TV7 Israel News – Sword of Iron, Israel at War – Day 167 – UPDATE 21.03.24
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After painstaking excavation, the Tower of David pavilion opensJUDITH SUDILOVSKY
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(photo credit: Reut Kozak)
Nestled in an area between the Old City’s Ottoman-period outer wall and the inner wall that was once an Ottoman ramp is the new Tower of David Angelina Drahi Entrance Pavilion, which is scheduled to hold its official opening and inaugural temporary exhibition next month.
This is a striking new architectural concept in the city, having been excavated deep beneath the earth’s surface to adhere to height restrictions prohibiting anything taller than the Old City walls.
The opening of the new building was postponed from November 3, following the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, though the museum nevertheless opened its doors to visitors on the third day of the war. Since then, more than 20,000 displaced residents currently living in Jerusalem have visited. The museum restarted its English-language tours of the new permanent exhibition in February. The tours, included in the admission price, start at 10 a.m. on Mondays and Thursdays.
Adhering to the strict height restrictions to maintain the Old City’s skyline, architects from Kimmel Eshkolot Architects excavated 17 meters down to craft a multi-level pavilion that now hosts a temporary exhibition gallery, a maze of offices for the Education Department, and the museum’s ticket office. Additionally, visitors can enjoy a shaded outdoor seating area, with a new coffee shop slated to open in May.
Led by Prof. Etan Kimmel and chief architect Yotam Cohen-Sagi, the ancient citadel, initially designed as a fortress to keep people out, was converted into an accessible environment suitable for a modern museum. In the Crusader period, the area of the pavilion was used as a moat around the Old City. Later, the Ottoman ruler Suleiman the Great built defensive ramparts there to defend the city from the west from an attack by Napoleon’s French forces, which never arrived.
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“Our challenge boiled down to our ability to find solutions to preserve the ancient stones that represent Jerusalem’s past without compromising their historic value or their beauty – all the while planning new architectural structures and introducing modern infrastructure using modern materials to create an interesting meeting between the new and the old. Ever present in our planning was our respect for this ancient structure,” said Kimmel.
The $50 million endeavor to renovate and preserve the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum was spearheaded by Dame Vivien Duffield, in collaboration with the Clore Israel Foundation. Their vision received support from the Jerusalem Municipality, the Ministry of Jerusalem and Jewish Tradition, the Ministry of Heritage, and the Tourism Ministry. Contributions also came from the Patrick and Lina Drahi Foundation, Keren Hayesod, the Jerusalem Foundation, the American Friends of Museums in Israel, and the P. Austin Family Foundation.
For centuries, the Jaffa Gate, where the Tower of David Museum is located, served as the primary entry point to the Old City. Over the past two decades, the municipality has introduced modern infrastructure, including convenient access points from the light rail, and parking facilities at the Mamilla-Alrov shopping boulevard lots, changing the urban setting of the area.
“They built the Jaffa Gate Piazza, which put a different point of view of the whole citadel because it became the building that stands and overlooks this piazza,” Cohen-Sagi told journalists on a recent press tour of the pavilion, ahead of its opening.
“We understood that once we started to plan the concept for the whole renewal of the museum a few years ago, we needed to change the situation of the citadel.”
Before the redesign, visitors to the museum had to walk around to the eastern entrance, which originally was the front of the citadel. The changes to the Tower of David Museum now provide a smooth gateway for visitors to explore Jerusalem: As they enter the Old City through the Jaffa Gate, they can first visit the museum and explore its new historical and archaeological permanent exhibit. Here, they can traverse the narrative of Jerusalem’s 4,000-year-old history before exploring the modern-day alleys of the Old City.
“We have the beautiful unique building of the citadel, which was never meant to be a museum. It was an army barracks,” said Eilat Lieber, the museum’s director and chief curator. “Three decades after the opening of the Tower of David Museum, we had to think about the future of the museum – not just renew the exhibits but [consider] our role within the vision of being the museum for the city.
“The [nearby] Mamilla [outdoor shopping boulevard] is a very successful bridge between the modern western part of the city and the Old City. You can find all the communities of the city in the same place. Suddenly, you see a place where people can mix. We knew this museum had to be a gateway to Jerusalem and a key to understanding the history of Jerusalem [and the connection] between people and communities.”
For many years, the area where the sleek yet minimalist modern glass and steel structure now stands was considered a no-man’s land, used as a parking lot and the rear entrance to the museum. After first establishing the museum’s ownership over the property, a salvage excavation was conducted in cooperation with the Antiquities Authority before construction began during the COVID period.
Excavation work was done with the guiding help of an archaeological diary written almost 100 years ago by British archaeologist Cedric Norman Jones. It included photographs and descriptions of the section that he had originally excavated.
