JERUSALEM, 22 March 2007 — A group of Turkish historians and archaeologists yesterday inspected an Israeli excavation that has provoked protests by Muslims who accuse Israel of plotting to damage Islamic holy places. Israel allowed the Turkish visit to the dig in an attempt to calm fears that the work would harm the nearby compound of the Haram Al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary).
The Turkish delegation, accompanied by Turkey’s consul to Jerusalem and representatives of the Israel Antiquities Authority, the government body running the dig, wouldn’t comment on what they saw. Consul Ercan Ozer said only that the delegation would present a report to the Turkish government, which would publish the results “later.”
The excavation is meant to pave the way for construction of a new pedestrian walkway up to the compound, replacing one that partially collapsed in a snowstorm three years ago.
The beginning of work in early February drew allegations that Israel was planning to harm the compound’s Islamic holy sites and touched off Palestinian protests and criticism across the Muslim world.
Yesterday’s visit was agreed upon last month, when Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visited Turkey. In an effort to ease Muslim fears, Olmert agreed a Turkish delegation could visit the site.
A mid-March report on the excavation from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said Israel should have sought the advice of international organizations before it started the archaeological work. But it also concluded that the excavations posed no threat to the stability of the site and credited Israel with adhering to “professional standards.”
Israel Antiquities Authority spokeswoman Osnat Guez said the Turkish delegation would make an official, one-day examination of the site to see the work firsthand.
Guez said the Turkish visit to the site would not be open to media coverage but could be monitored through Antiquities Authority cameras set up at the dig, which relay real-time pictures to the authority website, http://www.antiquities.org.il/home-eng.asp
Meanwhile, Israel’s main workers union paralyzed the country yesterday, shutting down airports, government offices and other essential services in an open-ended general strike over unpaid wages. Around 400,000 public workers went on strike at 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) after all-night reconciliation efforts between the government and the Histadrut labor federation failed to resolve the row.
Talks were continuing throughout the day, but have so far failed to yield results. Government ministries, except for defense, shut their doors and stopped answering telephones.
All border crossings were closed as the country’s trains, planes and ports stopped running. Rubbish removal stopped and school buses ground to a halt.
Some even feared disruptions in the nation’s water supply as the water authority scaled back operations to a minimum, the Yediot Aharanot newspaper reported. Hospitals, security services, and public radio and television were operating as usual, along with banks and the stock exchange.
“We decided that the nonpayment of wages to public servants must cease once and for all,” Histadrut secretary-general Ofer Eini told public radio. Eini has vowed the strike will continue until all civil servants receive their wages.
Around 50,000 travelers were herded through Israel’s Ben Gurion international airport near Tel Aviv on Tuesday night as airlines tried to get them in and out of the country before the strike hit.
Despite the union action, a plane carrying the English football team heading for Israel for a crucial Euro 2008 qualifier will be allowed to land at Ben Gurion, an airport authority spokesman told AFP. Planes carrying 5,000 English football fans due in Israel to cheer on their team will also be allowed to touch down. The first planes were due in yesterday at 1300 GMT.
