Ruins discovered at Mughrabi site

As the controversy swirls around the construction of the new bridge leading to the Temple Mount at the Mughrabi Gate, archeologists have already uncovered finds from the medieval period and early Islamic era that shed new light on Jerusalem's history.

"We have dug three meters down and discovered massive walls which we believe are from the early Islamic Umayyad period," Jerusalem's chief archeologist Yuval Baruch said. "Because of its proximity to the Wohl Archeological Park, I personally hope to find the rest of the Umayyad palaces."

The archeological park currently has the only uncovered ruins of the Umayyad palaces which were destroyed in 749 CE by an earthquake. They were built in the eighth century as the seat for the Caliphate when visiting Jerusalem. The uncovered complex includes a harem for the caliph's wives, bathhouses, a kitchen, a dining area, and quarters for the caliph's family and servants. The palace also featured a bridge that allowed the caliphs direct access to the Aksa Mosque

Among the findings at the site currently being excavated for the rebuilding of the bridge to the Mughrabi Gate, the archeologists have found pipes belonging to a medieval water system, but for Baruch, "the most interesting find is that we have found the evidence which suggests that right under the Umayyad ruins are Byzantine ruins [135-638], and under these, we believe there are Herodian roads and other ruins from the Second Temple period."

"The main excavations of the Umayyad and Byzantine ruins at the Mugrabi area will begin in a couple of days, and if we are patient enough, in five or six months time we could find Second Temple period ruins" to add to what has already been discoved in the adjacent archelogical park, Baruch added.

The excavations in the archeological garden are taking place in three separate sites. There are two on the western side of the park and one site atop the bathhouses and ritual baths situated directly across Robinson's Arch, the bridge that connected the Temple complex to the markets. 4nd earth that line the steps descending down into the park from the road leading to the Dung Gate, but have already found pieces of pottery and other artifacts which have not been dated as of yet.

"We have uncovered pieces of Jerusalem's history," Baruch said, "but we are unsatisfied with the amount of archeological results in Jerusalem. We need to continue with our work so we can find out more of the history of these buildings which gives us more information."

Baruch also expressed concern that if the excavations stopped, the new ruins would be damaged if they are not immediately and properly salvaged.

The findings at the excavation site could pose a problem for the initial project to reinforce the Mugrabi bridge. The original plan would have seen pillars placed under the bridge for support.

Now, due to the findings, Baruch acknowledged that some re\planning might be necessary. "Before we know what exactly is in the area, no matter what we find and no matter which historical period it comes from, we will need to find a new spot for the pillars of the bridge," Baruch said.

According to city hall officials, the Jerusalem Municipality will submit new plans for the Mughrabi Gate bridge leading to the Temple Mount, but work is scheduled to continue at the site.
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Suspected Islamic militants warn barbers

KHAR, Pakistan - Suspected Islamic radicals have issued a Taliban-style warning to barbers in a Pakistani border town not to shave off or cut their customers' beards, saying it offends Islam, residents said Monday.

Pamphlets with the warnings were found at several shops in Inayat Kalay in Pakistan's Bajur tribal region near the Afghan border, said Bacha Khan, a barber in the market town.

"Barbers! Correct yourselves," said the handwritten, Pashto-language notes, one of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

"Any barber shop where acts against Shariah (Islamic law) — shaving or cutting of beards — are seen, are given a final warning to stop this anti-Shariah work and if they do not stop, they should take responsibility for whatever harm they come to," it said.

The pamphlets were unsigned. However, Khan said he believed the warnings were from mujahedeen, or holy warriors — a term often used to describe Islamic militants.

He said two dozen barbers had responded by posting notices in their shops asking customers not to insist on getting a shave.

"We do not want to come to harm," Khan said. "If this work is against Shariah, we will stop it."

The warning echoed a decree issued under Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime ordering all men to grow beards, and it could reinforce concern that Pakistan's border areas are undergoing a "Talibanization" because of the presence of militants and radical preachers.

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Gaza organization: all Muslims are crazy

GAZA, February 12, 2007 (WAFA) - Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) condemned Monday the diggings near Al-Aqsa mosque, warning of the ramifications of agitating Muslims' feelings.

In a press release, GCMHP expressed its full condemnation for this dangerous act that harms holy places and highly inflames Muslims feelings.

"The diggings and destruction to the Mosque is considered a clear provocation to Muslims worldwide and a blatant violation of the principles of the international law, particularly, the fourth Geneva Convention that prohibits the destruction of civilian properties - especially holy places," according to the press release.

"Such acts bring memories back to what Al-Aqsa was previously exposed to of incidents that violated its sacredness and led to eruption of violence in the region."

