Seems there are moves afoot:- Experts prepare to take Jerusalem case to The Hague
Arab experts on Wednesday took the first steps towards taking international legal action against Israel for ongoing excavations near the old city of Jerusalem. Arab archaeologists, conservationists and heritage experts met in Amman yesterday to gather what they claim are documented impacts of ongoing Israeli projects altering the identity of the Holy City.
The two-day gathering of the committee of experts, held under the auspices of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) at the Department of Antiquities (DoA), aims to take Israel to task for violations ranging from changing historical street names to excavations underneath Al Aqsa Mosque.
Once the documentation is complete, the committee will draft a report and issue recommendations for a case to be brought before the International Court of Justice, according to DoA Director Ziad Saad.
..."Israel has used Biblical texts to support their national narrative and have disregarded Arab-Islamic heritage," he said...."Israeli archaeologists themselves have disproved that this tunnel belongs to the time of David. They are using the project to claim that Jerusalem is first and foremost a Jewish city," said Raef Nijem, a conservationist who has worked on the renovation of Al Aqsa Mosque...Ismail Tellawi, secretary general of the Palestinian National Committee for Education and Science, said the committee, in its report, will also demand an increased role for UNESCO, which has listed the old city of Jerusalem on its endangered heritage sites list...
We've already been through this. Back in 1930-1931.
I blogged about it here.
Only fools are doomed to repeat a losing historical narrative, as the Arabs have promoted and continue to do so.
Starting from zero-mention quotient of Jerusalem in the Koran to the policy adopted by the Arabs of 'Temple Denial' (here in 2007 and recently here), the Arabs cannot recall a basic Jewish text, the "three cities" Midrash, here:
Midrash Rabbah - Genesis LXXIX:7 AND HE BOUGHT THE PARCEL OF GROUND, etc. (XXXIII, 19). R. Judan b. R. Simon said: This is one of the three places regarding which the nations of the world cannot taunt Israel and say, ' Ye have stolen them.’ These are they: The cave of Machpelah, the [site of the] Temple, and the sepulcher of Yosef HaTzaddik . The cave of Machpelah: And Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver (Gen. XXIII, 16). The Temple: So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold (I Chron. XXI, 25). And Yosef HaTzaddik’s sepulcher: AND HE BOUGHT THE PARCEL OF GROUND.
[In the original Hebrew:
ז
ויקן את חלקת השדה אשר נטה שם אהלו וגו' במאה קשיטה
אמר רבי יודן בר סימון: זה אחד משלושה מקומות, שאין אומות העולם יכולין להונות את ישראל לומר: "גזולים הן בידכם" ואלו הן: מערת המכפלה, ובית המקדש וקבורתו של יוסף
מערת המכפלה, דכתיב (בראשית כג): וישמע אברהם אל עפרון, וישקול אברהם לעפרון
בית המקדש, דכתיב (ד"ה א כא): ויתן דוד לארנן במקום וגו'
וקבורתו של יוסף, (בראשית לג) ויקן את חלקת השדה, יעקב קנה שכם
How tragically ironic it is that it is in regard to these very areas: Hebron, Shechem, and the Temple Mount, we are forced to stand up against the world to defend our rights of ownership.And this teaching as an example of the intensity of Rabbinic literature regarding the value of Eretz-Yisrael:
“Pirkei Derabi Eliezer”(Chap. 36) serves as a basis for this teaching:
Abraham advised the Jebusites of his wish to buy the Cave of the Machpela, at a good price, for gold and a legal deed to the place that would be a burial site.
Were they Jebusites? Weren’t they Hittites?--but they were named Jebusites because of their proximity to Jebusite city.
They did not agree. He (Abraham) began kneeling and bowing to them, as it is said: ”And Abraham bowed in front of the people of the land”. They said to him: We know that the All-Mighty will give all of these lands to you and your descendants; enter into an oath with us that the sons of Israel will inherit the city of Jebus only with the consent of the Jebusite people.
Later he purchased the Cave of the Machpela with gold and an everlasting deed. When the people of Israel came into the Land of Israel, they wanted to enter into the Jebusite city. However, they were unable to do so because of Abraham’s oath and covenant with the Jebusites, as it is said: ”And the Jebusite-the settlers of Jerusalem, they (The people of Israel) did not inherit it. (Judges 1:21)
This Midrash comes to teach us, not that Avraham really relinquished Jerusalem, but that he saw Hebron as the foundation of the Jewish People in Israel, without which, we would never reach the holiness of Jerusalem.
And as for that Jebusite reference, see here and also here.
Well, will we see them at court?
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