Islamic movement tried to remove evidence of Jewish JerusalemThis dirt has been extensively sifted by a team led by archaeologist Gabriel Barkai (Barkay) and countless precious artifacts from the full range of the Temple Mount's history have been recovered, although their physical context has tragically been lost. For a long trail of posts on the Temple-Mount-debris sifting project, go here and follow the links.
By Anshel Pfeffer, August 12, 2010
An investigation into the failure of law enforcement agencies to prevent what is alleged to have been an attempt to wipe out Jewish history on Temple Mount 11 years ago looks set to cause widespread controversy.
The publication of the report into the removal, by night, of 6,000 cubic metres of mud from beneath the Al Aqsa Mosque by the Muslim Wakf authority that oversees the management of the mosque compound, has been suppressed for months by the government.
The dirt was dug out to make way for a new underground mosque, but Israeli archaeologists and politicians claim that another motive of the Wakf and the Islamic Movement - which financed the work - was to remove evidence of Jewish history from the site where the two temples of Jerusalem stood.
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UPDATE: I see I have already noted an Haaretz article on this story here.
