The Fight for Every Dunam forum released a report on Thursday titled, Mount Ebal: a Wake-Up Call outlining the plans of the Palestinian Authority to build a neighborhood on top of the archaeological site containing the Biblical altar of Joshua.
The PA has already made efforts to begin implementing the plan by paving roads connecting the suburbs of the city of Shechem to Mount Ebal. The roads pass over sensitive archaeological areas and stray into Area C which, according to the Oslo Accords, is reserved exclusively for Israeli construction.
קלטו את זה!
הרשות הפלסטינית הרסה את האתר הארכיאולוגי מזבח יהושע – והשתמשה בשרידיו כחצץ לסלילת כביש.
ככה, אחד אחרי השני, נהרסים פה אתרי מורשת יהודיים כמעט באין מפריע
פרסמנו ב @N12News pic.twitter.com/wk0Ez2WM7d— ליה ספילקין | Lia Spilkin (@LiaSpilkin) February 10, 2021
Activists for Fight for Every Dunam acquired construction plans for dozens of lots from the PA’s Local Government Ministry in which aerial photographs clearly show the plans will obliterate the archaeological site.
“According to the plans, most of the area of the site is going to be razed to gravel, and whatever is left will also be destroyed in short order and be completely out of Israeli control once the Arab neighborhood swallows it up,” the organization warned.
The site was discovered in 1980 by Professor Adam Zertal from the University of Haifa. He was able to date the site to the end of the 13th century BCE and found it to be an unusual ritual site whose dimensions correspond directly with the biblical altar described in the book of Joshua after the victory over Ai.
At that time Yehoshua built a mizbayach to Hashem, the God of Yisrael, on Har Eival, Joshua 8:30
According to PA officials, the claim that the site is a Jewish altar is a fabrication of “Palestinian history” – a phenomenon rejected by all major historians.
Zertal’s conclusion is frequently challenged by archaeologists who claim the Bible is not a historically accurate account of events. Zertal was himself anti-religious and also denied the Biblical connection of his find for several years.
