Wednesday, August 29, 2007

BREAKING NEWS: Conflict in the Middle East Digging at hotly disputed Jerusalem holy site angers Israeli archaeologists
Israeli archaeologists on Wednesday criticized the extension of an underground cable at Jerusalem's holiest site for Muslims and Jews, saying digging the trench defies professional standards for such a sensitive historic site and could damage Bible-era relics.

Islamic authorities responsible for Al Aqsa Mosque complex, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, said the digging is necessary infrastructure work at the site to replace 40-year-old electrical cables ahead of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The site is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is home to Al Aqsa Mosque and the gold-capped Dome of the Rock, Islam's third-holiest shrine. It is also the holiest site in Judaism: archaeological finds show that the remains of the temples are beneath the mosque compound, though Muslim clerics dispute that.


I know, I know, you can't swing a dead cat there without hitting someone who's ticked off at someone else.

Also, insert Nadia Abu-el-Hadj joke [here].