“And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.” 2 Samuel 24:25

“Jewish Temples never existed, says top Palestinian negotiator   Official leading peace talks claims Israel trying to ‘invent’ historical Jerusalem link“, says a November 6th article Aaron Klein of WorldNetDaily.

“Ahmed Qurei, the Palestinian Authority official leading all peace talks with the Jewish state, made the controversial statements in a small media briefing Wednesday attended by WND as well as by a Palestinian media outlet and an Arab affairs correspondent for a major Israeli newspaper.” …”Israel is widely expected to offer the Palestinians near complete control of the West Bank and significant control of undisclosed parts of eastern Jerusalem.”  Read the rest of the article

Yet, Qurei’s claim is refuted in the 1925 guide book published by the Moslem Supreme Council, which used the Bible verse 2 Samuel 24:25.  Israel National News reported September 1, 2008: ”Supreme Moslem Council: Temple Mount is Jewish“, including photos of the 1925 document obtained by the Temple Institute. 

View the article about the guide book by the Supreme Moslem Council, with photos, at the Temple Institute website: ”The Temple Institute: The Official 1925 Supreme Moslem Council Guide Book to the Temple Mount“. 

“on page 4, “Its identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which ‘David built there an altar unto the Lord.’”

Several years ago the Waqf hauled lots of material by dump trunk from the Temple Mount, containing loads full of archaeological material, a veritable treasure-trove.  Today, there is an ongoing Temple Mount Antiquities Salvage Operation, sifting through those materials removed and dumped by the Waqf, and a blog about the project “Temple Mount Salvage Operation Weblog“.  Below find a YouTube video posted by Cascade47 showing ”Temple Mount Sifting Project” with Zachi Zweig and Mike Caba, done October 26, 2008:

The Temple Mount Antiquities Salvage Operation will be four years old in December (Kislev 10).  The post ”Video Clip summarizing 3 Years” includes a link to a video about the operation.  Mostly in Hebrew, the clip shows where the material came from and the dilemma of dealing with a voluminous amount of material with no physical reference as to preciseness of location, except where it came from!  Well worth a view, for sure. See http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7929937138181980966.  Gordon Govier’s article at The Book and the Spade 2008 Tour, ”Free Day in Jerusalem & the Emek Tzurim Sifting Project, March 3, 2008,” explains about the sifting project, including some photos. 

Also of interest is a National Geographic article from October 23, 2007: ”Solomon’s Temple Artifacts Found by Muslim Workers” written by Matti Milstein in Tel Aviv, Israel.