Al-Quds governorate warns against Zionist efforts to falsify city’s Arab, Islamic history

Al-Quds governorate affirmed that the noticeable acceleration in announcements by the so-called Israeli Antiquities Authority regarding alleged archaeological discoveries in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City is part of a systematic policy aimed at falsifying the Arab and Islamic history of Jerusalem and employing archaeology as a political tool to impose a unilateral occupation narrative.

In a statement issued Monday, al-Quds governorate pointed out that the latest of these claims is the alleged discovery of what the Zionist authorities termed a “ritual bath” dating back to the Second Temple period beneath the Western Wall Plaza, according to the Palestinian News Agency Wafa.

The governorate clarified that the claims made by the Israeli Antiquities Authority, promoted in collaboration with the so-called Western Wall Heritage Foundation, regarding the discovery of a ritual basin carved into the rock and covered with plaster, containing ash remnants attributed to the so-called “Jews who lived in Jerusalem before 70 CE,” are not based on any neutral scientific foundation or internationally recognized research methodology.

The governorate emphasized that this announcement blatantly contradicts the principles of professional archaeological research, as well as violating international humanitarian law and conventions for the protection of cultural heritage, most notably the resolutions of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), particularly its resolution of October 18, 2016, which affirmed that the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Western Wall are purely Islamic heritage and denied any Jewish religious connection to them.

It stressed that all unilateral actions by the Israeli enemy in the vicinity of the mosque and the wall are null and void and illegal, including excavations and alterations that affect the identity of the site and its existing historical and legal status. The Jerusalem Governorate stated that what is being promoted as “Jewish religious discoveries” is nothing more than a functional falsification of archaeological findings. In reality, these findings pertain to water systems, particularly from the Umayyad era, and were part of Umayyad palaces, according to sound historical and archaeological studies.

The Governorate emphasized the absence of any reliable material evidence or independent scientific documentation linking these findings to the Talmudic rituals that the Zionist enemy is attempting to promote.

It explained that the involvement of Israeli political figures, including ministers in the enemy government, in announcing these claims and linking them to Hebrew religious occasions clearly reveals the political and propagandistic nature of these excavations.

The Governorate asserted that these operations are not neutral scientific endeavors, but rather tools for Judaizing the site and imposing new realities on the ground. This is part of the enemy’s decades-long attempts to impose the biblical narrative on the stones of Jerusalem, despite its repeated failures to provide any conclusive archaeological evidence. This is further compounded by the systematic destruction of successive layers of Arab and Islamic archaeological remains that have accompanied these excavations.

Al-Quds governorate warned against the continued excavations beneath the Western Wall Plaza and around al-Aqsa Mosque, which pose a direct and serious threat to the mosque’s foundations and adjacent historical buildings. It considers these excavations a grave violation of human cultural heritage and a fully-fledged architectural and heritage crime.

The Governorate called upon the international community, UNESCO, the United Nations, and all international legal and human rights bodies to intervene immediately to halt these attacks, dispatch an independent and impartial international commission to investigate the ongoing excavations, ensure the protection of human heritage in Jerusalem, and hold the Israeli enemy accountable for its crimes against history, identity, and holy sites.