No, not the semi-regular Friday afternoon riots by palestinian "worshippers" (though that is, indeed, always trouble).
Eastern Temple Mount wall may collapse
The eastern wall of Jerusalem's Temple Mount is in danger of immediate collapse because of damage caused by the February 11 earthquake, a classified government report issued this week concludes.
The report, written by the Israel Antiquities Authority, has been distributed to senior ministers by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's military attache, Brig.-Gen. Yoav Galant, officials said Thursday.
The classified report, details of which were first published in Yediot Aharonot, says that the earthquake damaged the eastern wall of the Temple Mount to such an extent that sections of the wall are liable to cave in on the underground architectural support of the mount, known as Solomon's Stables.
For those who are thinking this is old news -- it isn't. Last year there was serious concern about the collapse of the southern wall of the Temple Mount due to ongoing construction by the wakf (the Islamic religious trust that Israel has given free reign over Judaism's holiest site). The large bulge in that wall that was causing concern is now being repaired, with the help of the Jordanians.
The eastern wall, though, is a different story. This is the wall that faces the Mount of Olives and Mt. Scopus. This damage is due to the earthquake that hit Israel earlier this year. Or is it? Maybe the earthquake only exacerbated damage that was already in progress. It's unclear.
Israeli archeologists say that the bulge on the southern wall was caused by the Wakf construction work at Solomon's Stables over the last decade, while a Jordanian report states that it was the result of the natural flow of rainwater over the centuries.
Israel maintains overall security of the site, while the Wakf is charged with day-to-day maintenance at the compound.
In the late 1990s, the Wakf turned Solomon's Stables into the largest mosque in the country, that can accommodate 30,000 worshipers. Its excavation caused extensive damage to antiquities at Judaism's holiest site, which were unearthed and then heaped onto a garbage dump.
Israeli archeologists from the Antiquities Authority have not been carrying out routine supervision at the site for more than three years, despite the reopening of the ancient compound to non-Muslims last year, due to concern over renewed Palestinian violence at the site.
There it is again. The threat of "renewed Palestinian violence at the site." An extremely high mileage threat, that. Of course, if and when this wall does collapse, "Palestinian violence at the site," and elsewhere, will vastly exceed any imaginable current threat.
Shabbat Shalom.
