Specialists refer to the durability of the settlements made by the Umayyads to be able to carry the huge buildings, most notably the Qibli prayer hall in Al-Aqsa Mosque; Which at the time consisted of 15 halls, and they warned of the danger of Israeli plans to control it.

Occupied JerusalemTo complement the land registration and settlement project launched by the occupation government in mid-2018 with a budget of $15.5 million, the Israeli Ministry of Justice began a few days ago the process of registering the ownership of lands adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque fence, specifically in the Umayyad Palaces area in the south.

The project aims to strengthen the occupation’s control over more Palestinian lands in Jerusalem, especially since the registration of lands east of the city in the Land Registry (Tabu) stopped after completing its occupation in 1967, and the specialists estimated that only 5-10% of the lands were settled and registered in Tapu.

The Umayyad palaces area is classified as lands belonging to the Islamic endowment, and it is located in a very sensitive place that the occupation deliberately tampered with since the first day of the occupation of Jerusalem until now. These palaces were built during the Umayyad period more than 1,300 years ago, and are adjacent to Al-Aqsa from the southern and western sides.

Location and time severity

The researcher specializing in the antiquities and heritage of Jerusalem and Palestine, Abdel Raziq Matani, says that the area to which Israeli law will apply included 4 palaces established by the Umayyads on an area of ​​about 35 dunums (dunam = a thousand meters), and these buildings reflect the interest of Muslims and Umayyads in the early Islamic periods in Jerusalem and the mosque maximum.

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, the researcher touched on the importance and durability of the settlements built by the Umayyads to be able to carry the huge buildings, most notably the tribal prayer hall in Al-Aqsa Mosque, which at the time consisted of 15 hallways.

According to the researcher, the mosque was built on a steep mountain; Its summit is from the side of the Dome of the Rock chapel until Ain Silwan in the south, and from the right and left of the tribal chapel towards the Valley of Hell and the Al-Wad Road. The solid settlements contributed to bearing the upper building. But the danger lies in tampering with the settlement area, especially the southwestern settlement.

Hence the danger of the timing of the announcement of the land registration process in that area in the Land Registry, according to the researcher Matani; As Israel wanted through it to examine the reactions to take steps forward.

The researcher said that “no one can know what is happening under the ground in the southern settlement area, and whether the penetration reached the Al-Aqsa Mosque from there, especially since this settlement is unlike the eastern settlement represented by the Marwani mosque, where it has no open gates.”

Matani says that access to this settlement is only available through the ancient gates in the western wall of the area of ​​the Umayyad palaces controlled by Israel. In light of the blackout over the excavation work, there is a danger of assaulting these settlements.

suspicious business

For his part, the Council of Endowments, Islamic Affairs and Holy Sanctuaries in Jerusalem said a few days ago, that it is following with great danger the excavations and the suspicious and ambiguous actions carried out by the “Israel Antiquities Authority” and the “Elad Settlement Society” for some time in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque, especially from the southern and western sides adjacent to the foundation. The exterior of the mosque in the areas of the Western Wall and the Umayyad palaces, which is a valid Islamic endowment.

The Council monitored – as stated in a statement – a group of workers using bulldozers and large drilling machines to work with a suspicious wheel in the area of ​​the Umayyad palaces and adjacent to the lower foundations of the mosque, by emptying the dirt and making holes in the walls adjacent to the southern fence, and crushing operations that have been going on for months for important archaeological rocks; Where it is converted into small stones in order to hide its trace.

A scientifically rejected novel

This absurdity began, according to researcher Matani, since the occupation of the city in 1967; As part of an attempt to search for Jewish antiquities according to the “Biblical Zionism” narrative, it has not stopped until today; “In fact, the attacks are escalating in light of Arab inaction and the wave of normalization with Israel that pushed it to persist in its violations.”

The researcher refuted the Israeli narrative that claims that what is being carried out by “archaeological excavations,” saying, “The professional scientific excavations are carried out from top to bottom and during which each layer is deeply examined, but what is happening is digging tunnels with the aim of imposing an agenda and a narrative, and this is absolutely rejected from a scientific point of view.” “.

He said, “In recent years, the “Elad” settler association intervened in excavations in the town of Silwan, meters away from the Umayyad palaces and Al-Aqsa, and today this file is referred to the association.

At the current stage, Israel is trying to impose its full control over the place by treating the Umayyad palaces area separately from the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as it is responsible for it. Hence, it introduced the process of land registration and settlement to this basin.

Researcher Abd al-Raziq Matani asserts that a large area of ​​the Umayyad palaces is classified as an Islamic endowment; Being an extension of the Moroccan Quarter adjacent to the western wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque. He called for the necessity of activating the international movement to reveal in detail what is being tampered with in this region, whose wall has been subjected to successive collapses.

An infringement on Jordanian sovereignty

Al-Maqdisi lawyer Medhat Diba commented on the decision of the Ministry of Justice published by the judge to offer the basin of the Umayyad palaces area for registration and settlement in its real estate registry, saying that the refusal to deal with the Jordanian Islamic endowments with the various Israeli departments is a correct decision.

Diba told Al-Jazeera Net that the Israeli interference in the affairs of Al-Aqsa is a blatant violation of Jordanian sovereignty over it, and this dangerous step translates into effective control of the mosque.