The use of bulldozers to eliminate Jewish archaeological evidence from the Arab-occupied Temple Mount (as well as elsewhere, of course) mentioned in the article below isn’t the first time. The Biblical Archaeology Review magazine documented the same bulldozing away of archaeological remains of the First Temple, complete with photographs of the evidence before it was bulldozed away (83.03-04, pp. 40-61).

It is clear — from Moshe Dayan, who voluntarily gave the Arab-occupied Temple Mount back to the Muslim occupiers after Israel had reconquered it, to the present Baraq government — that the secular Israeli administrations have not only been anxious to strip Yemenite and Sepharadim Jews of their Torah values and populate Israel with Russian non-Jews who vote secular – but anxious also to cooperate with the Arabs and European minimalists ("Bible-bashing" theologians who maintain the Bible isn’t true) in removing the Bible as a basis for validating the State of Israel.

"A few weeks ago the bulldozers were in action, and at the heart of the latest confrontation lying at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli Arabs active in the Islamic Movement helped rent the bulldozers that the Wakf (Islamic Trust) used to cart off the thousands of tons of dirt blocking the ancient entrances to Solomon’s Stables – dirt rich with the buried history of one of the most sensitive archeological sites in the world.

"Israeli officials reacted with both indignation and incredulity – indignation at the possible wanton destruction of traces of the Jewish Temples that once stood atop Mount Moriyah, incredulity at the fact that the Wakf would use bulldozers to churn up and remove the soil without conducting any scientific assessment of what it contained, and without coordinating with Israeli authorities. [Obviously, both the JP reporter and the Israeli government are ignorant of the BAR article mentioned earlier; ybd]

"After ignoring requests from right-wing activists to stop the work, Attorney General Elyaqim Rubinstein visited the site and declared that the remnants of Jewish history were being trampled on. The refrain was taken up by right-wing politicians and activists who long have campaigned for a stronger Jewish presence on the site…"

"With overt Palestinian Authority meddling on the Arab-occupied Temple Mount diplomatically problematic, the Islamic Movement stepped into the breach, gathering funds, volunteers and equipment for the extensive renovation work that made Solomon’s Stables – which some right-wing Jewish groups wanted to use as a place for Jewish prayer – into a full-fledged mosque with room for thousands of worshipers.

"The move radically changed the status quo on the Arab-occupied Temple Mount, but the government, shaken by the violence of the tunnel-related clashes with the Palestinians, chose to give the work its post facto approval… [Arab Muslims bulldozing away 200 truckloads of Jewish evidence – in addition to the bulldozing away of Jewish evidence in the BAR article of 1983 – is ok, but Jews opening an entrance some distance from the side of the Arab-occupied Temple Mount is cause for rioting and world condemnation. Tell me the world isn’t miso-Judaic! ybd]

"While right-wing Jews who wish to build the third temple on the site occasionally visit under heavy police guard, Israeli authorities forbid them to pray on the Arab-occupied Temple Mount under pain of arrest.

"Though the Arab-occupied Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism – the Western Wall [Kotel; ybd] widely referred to as the holiest spot for Jews, is significant only because of its proximity to the Arab-occupied Temple Mount – Wakf authorities refuse to acknowledge any Israeli, or even Jewish, interest at the site, going so far as to claim that the Jewish temples on the Mount never existed.

Interested readers are encouraged to obtain the full text of this article from The Jerusalem Post (full page, B2).