ISRAEL.- Mount Zion is a place of great importance for the Jewish people, being cited in the Scriptures as the equivalent of Jerusalem and other mountains of the city, with Moriah (Temple Mount). Jewish archaeologist Harry Moskoff, executive producer of a documentary about the Ark of the Covenant, claims that the Vatican, which owns the Dormition Abbey and much of the site, is preventing the world from showing the sacred artifact that may be buried.
Moskoff has been studying the discoveries of archeology and biblical theories for more than 25 years, trying to find out where the ark could be. He has posted several videos on the subject. Now, he believes there is a silent political battle being waged for Mount Zion.
The scholar maintains that, as some rabbis teach, King David moved from his palace in the place known as “David’s citadel”, on the southern slope of the Temple Mount, living on Mount Zion in the last years of his life. . According to tradition, his tomb is, to this day, located on Mount Zion, which may be “key” to the discovery of the ark.
However, the archaeologist’s focus was to show the remaining tunnels underground, with many chambers, which might give him some indication or even lead to where the ark might have been hidden. As soon as he made the request to film the tunnels under Mount Zion, Moskoff encountered resistance from NGOs who prevented him from entering there. “I have been immediately informed of a political battle for control of the site, which is opposed to archaeological work,” he explained to Breaking Israel News. “These groups have a lot of power and they prevent me from filming.”
Interestingly, there are long-standing legal limits preventing access, claiming that this “hurts the rights of the Palestinians.” One of these NGOs is Emek Shaveh, an organization made up of Israeli and Arab archaeologists and political activists that tries to ban archaeological activity on the Temple Mount and Mount Zion, justifying that they are not “scientific.”
Emek Shaveh is funded by the European Union, as well as anti-Israel organizations such as the New Israel Fund. “These NGOs are trying to discredit the biblical basis for archeology in Israel,” said Moskoff, who has already tried to do archaeological research under the Temple Mount, but was banned by the Palestinians who control the site. “Archaeological sites are also biblical places. “They are attacking archeology to hide a religious battle.” In short, the fewer excavations, the fewer the chances of scientifically disproving the Palestinian claims about their presence in the city for millennia.
Eli Dan, who worked in the management of Diaspora Yeshiva, a rabbinical institution based on Mount Zion, explains that he was charged with looking after the complex housing King David’s tomb immediately after the Six-Day War in 1967. It was when he understood how the “difficult and long battle” for control of the place took place.
“The Vatican fought for years to gain control of Mount Zion,” Dan noted, “Their main interest is in the room where Christians believe the Last Supper was held, called the Upper Room.”
Place of the Cenacle
“Some popes defended a political agenda in favor of the Palestinian cause because they wanted to gain control of the place,” he believes. “But that room is located on the floor of King David’s tomb. For Dan, it cannot be ignored that, according to tradition, King Solomon, King Hezekiah, and several high priests were also buried on Mount Zion.
“That battle for control of the Mount goes deeper. It is a dispute over its identity: is it a Jewish religious site, a Catholic site, or just a tourist attraction with no religious significance,” he says. The last time it was made public was in 2014, when Francis visited the site and put pressure on the city of Jerusalem, but no decision has been announced.
For Moskoff, the Vatican benefits from Palestinian activism. “Only that the Palestinians have nothing to do with it here and have no cultural or religious connection to the place,” he continued. “They want to have influence and their NGOs still cause problems.” For their part, Islamists say that David is one of their “prophets” and many of them visit the tomb on pilgrimages to Jerusalem.
Moskoff did not give up making his documentary, but he believes that he is running into a problem that no one is paying attention to: “If we don’t act, they are going to take away our rights to access our sacred places.”
[ Fuente: Breaking Israel News ]
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