“You only need to use a teaspoon to dig up antiquities in the Old City of Jerusalem, and this is even more true when you are building a 1,000 sq.m. structure underground next to a citadel thousands of years old,” said Cohen-Sagi.
“From the first moment, therefore, we used all the tools at our disposal to minimize the lack of certainty of what would be found, such as 3D imaging, core samples, exploratory archaeological excavations, and documenting the excavation that was done on-site at the beginning of the 20th century.
“We worked closely with the Antiquities Authority. Despite a number of engineering changes and adaptations requested during the actual excavation work, and finds that were discovered in the area, the building that was finally erected is almost the same building that appears on the first sketches.”
The new pavilion now redirects the flow of visitors to the historic site. Since it is located at the lowest topographical point around David’s Citadel, visitors now pass through it to enter the citadel and continue on an upward journey through the galleries and open passageways. Their visit ends at the top of the observation point, which overlooks Jerusalem from the rooftop of the Phasael Tower – 30 m. above the new entrance pavilion, 777 m. above sea level.
“It was actually a parking place. Six years ago, this was the rear entrance to the museum, kind of a service entrance to the museum. We had the challenge, for the first time in history, to make it a place for people,” Cohen-Sagi said. “So we understood that we have first of all to make a practical building.”
One of the biggest challenges in building the pavilion was discovering in February 2022 that at least a 20-m.-long section of the huge monumental wall of the citadel was not built on any foundation at all but rather on construction fill. Though a wonder of ancient engineering skill, the new construction and excavation work threatened to disrupt the delicate ancient balance.
To continue their work and preserve the wall, engineers from Schaffer and Ronen Engineering and Conservation used a series of eighty 17-m.-deep “piles” – wrought-iron tube-like metal constructions – to temporarily support the citadel wall as they built a new wall next to it.
Another challenge arose during the installation of the wall’s supportive element – ensuring minimal movement. After seeking advice from experts in Portugal and Italy, specialized digital sensors, linked to a mobile app, were installed along the wall to detect any shifts around the clock. Apart from the engineers, Lieber also had the sensor app synchronized with her mobile phone.
“I wanted the app on my cellphone so I could follow the sensors and sleep at night,” she said. “At night, I would open the app and follow the project to see that the wall was not moving at all. It was scary.”
Now that she can sleep at night, Lieber hopes the museum’s new permanent exhibition, which includes original artifacts, interactive displays, and creative programming, will help give visitors a better understanding of Jerusalem.
“Whether it is a schoolchild from Israel or a visitor from overseas, I hope that the Tower of David can give them a basis for dialogue, tolerance, and respect,” she said.■
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IDF prepares for Rafah offensive; Netanyahu rebukes world leaders
1) Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu rejects foreign calls for early elections during a time of war.
2) IDF Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi stresses that failure to eradicate Hamas, including in Rafah, would be a mistake.
3) U.S. President Joe Biden voices support for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, referring to his unprecedented criticism of Israel as “a good speech”.
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Netanyahu Says Schumer Call for Israel Election Was InappropriateReuters and Algemeiner Staff
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 28, 2023. Photo: ABIR SULTAN POOL/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN on Sunday that U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s speech in which he urged new elections in Israel was “totally inappropriate.”
In a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday, Schumer, a longtime supporter of Israel and the highest-ranking Jewish U.S. elected official, called for new elections in Israel and said Netanyahu was an obstacle to peace.
“I think what he said is totally inappropriate. It’s inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there,” Netanyahu said in the CNN interview.
The speech reflected growing frustration in Washington with Netanyahu, his management of the war with Hamas, and the civilian death toll in Gaza. International criticism of US support for Israel has mounted due to the death toll in the coastal enclave, where Hamas terrorists have been criticized for embedding themselves among the civilian population and using civilians as human shields.
Schumer said it would be a “grave mistake” for Israel to reject a two-state solution and urged negotiators in the Israel-Gaza conflict to do everything possible to secure a ceasefire, free hostages and get aid into Gaza.
President Joe Biden said on Friday that Schumer’s comments echoed the concerns of many Americans, describing the remarks as a “good speech.”
Still, White House spokesperson John Kirby said on Sunday that Biden believed it was up to Israel to make its own decisions about internal politics.
“We respect the sovereignty of the Israeli people,” Kirby told Fox News Sunday. “The president believes it’s up to the Israeli people and the Israeli government to determine if and when there’s going to be new elections.”
Schumer did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Netanyahu’s reaction to his speech.
In Israel, Netanyahu dismissed international pressure on Sunday and said Israel’s military would push into Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold in Gaza, after more than five months of war.
Republican congressman Michael McCaul, who leads the House of Representatives Foreign Relations Committee, criticized Schumer’s remarks, comparing them to an effort to topple Israel’s government.
