In case you think history is just some moldy study of long-ago people and places, news reports out of Jerusalem today describe a foiled Hamas plot to take over the former site of the Templars' headquarters, the Temple Mount. Hamas recently paid to enlarge Muslim prayer halls and a library, all located within the so-called Solomon's Stables, that were used by the Templars during their control of the Mount. Renovations, especially in the Stables area, have long been criticized over the hamfisted way that excavations were made, in an attempt to destroy evidence of any pre-Muslim control of the 3,000 year old site.The Jordanian Wakf that is in charge of the topside of the Mount has long been cuffed around by radical Islamic groups to see that it knuckles under to the "religiously correct" line of thinking, as opposed to preserving and protecting the ancient site. Its director two years ago actually stated that he did not believe the Temple of Solomon or Herod's second version ever stood on the Mount – a public viewpoint guaranteed to assure he kept his job and his head, but patently absurd for a supposed historian and archaeological "expert."
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