Kesher Talk

Latest on the Temple Mount. The ongoing destruction of archeological artifacts on the Temple Mount - by Muslim officials authorized by the Palestinian Authority - is an intermittant news story, one which only arouses outrage among archeologists and Jews and Christians who care (sometimes fanatically so) about the physical evidence of their heritage. But the unnecessary loss (in fact, willful destruction) of the heritage of three major world religions should galvanize world opinion at least as much as the Taliban's demolition of the Bamiyan Buddhist sculptures.

Perhaps what is needed is a bloggy effort similar to the one that pushed the Trent Lott story into mainstream news. Some of us were discussing a blogburst on this issue last fall, but the 30th anniversary of the Munich Massacre and the 1st anniversary of 9-11 were more compelling at that point. The ideal blogburst date for symbolic reasons would be Tisha B'Av, but that's not for another six months. Any ideas on an upcoming memorable date for a blogburst? And if you are interested in writing about this, let me know and I'll organize one.

Main site for news about the Temple Mount destruction.

Two excellent overviews of the history of the Temple Mount destruction.

An archeologist's point of view.

Typical Al-Guardian twist, including the thoroughly debunked claim that Sharon's visit to the Mount "provoked" the Al-Aqsa intifada.

Another chronology of events, up to last fall's news about the Bulge.

Ah yes, the Bulge. Here's a loose chronology (some news articles are no longer available on the web):
The bulge 14 months ago.
The bulge 6 months ago.
The bulge 4 months ago.
The latest on the bulge.

PS. And the Israeli government also sacrifices priceless archeological sites to immediate needs.

posted by Judith @ 1/20/2003 06:00:39 PM