Paul Calvert spoke at length with prominent Israeli archaeologist Dr Gabriel Barkay



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Paul: With all the destruction that has happened on the Temple Mount, is there anything that you can do about this today?

Dr Barkay: Yes. I think one should be aware of the Temple Mount; of its significance and importance of what happens there. The amazing thing that happened in Afghanistan, when the Taliban Authorities blew up the statues in Bamiyan that touched the civilized world. On the other hand the destruction on the Temple Mount is regarded as part of a political problem between Arabs and Israelis and part of the eastern conflict. No! It is something that should be important to any civilized person around the world. The Temple Mount is one of the cornerstones of western civilization and people should care about it.

In the 2000's a committee for the prevention of destruction of antiquities upon the Temple Mount was formed, which tries to do lobbying and tries to have more awareness of the destruction that took place on the Temple Mount and to avoid further disruption.

There are some successes and there are some problems also. Awareness is also important. Any conscientious civilized person in the world should care about the Temple Mount. It is not possible to let extreme Muslims and for that sake extreme Jews to take measures and to destroy the cultural heritage of mankind upon the Temple Mount. CR

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