throwing them away," Dr Eilat Mazor, from the Hebrew University, told Ynetnews.

"They want to turn the whole of the Temple Mount into a mosque for Muslims only. They don't care about the artifacts or heritage on the site."

She added that there was a link between routine denials of the existence of the Jerusalem Temples by senior officials of the Palestinian Authority, and the way the Waqf was treating artifacts on the site.

[...]

UPDATE: Also (via Joseph Lauer), an editorial from Haaretz on Temple Mount Truths. Excerpt:

It is worth mentioning, for those who have forgotten and those who would like to make others forget, that the situation that prevails at the Temple Mount and the Western Wall plaza is based on a quite stable status quo that has been in place for 40 years. David Ben-Gurion described the situation in June 1967 by saying: "The Western Wall is for the Jews at the moment, and the Temple Mount is for the Muslims at the moment, and that is the reality we have to accept."

At the same time, Moshe Dayan determined that the Mugrabi Gate would remain in Israel's exclusive control, to prevent the Muslim authorities from having the ability to unilaterally close all the gates to the Temple Mount. The construction of the bridge from the Western Wall plaza to the Mugrabi Gate is therefore a crucial Israeli interest, which even the Waqf authorities do not deny, and it is part of the status quo.

The incitement against the construction of the bridge is a clear attempt to undercut the status quo. Therefore, it must not influence the authorities' decision to replace the temporary bridge. The activity of the security forces, which ensures that the work is carried out, deserves full support.

All the same, we must remember that the status quo applies not only to the Western Wall plaza, but also to the Temple Mount. For that reason, those who contemptuously reject the charge that the foundations of the Al-Aqsa Mosque are being damaged must also react with the same derision toward attempts by Jewish zealots to change the situation at the Temple Mount or incite against the Muslim Waqf. The situation in the Temple Mount area must be dealt with with sensitivity and intelligence - but also with resolution, to safeguard crucial Israeli interests that were determined two generations ago and retain their validity to this day.

UPDATE: See also the the updates to this post from a few days ago from people unhappy with the coverage by Haaretz. Todd Bolen's rule of thumb has a lot to be said for it.