“You don’t talk about toppling a government in a democracy,” McCaul told Fox News Sunday, calling Schumer’s remarks “very inappropriate” and “embarrassing.”
Schumer also criticized Palestinians who support Islamist group Hamas, and said Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas also should step aside.
Schumer raised the possibility of Washington using its leverage if Israel does not change course. Still, he did not go as far as suggesting a step some Democrats advocate: introducing legislation to make easing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza a condition for the U.S. providing more weapons to Israel.
“It’s indicative of now the split in the Democratic Party … and I think what you’re seeing is a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel faction in the Democratic Party,” McCaul said.
Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza after Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists launched a surprise invasion of the Jewish state on Oct. 7, massacring 1,200 people and kidnapping 253 others before Israeli forces repelled the onslaught.
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All the News in Gaza Is Coming From HamasJacki Alexander
Palestinian fighters from the armed wing of Hamas take part in a military parade to mark the anniversary of the 2014 war with Israel, near the border in the central Gaza Strip, July 19, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
There is no freedom of the press in Gaza. If journalists don’t follow Hamas’ guidelines for press coverage, they are arrested, beaten, and/or tortured.
These are not controversial statements; they are based on reports from Freedom House, Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International.
When journalist Hajar Harb revealed doctors in Hamas’ Gaza Health Ministry were arranging illegal medical transfers out of Gaza for Palestinians who did not require medical treatment — and profiting off of them — she was harassed and threatened by both the police and by the doctors.
Fouad Jarada was arrested for writing a Facebook post critical of Hamas’ patron, Qatar. He was beaten and whipped during his detention.
Ismael el-Bozom was arrested and beaten for “drawings and writings critical of Hamas” that were uploaded to his Facebook account.
Amer Balousha was arrested for “Misuse of Technology” — a crime that does not exist in Palestinian law — for daring to post about corruption among Hamas leaders. He was beaten in custody and told, “It’s forbidden to write against Hamas, we will shoot you.”
In 2014, the Foreign Press Association called out Hamas for having “harassed, threatened or questioned [foreign reporters] over stories or information they have reported through their news media or by means of social media.” This claim was later confirmed by a Hamas official, who explained, “the security agencies would go and have a chat with these people. They would give them some time to change their message, one way or another.”
The journalists’ crime? Reporting on terrorists firing rockets from civilian areas, which meant to Hamas that these reporters were “collaborating with the occupation [i.e. Israel].”
That’s also why Al Jazeera immediately stopped an interview last year with an elderly Palestinian woman in Gaza who explained that the lack of food and water in Gaza wasn’t a result of aid not coming in. “All the aid reaches the Gaza Strip … Hamas takes everything to their homes,” she said.
Hamas not only stifles the messaging coming out of Gaza, but actively works to shape the narrative in its favor.
Just this week, Uvda — Israel’s premier investigative journalism show — divulged new information gleaned from Hamas’ plan for the October 7 attack. The New York Times previously reported on the plan, code-named “Jericho Wall,” but Uvda went further and revealed that Hamas always intended for journalists to “join the brigades and broadcast the operation in real time.”
Of course they did. In addition to providing important propaganda for domestic consumption, this allowed them to reframe their massacre of Israeli civilians as a heroic act of decolonization. Or, as they stated in their 18-page manifesto: “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Oct. 7 was a necessary step and a normal response…”
Hamas is well aware of the power of narrative, and is actively trying to impact public opinion in their favor. And, it’s working.
With the international media largely unable to access Gaza during the war, more outlets and individuals are relying on “independent” voices broadcasting on social media.
But true independent voices are precisely the ones that Hamas has spent the last two decades silencing. Those that are left, have simply changed their message.
So, when international media outlets utilize Gazan journalists, photojournalists, and freelancers — without the disclaimer that they are a mouthpiece for Hamas — they are complicit in spreading misinformation that has real world consequences for news consumers and for Jews far beyond Israel’s borders.
Global attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions are at an all-time high. The fuel fanning these flames is the inaccurate reporting about Israel, oftentimes based on Hamas’ narrative:
Famine. Genocide. Ethnic cleansing. Al-Ahli hospital. Stealing Palestinian organs.
These false accusations have led to attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions from Tunisia to Dagestan. In America, antisemitic attacks are reaching “historic levels” according to FBI Director Christopher Wray — and that was four months ago.
Mainstream media organizations know that the news they are getting from Gaza is compromised. It’s tainted by Hamas’ oversight. Yet, they continue to amplify and legitimize these messages by giving them a platform, without even the bare minimum of a disclaimer.
So, the next time you read or watch news coming out of Gaza, here is your disclaimer: Hamas approves this message.
The author is the CEO and President of HonestReporting.
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