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site is the future home of Yeshiva Ohr

Somayach.

Additionally, King points out, while

there are frequent leftist demonstrations

against the evictions, the government has

stopped sending riot police and is now

sending the immigration police to these

demonstrations instead. The reason is that

many of the leftists who show up at these

locations are in Israel illegally, and it has

become an easy and convenient way for

the Israeli government to round them up

and send them back to wherever they

came from.

An hour or so after visiting these areas,

we were near his home in what is today

known as Maale Zeitim, in the shadows

of Har HaZeitim (Mount of Olives) and

the Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount).

King and his family live in an apartment

building with 50 other families. Nearby

there is another construction site, where

a building is near completion that will

house another 60 families. He points to a

complex of what looks like two private

homes in what is also known as the

Silwan area of the city.

The residents of those two houses are

the aunt and cousins of Yasser Arafat,

King says. He adds that they are very

grateful for the Jewish buildings that are

going up literally all around them. He

says they have told him as well as the

world press that frequents the area that

with the new building going up they are

now certain the area will remain under

Israeli sovereignty, and they prefer that to

any new Palestinian administration

assuming control.

So how did Arieh King get started on

this mission of his? It began about 12

years ago, when he was a student at the

Hebrew University studying Arabic. He

lived in Jerusalem and, like so many oth-

ers, used the cemetery at Har HaZeitim as

a shortcut to make it on time to class.

Indeed, sitting nearby last week, we were

able to watch young people, no doubt

both Arabs and Jews, some with book

bags slung over their shoulders, saunter-

ing their way through the jagged lines of

burial headstones on their way to school

or wherever else.

I later came to believe that it was an

offense and desecration to the dead lying

herethat their place of rest should

become a shortcut for shoppers and stu-

dents, he says earnestly. But thats not

what set him on his course to utilize his

energies and abilities to bring honor and

respect to this place, to Jerusalem, and to

all of Israel. He explains that as he

approached the area to go to school one

day over a decade ago, he was invited in

for tea by an Arab couple whose home he

passed by nearly every day and who

resided in the shadows of the burial

grounds.

Im sitting there and I see that the

entire floor is covered with an assort-

ment of colorful carpets, King told me.

When I had a moment and the couple

would not notice, I peeled back one of

the carpets to see what was underneath.

The carpets were covering headstones

with Jewish names carved on them

taken from the mount and used for floor-

ing in this home and probably in the oth-

ers that dot this hill. I decided at that

point that this cannot go on and dignity

must be restored to the dead.

One discovery led to another.

Headstones were taken from homes and

paired up with records of burials and

their locationswork, Mr. King explains,

that still goes on today. He says that the

night before our meeting, there was van-

dalism of some headstones on the Mount

of Olives and that there are continuous

incidents. Today, he says, sections of the

cemetery are monitored by video surveil-

lance, but that does not stop brazen

youngsters who live nearby or hang out

with their friends there at night from

inflicting damage.

For Arieh King, the only way he envi-

sioned the possibility that these desecra-

FROM THE EDITORContinued from Page 5

Continued on Page 8

B Y S A M U E L S O K O L

The Israel Antiquities Authority

has recently uncovered a road used

by pilgrims as they ascended from

Jerusalems lower city to the Temple

Mount during the Roman period as

well as an underground channel that

funneled excess rain water away

from the city, according to the City of

David Foundation.

The City of David Foundations

director of external communications,

Chen Harkov, took Larry Gordon, the

editor of the Five Towns Jewish

Times, and this correspondent on a

tour of recent archaeological excava-

tions being conducted in the City of

David national park by the Israel

Antiquities Authority.

Harkov said that she believes that

the dig sites, currently closed to the

public, should be opened for tours

within the coming year. The pilgrimsroad consists of a series of landings

separated by two steps. Pilgrims com-

ing up from the ritual bath at

breihkat shiloah would take this road

to arrive at the Temple.

According to Harkov, the water

channel which runs underneath

the path for part of its length, has

been identified as the channel

mentioned in Josephus Flaviuss

history of the Jews, in which thou-

sands of people took refuge from

the slaughter during the sacking of

Jerusalem and the destruction of

the Second Temple.

Ash on the walls has been attrib-

uted to fires set by the Romans in

attempting to flush the Jewish sur-

Ir DavidFoundationUncovers

Second TemplePilgrims Road,Water Channel

Continued on Page 23

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2/25 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES December 25, 2009 23

vivors from hiding. Up to 5,000

men, women, and children hid in

this narrow stone passageway for

two weeks, until forced to leave.

Pottery and coins have been found

scattered on the floor of the tunnel,

some of which had been inscribed

with phrases indicating a hope for

the immediate appearance of the

messiah.

The City of David is the originalsite of King Davids capital and

archaeologists have identified a large

structure at the top of the site as the

Kings palace. Arab residents of the

neighborhood of Silwan, adjacent to

the City of David, filed a motion in

conjunction with Peace Now to have

the excavations halted, claiming

damage to the Arab homes that lay

above the underground tunnel.

In September, Israels Supreme

Court rejected the petition, citing a

lack of evidence of significant dam-

age to the Arab structures and the

overriding historical importance of

the archaeological finds. Accordingto the court, its not merely a lack of

something in the petition... there is

no basis for the claims made

throughout the petition.

In the summary of its decision, the

court noted that though Israel is a

young country, it has deep roots in

the history of mankind and through-

out the length and breadth of the

country, the earth is saturated with

the remnants of ancient civilizations

that lived in and created on this land

for thousands of years, both before

and after the common era. (Pet.

8497/04) All the more so, these things

are true with regards to the area

called the City of David.

The City of David Foundation (city-

ofdavid.org.il) responded to the court

ruling saying, We are pleased with

the Supreme Courts decision which

will enable the continuation of the

exposure of the rich national and

international heritage hidden in the

City of David. Peace Now failed in

yet another attempt to deny our deep

roots in Jerusalem.

The City of David is a national

park and is administered in part by

the City of David Foundation. The

park is unique in that it is not mere-

ly an archeological and tourist site,

but that people, Jews and Arabs alike,live within. The foundation describes

its activities as continuing King

Davids legacy and strengthening

Israels current and historic connec-

tion to Jerusalem through four key

initiatives: archaeological excava-

tion, tourism development, residen-

tial revitalization, and educational

programming.

The foundation was founded in

1986 by David Beeri, who had visited

the site of Davids capital during the

mid-1980s and was shocked to see

that the former excavations that had

once been conducted were once

again concealed beneath garbage and

waste. Today, the City of David is

one of Jerusalems most successful

tourist attractions. O

Ir David FoundationContinued from Page 6