Wall collapse on Temple Mount

Breaking news from Jerusalem:

An interior wall has collapsed at a hotly contested Jerusalem holy site, and an Israeli archaeologist warned it could lead to a chain reaction of destruction in the biblical-era structure, setting off religious-based violence.

Reflecting the strong emotions and politics surrounding the site - Islam's third-holiest and Judaism's holiest - the two sides blamed each other for the damage.

The wall that fell on Tuesday is near the Islamic Museum on the hilltop in Jerusalem's Old City, where the al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock stand on the ruins of the biblical Jewish Temples.

The wall was relatively modern compared to the rest of the site, parts of which are thousands of years old.

Although the collapse was relatively minor, it was just the latest structural fault to afflict the shrine. Several months ago, Jordanian engineers were called in to help repair a huge bulge in an outer wall.

In the present charged political atmosphere, its collapse could trigger a full-scale religious war.

UPDATE: Still not much available on this; thanks to reader Kevin P. Edgecomb for a link to this Israel National News report, with pictures:

One side of a wall in the Temple Mount compound - completely visible to worshippers at the Western Wall - collapsed on Tuesday, uncovering an area of some 40 square meters of dirt and fill. The wall belongs to the Islamic Museum on the Temple Mount, a building to the right and above the worshipers at the Western Wall, identified by a small gray dome.

Archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar, a member of the Committee to Prevent the Destruction of Temple Mount Antiquities, said that the collapse is connected with the illegal construction works being carried out on the Temple Mount by the Moslem Waqf. Speaking with Yisrael Medad on Arutz-7's "Freedom of Broadcast" program, Dr. Mazar said that these works have been ongoing for many years without supervision by either the Planning and Construction authorities or the Antiquities Authority.

"No one is concerned about preserving the ancient compound," she said, "nor has anyone mapped, surveyed or buttressed the hollow areas under the Temple Mount and under the mosques... It is frightening to think of this collapse, and of what could happen in the future when many tens of thousands of people visit the Temple Mount, and tractors and trucks - and all of this atop hollow areas that have never been professionally checked. This collapse should be a warning bell. If a catastrophe occurs, the whole world will blame Israel."

Posted by David on September 25, 2003 2:39 PM