GCMHP stressed that Al-Aqsa Mosque represents a significant part of Palestinian and all Muslims' identity all over the world. As a result, says GCMHP, any damage to the mosque is considered a direct harm to the identity of all Muslims, which may result in eruption of instability in many parts of the world.

GCMHP added it views this provocative act, politically supported and covered by the Israeli government yesterday, as a way of igniting feelings of anger and congestion of all Muslims, and lead to reactions that may convert the whole region and the international community into a vicious cycle of violence and counter-violence and clashes between religions and civilizations in a manner that endangers the world peace and stability.

It called upon the world governments, the UN agencies, and legal and cultural organizations to take their legal and humanitarian responsibilities and immediately intervene to stop such dangerous practices, warning of the negative repercussions of the continuation of exposure to the holy places.

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Egypt: one Jew is worth 1,429 Arabs B-)

According to Hamas official Muhammed Shihab, Egypt has suggested that Israel release 1,429 terrorists in exchange for the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists over seven months ago while on a patrol near the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

Several prisoner exchange deals have been discussed over the course of the past several months, but none have been implemented. Hamas has called most of the deals off at the last minute, leading to accusations that Shalit is being used as a pawn in infighting between the Hamas and Fatah terrorist groups. As the two groups have recently agreed to form a unity government, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has pointed out that Fatah leaders, including PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, are now responsible for Shalit.

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New Intel chip capable of 1.01 teraflops

Intel Corp. has designed a computer chip that promises to perform calculations as quickly an entire data center - while consuming only as much energy as a light bulb.

The world's biggest chipmaker said Sunday it developed a programmable processor that can perform about a trillion calculations per second, or deliver a performance of 1.01 teraflops. It accomplishes this feat while consuming 62 watts of power when the chip is running at a frequency of 3.16 gigahertz.

A similarly powerful supercomputer in 1996 at Sandia National Laboratories took up more than 2,000 square feet (180 square meters), used nearly 10,000 Pentium Pro processors, and consumed more than 500 kilowatts of electricity.

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New Dry Bones

Iran's Obsession with the Jews

Denying the Holocaust, desiring another one.
by Matthias Küntzel
02/19/2007, Volume 012, Issue 22

On December 12, 2006, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad personally brought to a close the infamous Holocaust deniers' conference in Tehran. A strange parade of speakers had passed across the podium: former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, the nutty followers of the anti-Zionist Jewish sect Neturei Karta, and officials of the neo-Nazi German National party, along with the familiar handful of professional Holocaust deniers. Frederick Töben had delivered a lecture entitled "The Holocaust--A Murder Weapon." Frenchman Robert Faurisson had called the Holocaust a "fairy tale," while his American colleague Veronica Clark had explained that "the Jews made money in Auschwitz." A professor named McNally had declared that to regard the Holocaust as a fact is as ludicrous as believing in "magicians and witches." Finally, the Belgian Leonardo Clerici had offered the following explanation in his capacity as a Muslim: "I believe that the value of metaphysics is greater than the value of history."
If this motley crew had assembled in a pub in Melbourne, nobody would have paid the slightest attention. What gave the event historical significance was that it was held by invitation, at the Iranian foreign ministry: on government premises, in a country that disposes of the world's second-largest oil reserves (after Saudi Arabia) and second-largest natural gas reserves (after Russia). And in this setting, the remarks quoted above provoked not dismissive laughter, but applause and attentive nods. On the walls hung photographs of corpses with the inscription "Myth," and others of laughing concentration camp survivors with the inscription "Truth."
The
Tehran deniers' conference marks a turning point not only because of its state sponsorship, but also because of its purpose. Up until now, Holocaust deniers have wanted to revise the past. Today, they want to shape the future: to prepare the way for the next Holocaust.
In his opening speech to the conference, the Iranian foreign minister, Manucher Mottaki, left no doubt on this point: If "the official version of the Holocaust is called into question," Mottaki said, then "the nature and identity of Israel" must also be called into question. The purpose of denying, among all the Nazis' war measures, specifically the persecution of the Jews is to undermine a central motive for the establishment of the state of Israel. Auschwitz is delegitimized in order to legitimize the elimination of Israel--that is, a second genocide. If it should turn out, however, that the Holocaust did happen after all, Ahmadinejad explains that it would have been a result of European policies, and any homeland for the Jews would belong not in Palestine but in Europe. Either way, the result is the same: Israel must vanish.
This focus explains why the conference's sponsors attached so much importance to the participation of a delegation from the Jewish sect Neturei Karta. Although it does not deny the Holocaust, the sect welcomes the destruction of Israel. That objective was the common denominator uniting all the participants in the conference. In his closing speech, Ahmadinejad formulated it with perfect clarity: "The life-curve of the Zionist regime has begun its descent, and it is now on a downward slope towards its fall. . . . The Zionist regime will be wiped out, and humanity will be liberated."

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