Palestinian academic and archeology expert Abdel-Razzaq Matani said that the Israeli authorities deliberately steal and conceal huge amounts of Arab and Islamic antiquities during their excavations in Jerusalem and below and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Matani told SAFA in a special statement that it is something normal the discovery of Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) for Islamic gold coins in the al-Buraq Wall square, as there are Arab and Islamic antiquities that were completely destroyed and stolen during the continuous drilling operations below and around Al-Aqsa.

IAA two days ago announced unearth a small pottery jar containing four pure gold coins dating back to the Early Islamic period, more than 1,000 years ago, during illegal archaeological excavations in Jerusalem.

Matani added that Israel is trying to beautify its image and whitewash its crimes through these operations, while it covers up the acts of destruction and demolition.

He pointed out that Israel has been destroying and stealing Palestinian antiquities, in clear violation of all international laws, since the Palestinian Nakba in 1948.

Moreover, he emphasized that Israel aims to change the identity of Jerusalem, Judaize its parts, create a misleading historical narrative through promoting the Talmudic Jewish narrative at the expense of the right Palestinian narrative.

The excavations carried out by the IAA in Al-Buraq Wall Square are part of the plan to build an elevator in the "Jewish Quarter" in the Old City to make the so-called "Western Wall" available to visitors.

IAA Excavation Director David Gellman said that as they conducted archaeological excavations as part of the plan to build the elevator last month, IAA inspector Yevgenia Kapil discovered a juglet.

Some weeks later, as Gellman was examining the finds, he emptied the contents of the juglet and found four pure gold coins dating from more than a thousand years ago.

“To my great surprise, along with the soil, four shiny gold coins fell into my hand. This is the first time in my career as an archaeologist that I have discovered gold, and it is tremendously exciting,” said Gellman.

According to IAA’s coin expert, Robert Kool, this is the first time in 50 years that a gold cache from the Fatimid period has been discovered in Jerusalem’s Old City.

For its part, the Ministry of Endowment and Islamic Affairs renewed its calls to stop all illegal excavations carried out by the Israeli authorities, calling on UNESCO and all international and human rights organizations to intervene to stop them.

Source : Safa