{"id":71441,"date":"2019-07-01T17:05:48","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T15:05:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=71441"},"modified":"2019-07-01T07:17:02","modified_gmt":"2019-07-01T05:17:02","slug":"07-05-44","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=71441","title":{"rendered":"PALESTINIANS ON PILGRIMAGE ROAD INAUGURATION: \u2018ISRAEL FALSIFYING HISTORY\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>PALESTINIANS ON PILGRIMAGE ROAD INAUGURATION: \u2018ISRAEL FALSIFYING HISTORY\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

KHALED ABU TOAMEH<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Jordan also condemns opening of \u2018Pilgrimage Road.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018I FOUND myself on an exclusive tour of an ancient road dug out from beneath the village of Silwan and the now well-known water channel.\u2019. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

US Ambassador David Friedman and US Middle East Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt attended the inauguration of Pilgrimage Road in the City of David on Sunday, triggering angry denunciations from Palestinian and left-wing circles for taking part in a \u201csettler project.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ministers Rafi Peretz and Uri Ariel, US Senator Lindsey Graham, Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, Israel Antiquities Authority director Israel Hasson, and US billionaire Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, were also among those present at the event.<\/span><\/p>\n

Friedman wielded a sledgehammer and broke through a wall, ceremoniously opening the tunnel. \u201cThe City of David brings biblical Jerusalem back to life,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cIt enables every one of us to stroll the corridors where the ancient prophets of Israel gave voice to revolutionary ideals of freedom, liberty and human dignity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is our unique privilege as Americans to walk together with our Israeli counterparts on the just unveiled Pilgrimage Road, where our shared ancestors ascended the flagstone steps in prayer and blessing,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Palestinians and Jordan strongly condemned the inauguration of Pilgrimage Road, calling it a \u201cfalsification of history\u201d and \u201creversal of the facts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

They also denounced the participation of Friedman and Greenblatt in the ceremony. Palestinian Authority \u201cgovernor\u201d of Jerusalem Adnan Gheith said that the participation of the US officials in the ceremony reflects the US administration\u2019s \u201chostility\u201d against the Palestinians and \u201cdenial of Palestinians\u2019 national rights.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He also accused the US administration of supporting the \u201ccolonial settler project spearheaded by the extremist Right in the state of occupation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Gheith claimed that the Israeli archaeological excavations pose a \u201cdirect threat to al-Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings,\u201d and warned that the excavations could lead to the collapse of parts of the mosque.<\/span><\/p>\n

The PA Foreign Ministry in Ramallah denounced Friedman and Greenblatt as \u201cfalse witnesses,\u201d and said they \u201cvolunteered to support the falsification of history and the Judaization of Jerusalem.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The ministry accused Israel of working to change the identity of Jerusalem and its historical and legal reality.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Fakhri Abu Diab, an east Jerusalem activist from Silwan, called on the international community to \u201cpreserve the Palestinian heritage.\u201d He was quoted by the PA\u2019s official news agency Wafa as saying that US President Donald Trump\u2019s plan for peace in the Middle East, also known as the \u201cDeal of the Century,\u201d \u201cwas being implemented underground.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Abu Diab said the archaeological excavations have already caused damage to several houses and a mosque in Silwan.<\/span><\/p>\n

The agency quoted Palestinian engineer and academic Jamal Amro as saying that the inauguration ceremony was a \u201cnew crime\u201d against the Palestinians because it \u201cconsolidates the concept that Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem is entirely above the ground and under it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Amro, the opening of Pilgrimage Road is an attempt to \u201cimpose the Israeli narrative, falsify history and impose its sovereignty on the ground by force.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jordan also condemned the opening of Pilgrimage Road, and warned that \u201csuch illegal and irresponsible actions increase tension\u201d in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry said that the kingdom rejects \u201call Israeli attempts to change the identity and character of the Old City of Jerusalem, especially the Noble Sanctuary [Temple Mount] and adjacent sites.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The ministry said, \u201cThese Israeli practices constitute a flagrant violation of international law and UN resolutions calling for a cessation of all illegal Israeli excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier, Friedman and Greenblatt slammed the activists who had protested their cooperation in the event, with Friedman saying the discovery \u201cbrings truth and science to a debate that has been marred too long by myths.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He argued that this discovery, among others, will \u201cbring an end to the baseless efforts to deny the historical fact of Jerusalem\u2019s ancient connection to the Jewish people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The event was also hotly contested by activists from the NGO Emek Shaveh, who argued that due to its location in east Jerusalem, the decision to excavate the find was motivated by politics rather than searching for historical truth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Greenblatt said that Emek Shaveh activists \u201cmisunderstand the meaning of archaeology,\u201d and said \u201cPeace can only be built on truth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pilgrimage Road was discovered in 2004 when a sewage pipe burst and workers found long and wide stairs near to the water pool Jewish pilgrims used to purify themselves before ascending to the Temple.<\/span><\/p>\n

The road now offers visitors the chance to walk the ancient path of Jewish pilgrims from the ritual pool, the Shiloah, to the Western Wall.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Hagay Hacohen and Herb Keinon contributed to this report.
\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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PALESTINIANS ON PILGRIMAGE ROAD INAUGURATION: \u2018ISRAEL FALSIFYING HISTORY\u2019 KHALED ABU TOAMEH Jordan also condemns opening of \u2018Pilgrimage Road.\u2019 \u2018I FOUND myself on an exclusive tour of an ancient road dug out from beneath the village of Silwan and the now well-known water channel.\u2019. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM) US Ambassador David Friedman and US Middle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71441"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=71441"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71458,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71441\/revisions\/71458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=71441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=71441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=71441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}