Jordanian workers began work today on the southern wall of the Temple Mount, in which a dangerous buckling has been noticed for some months. Archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar, of the Committee for the Preservation of Temple Mount Antiquities, spoke with Arutz-7 today about this matter:
"The way to save the southern wall is to take down much of it, in order to prevent it from collapsing on its own. The buckling spreads out over 200 square meters, and they're planning to take down about 140... It's nice that the Jordanians want to help preserve the Temple Mount compound, but we must not forget that what they are doing is very superficial. There needs to be organized supervision, and Israel's Antiquities Authority - the authorized body - must be involved, and we need to have an investigation into what type of work they're doing, what long-term effects it will have, how to work together to make sure it will be effective, how to have cooperation, etc. Unfortunately, what is going on there now, at our most important historic and cultural site, is simply wantonness - with buckling here, and buckling there [in the southern part of the Western Wall - ed. note], and cracks, and increasing corrosion, and the realistic prospect of collapse of underground rooms… "
Dr. Mazar said that the wanton and widespread illegal Waqf construction on the Temple Mount has been greatly reduced, but "we have no way of knowing what's really going on there. We do know that some construction materials have been brought there, in blatant violation of regulations - meaning that the police are turning a blind eye to illegal activities there."
"The way to save the southern wall is to take down much of it, in order to prevent it from collapsing on its own. The buckling spreads out over 200 square meters, and they're planning to take down about 140... It's nice that the Jordanians want to help preserve the Temple Mount compound, but we must not forget that what they are doing is very superficial. There needs to be organized supervision, and Israel's Antiquities Authority - the authorized body - must be involved, and we need to have an investigation into what type of work they're doing, what long-term effects it will have, how to work together to make sure it will be effective, how to have cooperation, etc. Unfortunately, what is going on there now, at our most important historic and cultural site, is simply wantonness - with buckling here, and buckling there [in the southern part of the Western Wall - ed. note], and cracks, and increasing corrosion, and the realistic prospect of collapse of underground rooms… "
Dr. Mazar said that the wanton and widespread illegal Waqf construction on the Temple Mount has been greatly reduced, but "we have no way of knowing what's really going on there. We do know that some construction materials have been brought there, in blatant violation of regulations - meaning that the police are turning a blind eye to illegal activities there."