Silwan
SilwanFlash 90

The Palestinian Authority (PA) “foreign ministry” on Saturday strongly condemned the excavations taking place in the lower part of the Temple Mount, in its vicinity and in the village of Silwan.

According to the PA, the excavations which are carried out as part of Israel's “Judaization policy”, have led to the collapse of land, cracks in many houses, and the creation of a pit in the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In its statement, the PA “foreign ministry” said that the "occupation" and the “settler associations” are deliberately digging under Palestinian Arab homes so that the Jerusalem municipality will issue orders to evacuate the homes on the grounds that they are no longer suitable for residential purposes.

It called upon the international community, UNESCO and human rights organizations to establish an international commission of inquiry to expose the Israeli excavation plan and its implications on the Palestinian Arab homes in order to bring about an immediate halt to the excavation.

PA officials regularly claim that Israel is “Judaizing” Jerusalem, which they claim is their capital.

Last year, the PA urged the UN Security Council to take action to protect Jerusalem from Israeli attempts to “Judaize” the city.

The PA officials make particularly ridiculous claims regarding the Temple Mount and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Earlier this year, a number of Islamic organizations in Jerusalem claimed that the "occupation police" are trying to gradually impose their hegemony on the administration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In another instant, the PA officials accused "extremist" Jewish organizations of waging a legal battle aimed at achieving Israeli sovereignty in the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israel has also been accused by the PA of planning to replace the mosque with an “imaginary temple” and of using chemicals to erode the foundations of the mosque in order to cause it to collapse.