TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH:

From the National Geographic Society:

Solomon's Temple Artifacts Found by Muslim Workers

Mati Milstein in Tel Aviv, Israel
for National Geographic News
October 23, 2007

Muslim workers have unearthed artifacts on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, says an Israeli agency.

The artifacts, which date to the First Jewish Temple period—the eighth to sixth centuries B.C.—were found by Waqf Muslims doing maintenance work, the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) reported.

[...]

It sounds now as though the IAA archaeologists merely examined material from the Waqf excavation and did not undertake any controlled, scientific excavation themselves. I think.

From Arutz Sheva:

Dr. Mazar: PM's Office Complicit in Temple Mount Destruction

by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

(IsraelNN.com) Well-known archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar of Hebrew University told Arutz Sheva Radio that she sees the recent revelation of First Temple artifacts on the Temple Mount as further proof of what she called the Antiquities Authority's "criminal behavior." The
The destruction on the Temple Mount continues... due to "a direct order from the Prime Minister's Office."
destruction on the Temple Mount continues, she charged, due to "a direct order from the Prime Minister's Office" to ignore the Islamic Waqf's violations of antiquities preservation laws.

Asked why the Prime Minister would issue such a directive, Dr. Mazar said, "I am an archaeologist, not a politician. However, it is clear that the Prime Minister must not avert his eyes from the destruction of antiquities on the Temple Mount. Not even at the cost of tranquility. These are artifacts that have been permanently ruined and we will never be able to restore them."

[...]

Plus, the Waqf dispenses more Jewish-Temple denial:

Waqf Denies Existence of First Temple Artifacts
The director of the Waqf for holy sites in Jerusalem told a Lebanese newspaper that Israeli reports of archaeological finds from the First Temple period are baseless. Azzam Al-Hatib charged that Israel timed the reports to try to prove a Jewish link to the site at the same time the Palestinian Authority has demanded control of the Old City.

Muslims have been conducting a campaign that has escalated in the past two years to convince the world that there is no Jewish connection with the Old City of Jerusalem. They argue that the Western Wall (Kotel) was a hitching post for a mythical horse ridden by Islam's founder, Muhammad. Historically, the 7th-century Arabian leader never set foot in Jerusalem.

And more on the Waqf from YNetNews:

Waqf boycotts Knesset committee

Head of Muslim body in charge of Temple Mount refuses to attend Knesset committee meeting on excavations at site. 'We don't recognize Israel's sovereignty in Jerusalem,' he explains

Amnon Meranda
Published: 10.22.07, 22:33 / Israel News

The Knesset State Control Committee decided Monday to ask the state comptroller to compile a report on the archeological digs carried out by the Muslim Waqf at the Temple Mount.

The decision came after a representative of the Muslim administrative body in charge of the holy site refused to attend the committee's meeting, stating that he did not recognize Israel's sovereignty at the Temple Mount or the Knesset's authority to make decisions on the matter.

[...]